can't figure out ssh, read lots of docs...

[Giorgos Keramidas]

On 2005-06-02 10:38, Lowell Gilbert <freebsd-questions-local at be-well.ilk.org> wrote:
> Giorgos Keramidas <keramida at ceid.upatras.gr> writes:
> > On 2005-06-01 14:38, Nathan Kinkade <nkinkade at ub.edu.bz> wrote:
> > > The poster is correct in that what you probably what to do is setup
> > > public-key authentication using ssh, however, I would highly recommend
> > > that you NOT use a blank passphrase for your private key.  ssh-agent,
> > > a utility that I think comes standard with the openssh package [...]
> >
> > My strong agreement about *NOT* using empty passphrases.  Indeed,
> > ssh-agent comes with OpenSSH and it is a _MUCH_ better way of using
> > SSH keys with non-empty passphrases.
>
> The original poster wanted to do automated backups via scp.  This kind
> of application *requires* empty passphrases

Nope.  scp works fine with a pass-phrase too, if one uses ssh-agent
properly, regardless of the remote user being root or not.