FIDO2 SSH key:

# generate
$ ssh-keygen -t ed25519-sk -O resident -O application=ssh:dub@podval.org-yk5c-fido2

# list
$ ykman fido credentials list

# delete
$ ykman fido credentials delete <key substring>

# activate
$ ssh-add -K

# list
$ ssh-add -L

# deactivate
$ ssh-add -D

# activate permanently
# writes identity files for all resident keys disamgiuating by the `application` parameter
$ ssh-keygen -K

Key comment:

  • ssh-keygen -C "comment" is not stored in the key
  • public key written during key generation has the default comment user@host
  • public key retrieved by ssh-keygen -K has the comment from the -O application parameter
  • ykman fido credentials list shows hex representation of the value of the -O user parameter

By default, FIDO2 SSH keys require touch (presence detection) for each operation. It is possible to disable this at generation time with ssh-keygen ... -O no-touch-required, but such keys are rejected by default, and sshd needs to be re-configured to accept them. I am not going to fight this since:

  • it is more surprising (compared to PIV keys) than annoying,
  • it requires re-configuration of SSHD,
  • GitHub rejects no-touch-required keys,
  • it is more secure
  • even when the key is generated with -touch-required AND is prefixed in the authorized_keys file with -touch-required, rclone still requires touch, and sometimes - multiple…
  • todo Message about the touch wait is not being shown - link to the bug
  • Note about backup keys
  • todo update blog post