What command is used to hold keys during a login session to be used for automatic authentication while logging in to other machines using ssh?

Question

Options

• Asshd
• Bssh-agent
• Cssh-keygen
• Dssh-add

• A
  3% (1)
• B
  78% (25)
• C
  13% (4)
• D
  6% (2)

Explanation

ssh-agent is correct because it runs as a background process that holds your private keys in memory for the duration of a login session, allowing you to authenticate to remote machines via SSH without re-entering your passphrase each time. sshd is the SSH daemon (server) that listens for incoming connections - it's the remote side, not the client-side key holder. ssh-keygen is used to generate key pairs, not to manage or cache them during a session. ssh-add is closely related but is the command used to load keys into a running ssh-agent - it's the agent itself that holds them, making B the better answer.

Memory tip: Think of ssh-agent as a security agent standing guard over your keys for the whole session - it's the keeper, while ssh-add is just how you hand keys to that keeper.

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