DOKK / manpages / debian 12 / ssh-askpass-gnome / gnome-ssh-askpass.1.en
GNOME-SSH-ASKPASS(1) General Commands Manual GNOME-SSH-ASKPASS(1)

gnome-ssh-askpassprompts a user for a passphrase using GNOME

gnome-ssh-askpass [message ...]

gnome-ssh-askpass is a GNOME-based passphrase dialog for use with OpenSSH. It is intended to be called by the ssh-add(1) program and not invoked directly. It allows ssh-add(1) to obtain a passphrase from a user, even if not connected to a terminal (assuming that an X display is available). This happens automatically in the case where ssh-add(1) is invoked from one's ~/.xsession or as one of the GNOME startup programs, for example.

In order to be called automatically by ssh-add(1), the SSH_ASKPASS environment variable should be set to point to the location of gnome-ssh-askpass, or gnome-ssh-askpass should be installed as /usr/bin/ssh-askpass.

The following environment variables are recognized:

Text area background color, specified as hexadecimal RGB or RRGGBB, optionally prefixed by “#” or “0x”.
Text area foreground color, specified as hexadecimal RGB or RRGGBB, optionally prefixed by “#” or “0x”.
If set, causes gnome-ssh-askpass to grab the mouse pointer before asking for a passphrase.
If set, causes gnome-ssh-askpass to grab the X server before asking for a passphrase.
If set to confirm, show a yes-or-no prompt, defaulting to yes. If set to none, show a prompt with only a close button. Otherwise, show an OK-or-cancel prompt, defaulting to OK. This environment variable is typically set by ssh-add(1), and should not normally be set manually.

Regardless of whether either GNOME_SSH_ASKPASS_GRAB_POINTER or GNOME_SSH_ASKPASS_GRAB_SERVER is set, gnome-ssh-askpass will grab the keyboard.

November 14, 2022 Debian