GNOME/Keyring

GNOME Keyring

The GNOME Keyring stores passwords in an encrypted file that can be accessed by applications.

SSH Keys

To add your SSH key:

$ ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_dsa
Enter passphrase for /home/mith/.ssh/id_dsa:

To list automatically loaded keys:

$ ssh-add -L

To disable all keys;

$ ssh-add -D

Now when you connect to a server, the key will be found and a dialog will popup asking you for the passphrase. It has an option to automatically unlock the key when you login. If you check this you won't need to enter your passphrase again!

Unlock at Startup

GNOME's login manager (gdm) will automatically unlock the keyring once you login, for others it isn't so easy.