● Covered by 1 source · 1 reportLow impact1 neutral
New SSH-askpass tool developed in Zig and GTK4 without X11 dependency
Key points
- New `ssh-askpass` written in Zig 0.16 and GTK4.
- Avoids X11 dependencies found in other Gentoo `ssh-askpass` implementations.
- Provides a graphical passphrase prompt for OpenSSH in non-TTY environments.
- Addresses issues with `go get` and other tools requiring SSH keys without a terminal.
Addressing SSH Passphrase Prompts
A new `ssh-askpass` utility has been developed using Zig 0.16 and GTK4. This tool provides a graphical interface for entering SSH key passphrases when OpenSSH cannot prompt on a pipe, which occurs in environments lacking a terminal. This is particularly useful for scenarios like `go get` operations or other build processes that fetch private modules over SSH without a TTY.
Avoiding X11 Dependencies
The primary motivation for this new development was to create an `ssh-askpass` solution that does not pull in X11 or a full KDE stack, which are common dependencies for existing `ssh-askpass` packages in the Gentoo distribution. The developer utilized hand-written bindings to ensure X11 is excluded from the build, offering a lighter-weight alternative for systems that do not require a full X11 environment.
Current Gentoo Offerings
Existing `ssh-askpass` options available in Gentoo's Portage include `kde-plasma/ksshaskpass`, `lxqt-base/lxqt-openssh-askpass`, `net-misc/gnome-ssh-askpass`, `net-misc/ssh-askpass-fullscreen`, and `net-misc/x11-ssh-askpass`. All these options either depend on X11 or a desktop environment, which the new Zig-based tool aims to circumvent.
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Primary sources
GitHub lxqt/lxqt-openssh-askpass GitHub atj/ssh-askpass-fullscreen GitHub sigmavirus24/x11-ssh-askpass GitHub mrusme/ssh-askpass-zigtk GitHub ungoogled-software/ungoogled-chromiumReporting from
A developer created a new `ssh-askpass` utility using Zig 0.16 and GTK4, specifically designed to avoid X11 dependencies common in existing Gentoo packages. This tool addresses the need for a graphical passphrase prompt when OpenSSH requires an ED25519 key passphrase in environments without a terminal, such as during `go get` operations.