Show HN: I built a simple, open-source tool to manage servers and SSH keys

Post by jamiesonbecker » Tue, Aug 06, 2024, 5:43 PM UTC

e12e wrote: post #68

jamiesonbecker wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

CA's have a lot of management and logistical issues and potential for misuse. The simplicity and TOFU design of the SSH key system (which obv can bring along some issues of its own) can bring a lot of benefits, especially for people who don't want to introduce a CA or PKI. (obligatory disclaimer, I work at Userify and we have a server-side product that automates SSH key management and distribution. For example, the C…

> the CA design doesn't kick someone out once their access is removed, but Userify's shim actually terminates all of sessions instantly I was a bit confused at first, I thought you were saying ssh certificates couldn't be revoked - but I see you're talking about signing the user out from existing sessions. That is a fair point. I guess removing/locking a local user (in /etc/passwd, /etc/shadow) would typically leave…

Post by abbbi » Tue, Aug 06, 2024, 5:53 PM UTC

traumivator wrote: post #70

You are very close to solving a real business problem. The problem is not "how can I have SSH aliases on my computer" but "how can we manage, company-wide, who can access which SSH servers." My company currently uses YubiKeys to support hardware-based individual SSH keys. These SSH keys are distributed with Ansible. It works but is cumbersome and lacks a single pane of glass. What we would like to have: a list of ser…

Post by usrbinbash » Tue, Aug 06, 2024, 6:01 PM UTC

jldadriano wrote: post #48

usrbinbash wrote: post #38

Question: What is the specific advantage I get from using $ viking machine add --name deathstar --key starkey 168.112.216.50 $ viking exec --tty deathstar /bin/bash Over putting the following in my ~/.ssh/config Host deathstar HostName 168.112.216.50 User my_user IdentityFile ~/.ssh/starkey And then just typing $ ssh deathstar ?

as someone who dislikes config files to an extreme degree (hidden information, commands stop being portable) a modern cli that allows me to manage my configurations seems very useful

    Viking saves data locally. Set VIKING_CONFIG_DIR env variable for a custom directory. Use viking config to check the current config folder.

    host=$(
        awk '$1 == "Host" && $2 != "*" {print $2}' "$HOME/.ssh/config" |
        fzf --reverse
    )
    [[ -n host ]] && ssh "$host"

    vim ~/.ssh/config

Post by pratio » Tue, Aug 06, 2024, 7:02 PM UTC

heyarey wrote: post #13

pratio wrote: post #3

So, congratulations on releasing your project but I'm not sure what problem are you trying to solve. Please add some use-cases to make it clear where exactly does it come in, because once I add a key in my ssh config, I'm pretty much there. For more complicated tasks I use ansible.

Thanks! - No need to remember server IPs - Viking gives you an overview with simple machine ls and key ls commands - A more modern and intuitive API - Works consistently across all platforms - Close to the Docker API Sure, it’s only the first release. It may not seem like much now, but with feedback, the project will move closer to the goal.

    User git

    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa_github

    User username

    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa_myserver

    ControlMaster auto

    ControlPath ~/.ssh/sockets/%r@%h-%p

    ControlPersist 600

Post by zamadatix » Tue, Aug 06, 2024, 7:36 PM UTC

malikNF wrote: post #19

heyarey wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks! - No need to remember server IPs - Viking gives you an overview with simple machine ls and key ls commands - A more modern and intuitive API - Works consistently across all platforms - Close to the Docker API Sure, it’s only the first release. It may not seem like much now, but with feedback, the project will move closer to the goal.

>No need to remember server IPs On your local machine under ~/.ssh/config you can add something like #PERSONAL Host vpn-us HostName 1.2.3.4 User my_fun_username Port 1212 now you can ssh using ssh vpn-us (above is the same as the following command --> ssh my_fun_username@1.2.3.4 -p1212)