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

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

#41

Post by emilehere »

After having executed an involved ssh connection, my brain often opts to keep working on whatever I needed to use that remote machine for, instead of switching context and saving the details in ~/.ssh/config, even if I expect to use the connection details again.

So I understand the desire to manage both of those tasks, connecting and persisting, from one tool. I wrote a similar little utility that does this by adding a persist option to built-in ssh. https://github.com/emileindik/slosh

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

#42

Post by RIMR »

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.

SSH already has host and key management via the user's config file.

I somewhat understand the desire for an SSH client that behaves like the Docker shell, but it needs some features that actually set it apart.

How about putting different hosts into groups, and then running a command on the group so that every machine in the group runs the same command?

How about managing both hosts and users so that I can easily log into a system as different users for different purposes?

How about adding some security features to make key management more secure than the standard "everything in the .ssh directory" strategy?

Maybe add some SCP/SFTP features so that moving files from host to host is easier. Maybe even have a package you can install on remote hosts so that they can transfer files directly between each other when asked to from an outside terminal.

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

#44

Post by plingbang »

bheadmaster wrote: post #26
hartator wrote: post #25

What's the point of having different ssh key per server? You are .pub is meant to be shared; even publicly. It's fine to have one ssh key for everything. It's also hard to think about a scenario where one ssh key in your machine is compromised, but not the others.

> What's the point of having different ssh key per server? Identity protection perhaps. A public key could reveal that the same person is accesing two or more servers. Different keys per server hide that information.

That's a good point. Moreover, someone built[1] an SSH server that prints your name when you connect (because GitHub publishes SSH public keys of every user):

    ssh whoami.filippo.io
[1]: https://words.filippo.io/ssh-whoami-filippo-io/

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

#45

Post by darrenf »

simonmysun wrote: post #32

I would rather require a tool to manage host keys. I really wish to write them along with the host configs in my `~/.ssh/config` instead of `known_hosts`. Additionally I think other host keys e.g. from GitHub should be delivered in a better way. For example, on Archlinux I would prefer getting them from package manager instead of being prompt during connection. Unfortunately host keys can only be written in `known_ho…

You can specify multiple files using either `GlobalKnownHostsFile` or `UserKnownHostsFile` options. Plus you can specify a command that will return host keys. See this entry in `man ssh_config`:

     KnownHostsCommand
             Specifies a command to use to obtain a list of host keys, [...]

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

#46

Post by jamiesonbecker »

Very nice for a first project! (the clipboard integration is a nice touch)

Seeing this passion is great! TBH, some of the negative comments here might be warranted: SSH is an especially important and tricky area to start in as your first Github project or for those inexperienced in security.

However, we're always looking for people at Userify to help us build the next wave of SSH UX and who aren't afraid to put something out there. It's a lot of work to get things built and it's very exciting to see some new ideas. Hit me up if you want to talk!

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

#47

Post by scaryclam »

hartator wrote: post #25

What's the point of having different ssh key per server? You are .pub is meant to be shared; even publicly. It's fine to have one ssh key for everything. It's also hard to think about a scenario where one ssh key in your machine is compromised, but not the others.

Some segregation is useful. If a key I use for work never touches my personal machine, that's a good thing. If my work laptop gets stolen I don't want to have to cycle my personal key, etc.

I guess the point I'm making is more for making decent keys to create sensible separation points, rather than having one for each machine though. Allowing work vs home vs foo vs bar

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

#48

Post by jldadriano »

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

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

#49

Post by dmarinus »

simonmysun wrote: post #32

I would rather require a tool to manage host keys. I really wish to write them along with the host configs in my `~/.ssh/config` instead of `known_hosts`. Additionally I think other host keys e.g. from GitHub should be delivered in a better way. For example, on Archlinux I would prefer getting them from package manager instead of being prompt during connection. Unfortunately host keys can only be written in `known_ho…

There's GlobalKnownHostsFile and UserKnownHostsFile. The global known hosts file is usually stored in /etc/ssh, linux distributions could store common ssh host keys in there.
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