keyster

An SSH authorized key store for use with OpenSSH AuthorizedKeysCommand

Binary Downloads

Example Execution

./keyster -ldap-server ldap.itd.umich.edu:389 -ldap-base-dn dc=umich,dc=edu -key-allow-options -key-duration 720h

Configuration File

The optional configuration file is located at /etc/keyster.yaml

Full configuration example:

server:
	port: ":8000"
	cert: /path/to/ssl.crt
	key: /path/to/ssl.key
	logfile: /var/log/keyster.log
	secret: "\xd6+Ke\xf9\xf2}a\xa6\xab\xc1su>P\x03\xea\x7f\x18U\xbe\x0b\x8b\x04"
mongo:
	url: "mongodb://127.0.0.1:27017/keyster"
ldap:
	server: "ldap.itd.umich.edu:636"
	basedn: "dc=umich,dc=edu"
	ssl: true
key:
	duration: 720h
	allowoptions: true

Arguments provided on the command line will override the configuration file. Keep in mind that -ldap-ssl and -key-allow-options work slightly different, in that they must be supplied to enable the functionality. Not providing them will not disable their respective functionality if explicitly enabled in the configuration file.

Secret

The secret option of server allows you to provide a string to be used in authenticating the user sessions. If not provided, each time keyster starts, a new secret will be generated, invalidating user sessions.

It is recommended that you define a secret if you are using multiple servers, otherwise the individual servers will be unable to uthenticate user sessions.

Usage with AuthorizedKeysCommand

The AuthorizedKeysCommand expects an executable that takes a single argument, which is the username to retrieve the keys for. An example executable may look like:

#!/bin/bash
curl -sf http://keyserver.example.org:3000/users/$1/keys

Name this file something like /usr/local/bin/userkeys.sh and make it executable: chmod a+x /usr/local/bin/userkeys.sh

Now add the following to your /etc/sshd/sshd_config file:

AuthorizedKeysCommand      /usr/local/bin/userkeys.sh
AuthorizedKeysCommandUser  nobody

Most operating systems have a nobody user, but you can replace that user with any non-root user that is different from the user running OpenSSH on the server. This should preferably be a user not already in use by another daemon.

Now, when a user logs in, userkeys.sh will be executed and if there are keys for that user they will be returned by our simple script.

See Also

Better SSH Authorized Keys Management