(2023-11-30) SSH-Agent Autostart Windows

Today I learned:

Similar to linux, where you enable your ssh-agent so that you only need to unlock your SSH-Key once per Session (reboot), you can enable the ssh-agent on windows aswell.

Steps:

• Have OpenSSH installed (not sure, but I think this is included on modern Windows)
• Go to “Services” in the Start Menu (search for “services” or alternatively run services.msc from the “Run” Dialog)
• Search for “OpenSSH Authentication Agent”, double click it (alternatively: right-click -> properties)
• Set “Start Type” to Automatic (or Automatic (Delayed Start), but then it is not directly available after login)

Afterwards, just like on linux, run ssh-add <path>, where <path> is the path to your private key, to add the key to the agent. From now on, you don’t need to unlock your ssh-key everytime you use it.