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0 pointsvoltagex_11y ago0 comments

My set up dotfiles in a git repo (~/configs) with a Makefile that symlinks them to the correct location.

I'm hoping someone chimes in with a bit of a better solution but there's no reason you couldn't have ~/.ssh/config symlinked in the same way.

Make sure you know which version/s of ssh you'll be dealing with and make the config work with the lowest version

Some HN articles/discussions:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4677049

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7658459

Some stuff changed in OpenSSH 6+ so read the manpages, too.

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4 comments · 1 top-level

bdarnell11y ago· 3 in thread

There is actually a reason you can't have ~/.ssh/config symlinked the same way: ssh refuses to read a symlink for this file (for security purposes it is strict about the file type and permissions). My workaround is to copy the file instead of symlinking in my dotfile-setup script.

wampus11y ago

I version control the entire directory (ignoring the known_hosts file) somewhere like ~/config/ssh and symlink it to ~/.ssh. It contains a Makefile with a target that runs this command:

    ln -s ${PWD} ~/.ssh

Just make sure the directory is chmod 700 and the important files in it are chmod 600.

jethro_tell11y ago

Also ignore any private keys. For security, but also each host should have a different key so you can burn one without burning them all.

voltagex_OP11y ago

Oops! Thanks for the clarification

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