Effortlessly generate SSH keys with a streamlined BASH script. This script creates neatly organized archives with standardized file names, public/private key pairs, and a matching checksum—perfect for secure and hassle-free storage.
Note
Why not use a Python script?
Of course SSH keypack could be much fancier, safer and modern as a Python script. But I wanted it to be extremely simple to deploy and use on any of my systems with minimal dependencies. It is just a hacky script for personal use!
This script requires OpenSSH. For Debian-based distributions, you can install OpenSSH with:
sudo apt install --yes openssh-client
Create a symlink to your current user local binary folder to call ssh-keypack
from shell.
chmod +x ssh-keypack.sh
ln -s ssh-keygen ~/.local/bin/ssh-keypackTo generate a key pack, run the script with the required command line arguments:
ssh-keypack <algorithm> <user> <host> <optional:git-username> <optional:git-repository>All available positional command line arguments are listed below and can be
review from the command line via the ssh-keypack --help command:
| Positional argument | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
algorithm |
Yes | Algorithm string passed to ssh-keygen. |
user |
Yes | Username associated with this SSH key pair. |
host |
Yes | Hostname associated with this SSH key pair. |
git-username |
No | Owner of the Git repository associated with this SSH key pair. |
git-repository |
No | Name of the Git repository associated with this SSH key pair. |
The fields marked with <optional> are meant for SSH keys to access specific
repositories and may be omitted.
- Comment schema for generic SSH key:
<algorithm>-key-<unix-seconds-timestamp>-<user>@<host> - Comment schema for Git repository SSH key:
<algorithm>-key-<unix-seconds-timestamp>-<user>@<host>:<git-user>+<git-repository>
Filenames follow a scheme analogous to the SSH keys comment, but in the case of
Git repository paths replace the character / with + to comply with
filesystem naming restrictions.
The following extensions are used:
.ospubk: public key in OpenSSH format.ospk: private key in OpenSSH format.sha256: SHA256 checkum of the private key
Use ssh-keypack with care: it is a simple BASH script with no input validation
or safety checks of any kind.