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SSH Agent Forwarding not working with Remote SSH on MacOS (still a problem)

Fresh3 days ago
Mar 14, 20260 views
Confidence Score95%
95%

Problem

The title is the same as microsoft/vscode-remote-release#2671 because I'm having precisely the same problem, and that issue was closed without a resolution. In short, ssh agent forwarding does not work in VSCode, despite working just fine when I SSH in via the terminal. It seems to be due to a stale / cached `SSH_AUTH_SOCK`. The workaround suggested in microsoft/vscode-remote-release#2671 no longer works, but a minor modification does it for me. See below. VSCode Version: [code block] OS: Darwin 20.6.0 Local OS Version: MacOS 11.6.1 Remote OS Version: `Debian GNU/Linux 10 (buster) (GNU/Linux 4.19.0-18-cloud-amd64 x86_64)` Remote Extension/Connection Type: SSH Steps to Reproduce: 1. set up ssh config with a host you want to forward your ssh agent keys to and set 'ForwardAgent yes' 1. Connect via terminal ssh and perform an operation requiring your forwarded key (in my case, `ssh -T git@github.com`) 1. launch VSCode and validate that $SSH_AUTH_SOCK is set 1. Connect via Remote-SSH, then use the VSCode terminal to run `ssh -T git@github.com`. This time, I receive a permission denied error. Does this issue occur when you try this locally?: NA Does this issue occur when you try this locally and all extensions are disabled?: NA Possible cause The environment variable `SSH_AUTH_SOCK` appears to be stale. A workaround is to run [code block] which sets the socket to the newest one. Note that this workaround is quite fragile, as I had to modify the previous workaround to mak

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2 Fixes

Canonical Fix
Unverified Fix
New Fix – Awaiting Verification

Fix SSH Agent Forwarding in VSCode on MacOS

Medium Risk

The issue arises due to a stale or cached `SSH_AUTH_SOCK` environment variable when using VSCode's Remote-SSH feature. Unlike terminal SSH, VSCode may not correctly inherit the updated socket path, leading to permission denied errors when accessing remote services that require SSH key authentication.

Awaiting Verification

Be the first to verify this fix

  1. 1

    Check Current SSH_AUTH_SOCK

    Open a terminal and check the current value of the SSH_AUTH_SOCK environment variable to ensure it is set correctly.

    bash
    echo $SSH_AUTH_SOCK
  2. 2

    Modify SSH Config

    Ensure your SSH config file (usually located at ~/.ssh/config) has the correct settings for agent forwarding. Add or confirm the following line under the relevant host entry: `ForwardAgent yes`.

    yaml
    Host your_remote_host
  ForwardAgent yes
  3. 3

    Update SSH_AUTH_SOCK in VSCode

    Before connecting to the remote host in VSCode, run the following command in the VSCode terminal to update the SSH_AUTH_SOCK variable to the current socket path.

    bash
    export SSH_AUTH_SOCK=$(ls /private/tmp/com.apple.launchd.* | grep ssh | head -n 1)
  4. 4

    Connect to Remote Host

    Use the Remote-SSH extension in VSCode to connect to your remote host. Ensure that the connection is established without errors.

    plaintext
    Remote-SSH: Connect to Host...
  5. 5

    Test SSH Key Access

    Once connected, open the integrated terminal in VSCode and run a command that requires SSH authentication, such as `ssh -T git@github.com`, to verify that agent forwarding is functioning correctly.

    bash
    ssh -T git@github.com

Validation

To confirm that the fix worked, ensure that the command `ssh -T git@github.com` executes successfully without permission denied errors. Additionally, verify that the SSH_AUTH_SOCK variable points to the correct socket path in the VSCode terminal.

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1 low-confidence fix
Unverified Fix
New Fix – Awaiting Verification

Fix SSH Agent Forwarding in VSCode on MacOS

Medium Risk

The issue arises due to a stale or cached `SSH_AUTH_SOCK` environment variable when using VSCode's Remote-SSH extension. This prevents the SSH agent from properly forwarding keys, resulting in permission denied errors when attempting to use SSH commands in the VSCode terminal.

Awaiting Verification

Be the first to verify this fix

  1. 1

    Check Current SSH_AUTH_SOCK

    Open your terminal and check the current value of the `SSH_AUTH_SOCK` variable to ensure it is set correctly before launching VSCode.

    bash
    echo $SSH_AUTH_SOCK
  2. 2

    Modify SSH Config for Agent Forwarding

    Ensure your SSH config file (usually located at ~/.ssh/config) has the correct settings for agent forwarding. Add or verify the following line under your host configuration: `ForwardAgent yes`.

    yaml
    Host your_remote_host
  ForwardAgent yes
  3. 3

    Update SSH_AUTH_SOCK in VSCode

    Before connecting to the remote host in VSCode, run the following command in the VSCode terminal to update the `SSH_AUTH_SOCK` variable to the latest socket. This ensures that the correct socket is being used for agent forwarding.

    bash
    export SSH_AUTH_SOCK=$(ls -t /private/tmp/com.apple.launchd.* | head -n 1)
  4. 4

    Connect to Remote Host via VSCode

    Use the Remote-SSH extension in VSCode to connect to your remote host. Ensure that you are using the updated `SSH_AUTH_SOCK` variable.

    typescript
    Remote-SSH: Connect to Host...
  5. 5

    Test SSH Key Access

    Once connected to the remote host, open a new terminal in VSCode and test your SSH key access by running a command like `ssh -T git@github.com`. You should no longer receive a permission denied error.

    bash
    ssh -T git@github.com

Validation

To confirm the fix worked, ensure that you can successfully run `ssh -T git@github.com` in the VSCode terminal without any permission denied errors. Additionally, verify that the `SSH_AUTH_SOCK` variable points to a valid socket by checking its value before and after connecting to the remote host.

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Environment

Submitted by

AC

Alex Chen

2450 rep

Tags

vscodeideeditorbugremoteterminal-persistence