Graphical ssh private key prompt not showing up

Solution 1:

I think what you're really looking for is keychain, which is similar to the ssh-reagent you mention. Once configured in your .bashrc it'll prompt for the passphrase of the key(s) you asked it to manage only when you launch the first terminal after login and makes sure every new terminal knows about your ssh-agent.

Solution 2:

To resolve the issue of entering the password multiple times, enter this command the first time you open a terminal: ssh-add

No need to enter the password until you log out.

Solution 3:

It should be automatic if you've set up the ssh key on both systems. With a default installation, I've never had to do anything else.

In case you haven't done this, here is the way it's done:

Generate the key (either RSA or DSA). I think RSA is more common.

ssh-keygen -t rsa

or

ssh-keygen -t dsa

Transfer the key to the remote system:

ssh-copy-id *username* @ *hostname*

If not using the standard port 22: (note quotes are required around argument)

ssh-copy-id *username* @ *hostname* -p *portnum*"

If using DSA, you need to use a something like:

ssh-copy-id -i *path*  *to*   id_dsa

Once I've done that, I get the dialog. In the past, I remember that if I ran the terminal in a certain way, it wouldn't give the dialog, but I can't remember the details. I think it was when I created a hotkey for a custom command to set the directory due to a bug where the terminal kept coming up in the root directory even though it knew my home directory.