Add the ability to save the password in hosts.yaml

[9Demien9]

It's a great app, but I really miss the ability to save passwords for hosts. I understand that this cannot be done through ssh/config, but is it possible to do it through hosts.yaml? I know that it's better to use keys, but this is not always possible.

[grafviktor]

Hello @9Demien9 ! Thanks for your interest.

Though I understand your pain, there is a reason why this feature was not implemented. I'm not a security expert and can't take the risk of storing someone's sensitive data. You can tweak the app and integrate sshpass if you wish. I think, it should be a very straightforward change. But nevertheless I would recommend relying on ssh identity files instead.

However, I'm open to discussions and will be happy to add this feature in one of future releases, if someone can suggest a way how to make this change obvious, simple and secure. :-)

[9Demien9]

Thank you for your reply, @9Demien9 .

Another question then. You cannot use key-based authentification because you cannot append your public ssh key to $HOME/.ssh/authorized_keys file on these machines or because on those systems public keys auth is explicitly disabled in sshd configuration?

PubkeyAuthentication no

Rights are severely limited, and I don't have access there config.

[grafviktor]

Rights are severely limited, and I don't have access there config.

Sorry for being so persistent, just trying to help and understand the problem/use case a bit deeper. Despite that you cannot read their config, could you confirm that you also cannot install your public key to the remote server's $HOME/.ssh/authorized_keys file (either manually or using ssh-copy-id command) ?

[9Demien9]

Rights are severely limited, and I don't have access there config.

Sorry for being so persistent, just trying to help and understand the problem/use case a bit deeper. Despite that you cannot read their config, could you confirm that you also cannot install your public key to the remote server's $HOME/.ssh/authorized_keys file (either manually or using ssh-copy-id command) ?

Of course it works, but I don't always use the same devices for access, and it's not very convenient to spread out the keys every time.
But after thinking about it, I've come to the conclusion that you're right, it's not safe, and there's no real need for it.
Thank you for your time.

[grafviktor]

No problem at all. I totaly agree with you, that it's not very convenient to install the keys if you have lots of hosts, maybe this is the actual problem which should be solved. I have 96 machines in my DB at the moment, so I completely understand you.

The reason of all my questions above is to ensure that there are real cases, which require storing passwords. The amount of work to implement this feature properly is considerable and I do not want to add something which won't be demanded. If there is a workaround I would stick to it and spend time on other features.

If you're fine with the outcome of this discussion, could you please mark it as answered, closed, or whatever option you have :-)

Thank you,
Roman.

[9Demien9]

If you're fine with the outcome of this discussion, could you please mark it as answered, closed, or whatever option you have :-)

Thank you, Roman.

Yes, of course, I'm closing it, thank you again. Good luck with your future development, you're creating the right program.