Permissions on private key in .ssh folder?

Question

I changed my permissions in my .ssh folder and now when I use a piece of software that uses my private key, I have to type my password each time. What should my permissions be on my id_rsa file to not have to type a password each time I use an app that uses it?

Currently my permissions are set to:

-rw-------@ 1 Jody staff 114 Nov 4 23:29 config

-rw------- 1 Jody staff 1743 Oct 21 2009 id_rsa

-rw-------@ 1 Jody staff 397 Oct 21 2009 id_rsa.pub

-rw-------@ 1 Jody staff 3855 Sep 13 22:35 known_hosts

Thanks

Jody

Answer 1

Typically you want the .ssh directory permissions to be 700 (drwx------) and the public key (.pub file) to be 644 (-rw-r--r--). Your private key (id_rsa) should be 600 (-rw-------).

I am asssuming that you mean that you have to enter your system/user password each time, and that previously you did not have to. cdhowie's response is assuming you set a password/passphrase when generating your keys, and if you did then as he says you will have to enter your password every time unless you use an ssh agent.

Answer 2

Permissions shouldn't have anything to do with this. Your private key is encrypted with the password, so you need to enter it for the private key to be decrypted and usable.

You might consider running an ssh agent, which can cache decrypted keys and will supply them to applications that need them.