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--- windows:wsl [2019-08-10 18:54] – rewrote intro, changed title gabriel
+++ windows:wsl [2019-08-11 01:01] – ssh-agent hack gabriel
@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
 set bell-style none
 set bell-style visible
+</code>
+===== Using ssh-agent with multiple shell sessions =====
+WSL doesn't run a full Linux system, rather it acts as an translation layer that can emulate the software
+interface required to run native Linux applications in the Windows kernel.  Among the implications of this
+implementation is the fact that there is no good way start an ssh-agent session that is automatically shared
+all shell sessions in the same manner as a native Linux desktop.
+These hacks allow successive shells to attach to the ssh-agent socket started by your first session.
+These commands should be inserted in ''~/.bashrc'':
+<code>
+# start ssh-agent
+SSHAGENTINFO=/tmp/${USER}-ssh-agent/info
+if [ -f $SSHAGENTINFO ]; then
+  printf "Reading ssh-agent socket info from %s.\n" $SSHAGENTINFO
+  source $SSHAGENTINFO
+else
+  (umask 0077 ; mkdir -p `dirname $SSHAGENTINFO`; ssh-agent > $SSHAGENTINFO)
+  source $SSHAGENTINFO
+fi
+</code>
+To make sure that the session gets cleaned up, insert this in ''~/.bash_logout'':
+<code>
+# shut down our ssh-agent when we close the shell
+ssh-agent -k && rm -f /tmp/${USER}-ssh-agent/info
 </code>