man > ssh-keysign(8)

SSH-KEYSIGN(8)                         System Manager's Manual                        SSH-KEYSIGN(8)

NAME
       ssh-keysign — OpenSSH helper for host-based authentication

SYNOPSIS
       ssh-keysign

DESCRIPTION
       ssh-keysign  is  used by ssh(1) to access the local host keys and generate the digital signa‐
       ture required during host-based authentication.

       ssh-keysign is disabled by default and can only be enabled in the global client configuration
       file /etc/ssh/ssh_config by setting EnableSSHKeysign to “yes”.

       ssh-keysign is not intended to be invoked by the user,  but  from  ssh(1).   See  ssh(1)  and
       sshd(8) for more information about host-based authentication.

FILES
       /etc/ssh/ssh_config
               Controls whether ssh-keysign is enabled.

       /etc/ssh/ssh_host_dsa_key
       /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ecdsa_key
       /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ed25519_key
       /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key
               These  files  contain the private parts of the host keys used to generate the digital
               signature.  They should be owned by root, readable only by root, and  not  accessible
               to others.  Since they are readable only by root, ssh-keysign must be set-uid root if
               host-based authentication is used.

       /etc/ssh/ssh_host_dsa_key-cert.pub
       /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ecdsa_key-cert.pub
       /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ed25519_key-cert.pub
       /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key-cert.pub
               If these files exist, they are assumed to contain public certificate information cor‐
               responding with the private keys above.

SEE ALSO
       ssh(1), ssh-keygen(1), ssh_config(5), sshd(8)

HISTORY
       ssh-keysign first appeared in OpenBSD 3.2.

AUTHORS
       Markus Friedl <markus AT openbsd.org>

Debian                                     March 31, 2022                             SSH-KEYSIGN(8)