automate ssh-keygen for github in powershell

Question

Is there a way to automate the ssh-keygen method in powershell? I'm trying to do it with the following code, but it requires the user to enter a password.

# Create your GitHub SSH Key
$MyEmailAddress = "[email protected]"
if (! (Test-Path  ("~/.ssh/id_rsa_test"))){

    ssh-keygen -t rsa -C "$MyEmailAddress" -f "id_rsa_test"

}

I tried entering the password switch, but then it complains that the password is null.

# either
ssh-keygen -t rsa -C "$MyEmailAddress" -f "id_rsa_test" -N ""

# or 
ssh-keygen -t rsa -C "$MyEmailAddress" -f "id_rsa_test" -N "$null"

I don't want a password in my key.

PS: I'm using poshgit which depends on mysysgit.

Please note, the answer here (stackoverflow.com/a/14946700/124069) isn't valid since -N '' throws a validation error on Windows because -N is null. — Chase Florell
– Chase Florell, Commented Sep 7, 2013 at 4:57
the further I dig, the more I'm thinking has to do with mysysgit throwing a null validation error when maybe it shouldn't. I've posted an "issue" github.com/msysgit/msysgit/issues/132 — Chase Florell
– Chase Florell, Commented Sep 7, 2013 at 5:13
Maybe a I am little off-base, but it does seem a bit important in the creation of a cert that you do use a password - Yes I know and understand each Organization/Business requirements are different. However, when you state that you want to remove the password from the input screen, this could trigger an audit. Just my couple thoughts here. Kent — Leptonator
– Leptonator, Commented Sep 7, 2013 at 6:03
Why do you even want to automate ssh-keygen? What problem are you trying to solve? — user456814
– user456814, Commented Sep 7, 2013 at 6:47
@Cupcake I'm wiring up a Boxstarter script to automate the deployment and configuration of a Dev computer within a Virtual Machine. When connecting to github, it's a pain to have to enter a password for every push. There are many who just ENTER through the [Type a passphrase] section. help.github.com/articles/generating-ssh-keys — Chase Florell
– Chase Florell, Commented Sep 7, 2013 at 15:04

sschuberth · Accepted Answer · 2020-04-26 08:43:23Z

12

PowerShell seems to remove the empty double quotes and probably requires to escape them. Using """" instead of "" seems to work. Also, I believe one should use -P (passphrase) instead of -N (new passphrase in case you change it). So the final command line would be

ssh-keygen -t rsa -C "$MyEmailAddress" -f "id_rsa_test" -P """"

edited Apr 26, 2020 at 8:43

answered Sep 7, 2013 at 19:52

sschuberth

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4 Comments

Chase Florell Over a year ago

Same problem

C:\Users\Chase> ssh-keygen -t rsa -C "[email protected]" -f "id_rsa_test" -P "" ssh-keygen.exe": option requires an argument -- P

sschuberth Over a year ago

PowerShell seems to remove the empty double quotes and probably requires to escape them. Using -P """" seems to work.

Jim Over a year ago

Putting this into a Start-Process cmdlet worked the best for me: Start-Process ssh-keygen -ArgumentList '-t rsa -b 4096 -P """" -C "[email protected]" -f "id_rsa"' -Wait

Kellen Stuart Over a year ago

You could just define it as a variable??? Come on guys: $password = '""'.... -P $password

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