Azure-devops-docs: SSH Task says it completes but the Key is not available later in the Build

[whytoe]

Task 1 (SSH Key Task)
2018-08-08T17:26:22.3710635Z [command]/usr/bin/ssh-add -L
2018-08-08T17:26:22.3727802Z The agent has no identities.
2018-08-08T17:26:22.3873915Z [command]/usr/bin/ssh-add /opt/vsts/work/_temp/id_rsa
2018-08-08T17:26:22.4001402Z [command]/usr/bin/ssh-add
2018-08-08T17:26:22.4019099Z Enter passphrase for /opt/vsts/work/_temp/id_rsa: 
2018-08-08T17:26:22.4867866Z ##[section]Finishing: Install an SSH key

Task 2
cat: /opt/vsts/work/_temp/id_rsa: No such file or directory

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Document Details

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• ID: 9ce9d017-fc43-c904-d94b-87cf91265ffc
• Version Independent ID: ecf3b0b7-6c2c-1cd9-33a9-2cf562932e2b
• Content: Install SSH Key
• Content Source: docs/pipelines/tasks/utility/install-ssh-key.md
• Product: devops
• GitHub Login: @erickson-doug
• Microsoft Alias: dastahel

[whytoe]

@steved0x is there anyone else that can look at this? The documentation on the task doesnt give specific usage that I was able to find

[thomas5k]

I think the intent is that it just "installs" the key into a (running) ssh-agent, so you shouldn't need to actually touch the key itself. If you use this task and then make a powershell call like "ssh myuser@myhost 'ls -lah'" as part of the same phase, it should work if myuser@myhost has the public key in their authorized_keys file. If you're coming from Jenkins, it's similar to doing sshagent([sshCredentialId]) { sh 'ssh myuser@myhost "ls -lah"' }.

[whytoe]

I tried to use it in the same task but that failed, i will try the suggestion but the task isn't descriptive

[JonnyWaffles]

I couldn't get this task to work either. After the SSH Key was successfully installed it is not available to the agent.

Running ls ~/.ssh on the agent reveals an empty key folder:
2018-10-24T17:33:40.8141338Z drwxr-xr-x 1 VssAdministrator 197121 0 Oct 24 17:33 .
2018-10-24T17:33:40.8141445Z drwxr-xr-x 1 VssAdministrator 197121 0 Oct 24 17:33 ..
2018-10-24T17:33:40.8141492Z -rw-r--r-- 1 VssAdministrator 197121 28 Oct 24 17:33 known_hosts

[schroerbrian]

I haven't been able to use the key when trying to clone a target repo from bitbucket. When testing on my local machine, I'm able to use the same key to clone the target bitbucket repo. Running ssh-add -L lists the key and cat'ing known_hosts displays "bitbucket.org"; however when trying to clone the target bitbucket repo, I get a "Host key verification failed." error.

[yangli6]

Got the same problem here. What is the status now?

[igor-sadchenko]

I have the same problem.

[amanpatel]

Same issue. I have a bitbucket dependency in my package.json, and even installing & configuring a key on both ends, npm install fails with Host key verification failed error. Would love to see a fix.

[yangli6]

This bug still exists on the build agent "Hosted Ubuntu 1604", but on "Hosted Linux Preview" build agent, this bug cannot be reproduced. However, MS is going to remove "Hosted Linux Preview" agent pool from December 1, 2018, so be careful. It looks like this bug is related to the Ubuntu build agent, so another workaround in my mind is to set up your own build agent, and it is obviously required some maintenance works.

[andresbarcenas]

Hello,

I am having the same issue with ruby (bundle) with private github repos even when specifying the correct SSH key

2019-01-25T22:50:20.1255624Z Host key verification failed.
2019-01-25T22:50:20.1256391Z fatal: Could not read from remote repository.
2019-01-25T22:50:20.1256654Z
2019-01-25T22:50:20.1257132Z Please make sure you have the correct access rights
2019-01-25T22:50:20.1257400Z and the repository exists.

Any ideas?

[lkillgore]

These are the steps I used to get it working:
1) Create an SSH key on your local dev box (ssh-keygen), which will create a mykey, and mykey.pub file
2) Upload the mykey.pub (public) SSH key to your source provider (GitHub or Bitbucket) via their supplied means
3) On your dev box, add the ssh-key (ssh-add ~/.ssh/github_id_rsa)
4) Checkout the source on your dev box (git clone [email protected]:orgname/reponame.git)
5) While checking out the repository, you should be prompted whether to effectively add the key to your known_hosts file. Type 'yes'.
6) Open your known_hosts file (C:\Users\<username>\.ssh\known_hosts or ~/.ssh/known_hosts)

You now have everything you need to correctly fill in the Install SSH Key task:

• 'Known Hosts Entry' - Is the line in step 6
• 'SSH Key', 'SSH Public Key', and 'SSH Passphrase' - were created in step 1

I hope this clears things up. Please let me know if you have other questions.

[davidstaheli]

The above, last-most comment has been documented. Please reopen if any issues remain.

[cdesewell]

You may need to add/run the following as some git clients on windows will not use the correct keystore:

git config --global core.sshCommand "'C:\Windows\System32\OpenSSH\ssh.exe'"

[Lutando]

I changed my build agent to mac and it worked. I think this task doesn't work the same across the various platforms, but SSH mechanics have always been different across the various OS platforms.

[lukewiwa]

As a follow up to this you need to do the steps on the same architecture as your pipeline is running on. I was trying to generate a key locally on a Mac and kept on running into log in issues, I had to redo the steps above in a docker container to get the correct values.

[jashan05]

I am getting the same error as i cannot see any key being copied to .ssh folder. I am using docker container as a build agent with Ubuntu 18. Also when i run some commands after using Install Leys step, those commands doesnt work and i get the error - Host key verification failed.