x11-ssh-askpass(1)

📦 version 1.2.4.1, in arch rolling

💅 x11-ssh-askpass — the manual page, bestie edition ✨

okay so picture this: it's the General Commands Manual for x11-ssh-askpass, and it is literally the pass-phrase dialog that pops up when OpenSSH needs your secret. she's an X11 girlie, she's iconic, and she has thoughts. let's get into it 🎀

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

x11-ssh-askpass [options] [label]

that's it. that's the whole vibe check. 💅

✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

so x11-ssh-askpass is an X11-based pass-phrase dialog, and she exists to serve OpenSSH. she is intended to be called from the ssh-add(1) program and not invoked directly — like, she's not a solo artist, she's a featured verse on ssh-add's track. don't come for her at the command line unprompted, okay? 🙈

she supports most standard Toolkit command line arguments — most — with the exception of -geometry, -borderwidth, -iconic, -rv, and -title. those five? she said no thank you. if you want the full lore on Toolkit args, go see X(1). 📖

now, if exactly one non-option argument shows up on the command line, she displays that in the dialog instead of the default label. and if your argument contains newline characters ('\n'), each line of text gets displayed on a separate line in the dialog. multi-line queen behavior, we love to see it. 🦋

the features of x11-ssh-askpass are, and I quote, as follows:

  • Configurable via the standard X resource mechanisms /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/app-defaults, ~/.Xdefaults, xrdb(1), etc. — all the classics. ⭐
  • Requires only stock X11 libraries (libXt, libX11, libSM, libICE). no weird dependencies, no drama, she's low-maintenance fr. 🧚
  • Can be configured to grab the keyboard and/or pointer — and ngl, she grabs the keyboard by default, not the pointer. 👑

the user interface is kinda built different than most password/pass-phrase dialogs — she's more similar to the X11-based pass-phrase dialog that accompanies the regular SSH distribution. instead of a text field filling up with asterisks or whatever character as you type your pass-phrase, a series of LED-like areas light up one-by-one with each pass-phrase character entered, beginning from the left-hand edge of the dialog. and when they reach the right-hand edge? they go dark one-by-one again, and so on, forever, like a little screensaver of your secrets. 💀

the point of this whole light show: it gives you feedback that pass-phrase characters have been entered, but it does not give onlookers a cue as to the length of the pass-phrase. privacy icon behavior. nobody in the coffee shop can count your LEDs and clock your word count. 🔥

pressing the ‘OK’ button accepts the pass-phrase (even if it is empty — yes, even then, she's not gonna judge you), which is printed on the standard output, and the dialog exits with a status of zero (success). pressing the ‘Cancel’ button discards the pass-phrase, and the dialog exits with non-zero status. simple as that. ✨

the following keystrokes work as expected:

  • [Backspace], [Delete] — erase previous character
  • [Control+U], [Control+X] — erase entire pass-phrase
  • [Enter], [Control+M], [Control+J] — accept pass-phrase (OK)
  • [Escape] — discard pass-phrase (Cancel)

🎀 WIDGETS 🎀

the main window of x11-ssh-askpass has the widget hierarchy shown below. the widget class name is given first, followed by the instance name. (class first, instance second — write that down.) 📝

Dialog  dialog

        Indicator  indicator
        Button     okButton
        Button     cancelButton

💜 RESOURCES 💜

The following resources are used to customize the application globally:

  • grabKeyboard (class GrabKeyboard) — specifies if the application should grab the keyboard. Default value: “True”.
  • grabPointer (class GrabPointer) — specifies if the application should grab the pointer. Default value: “False”.
  • grabServer (class GrabServer) — specifies if the application should grab the server. Default value: “False”.
  • inputTimeout (class InputTimeout) — the number of seconds x11-ssh-askpass should wait for a key or button press before it gives up and exits. a timeout of “0” means wait forever. Default value: “0”.
  • defaultXResolution (class DefaultXResolution) — the number of pixels per unit length that horizontal spacing and width values are intended for. If the actual horizontal (x) resolution of the X server is significantly greater or less than this value, portions of the dialog, indicator, and button widgets are stretched or shrunk horizontally to take the difference into account. The value is a positive integer, followed by a slash (/) and a one- or two-character unit abbreviation. Valid units are inches (in or i) and meters (m). Default value: “75/in” (75 pixels per inch).
  • defaultYResolution (class DefaultYResolution) — the number of pixels per unit length that vertical spacing and height values are intended for. If the actual vertical (y) resolution of the X server is significantly greater or less than this value, portions of the dialog, indicator, and button widgets are stretched or shrunk vertically to take the difference into account. Valid values are the same as for defaultXResolution above. Default value: “75/in” (75 pixels per inch).
  • xResolutionFuzz (class XResolutionFuzz) — the range of “fuzz” around the value of defaultXResolution beyond which some widgets will be stretched or shrunk horizontally to fit the current actual horizontal resolution. Valid values are the same as for defaultXResolution. For example, if the default X resolution is “75/in”, and the X resolution fuzz is “50/in”, then widgets won't be scaled horizontally unless the actual horizontal resolution is less than 25 pixels per inch or greater than 125 pixels per inch. Default value: “20/in” (20 pixels per inch).
  • yResolutionFuzz (class YResolutionFuzz) — the range of “fuzz” around the value of defaultYResolution beyond which some widgets will be stretched or shrunk vertically to fit the current actual vertical resolution. Valid values are the same as for defaultXResolution above. Default value: “20/in” (20 pixels per inch).

🫶 resources the Dialog widget recognizes

  • title (class Title) — The title of the application as specified to the window manager.
  • label (class Label) — The label displayed above the led indicators.
  • font (class Font) — The font to be used to display the label.

🌈 resources recognized by the dialog, button, and indicator widgets and the main widget

these ones customize the 3D appearance, and heads up: all measurements are in pixels. 📏

  • foreground (class Foreground) — The foreground color of the widget. This is the text color of the label for buttons and dialog and the color of the active led for the indicator.
  • background (class Background) — The background color of the widget. In the case of the indicator this is the color of the inactive led.
  • topShadowColor (class TopShadowColor) — The color used by the sides of the widget exposed to the light (top and left).
  • bottomShadowColor (class BottomShadowColor) — The color used by the sides of the widget in the shadow (right and bottom).
  • shadowThickness (class ShadowTickness) — The thickness of the 3D border of the widget.
  • borderColor (class BorderColor) — The color of the border around the widget.
  • borderWidth (class BorderWidth) — The width of the border around the widget.
  • horizontalSpacing (class HorizontalSpacing) — The space to leave on left and right sides of the widget.
  • verticalSpacing (class VerticalSpacing) — The space to leave on top and bottom sides of the widget.
💀 okay before anyone comes for me: yes, the class for shadowThickness is spelled ShadowTickness in the original, and yes I'm keeping it exactly like that. it's canon. don't @ me, it's not a typo I made, it's a typo they made, and the manual says what the manual says. 🙈

🍓 resources the indicator widgets recognize

  • minimumCount (class MinimumCount) — The minimum number of indicators to display in the dialog.
  • maximumCount (class MaximumCount) — The maximum number of indicators to display in the dialog.

⭐ each button uses these to customize its label

  • label (class Label) — the string to display on the button.
  • font (class Font) — the font to use for this button label.

🦋 FILES 🦋

  • /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/app-defaults/SshAskpass

that's the one file. she's tidy. ✨

👑 SEE ALSO 👑

X(1), ssh(1), ssh-agent(1)

go read those too, bestie, they're the extended universe. 💖

📜 LICENSE 📜

okay so the legal bit. some portions of x11-ssh-askpass are derived directly or indirectly from portions of xscreensaver by Jamie Zawinski <jwz@jwz.org>, while others are original works. here's the paperwork, unedited, because I am not about to paraphrase a license:

xscreensaver, Copyright © 1991-1999 Jamie Zawinski ⟨jwz@jwz.org⟩ Permission to use, copy, modify, distribute, and sell this software and its documentation for any purpose is hereby granted without fee, provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies and that both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in supporting documentation. No representations are made about the suitability of this software for any purpose. It is provided "as is" without express or implied warranty.

the remaining portions fall under the following copyright and license:

x11-ssh-askpass by Jim Knoble ⟨jmknoble@pobox.com⟩ Copyright © 1999,2000,2001 Jim Knoble Permission to use, copy, modify, distribute, and sell this software and its documentation for any purpose is hereby granted without fee, provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies and that both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in supporting documentation.

"as is" without express or implied warranty — no cap, that's the real wording and you should take it seriously. 🫶

and that's the whole page, babes 💅 this was Version 1.2.4.1, dated September 17, 2001 — an elder but a legend, and she's still showing up to grab that keyboard. periodt. 🎀✨

📦 where this page comes from