Gnome uses two different ssh agents depending on how program is launched

[Kasper Dupont]

If a shell is launched through the menu SSH_AUTH_SOCK will have a value of the form /tmp/keyring-xxxxxx/ssh. If a keyboard shortcut is created through System > Preferences > Keyboard Shortcuts and that shortcut is used to launch a shell, then SSH_AUTH_SOCK will have a value of the form /tmp/ssh-xxxxx#####/agent.#####.

All shells in the session should by default be using the same ssh-agent.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 10.04
Package: gnome-session-bin 2.30.0-0ubuntu1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.32-33.72-generic 2.6.32.41+drm33.18
Uname: Linux 2.6.32-33-generic i686
Architecture: i386
Date: Fri Sep 2 12:06:28 2011
EcryptfsInUse: Yes
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 10.04.3 LTS "Lucid Lynx" - Release i386 (20110720.1)
ProcEnviron:
 PATH=(custom, user)
 LANG=en_DK.utf8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: gnome-session

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Matthieu codron (circlecode)]

I am experiencing a variant of this, but it seems to be the same bug:
I installed terminator. when launching terminator from gnome-shell, SSH_AUTH_SOCK has a value of the form /tmp/keyring-xxxxxx/ssh (this is normal since I commented "use-ssh-agent" in /etc/X11/Xsession.options.

But when launching terminator via a custom shortcut, SSH_AUTH_SOCK is not defined

(By the way, I am using Natty)

[Matthieu codron (circlecode)]

It seems this bug is known in red hat: https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=713955

[Adam Funk (a-funk)]

I'm having a similar problem, which was very confusing until I came across this bug report. If I launch xterm from the applications menu or from a panel launcher created using "add to panel" -> "application launcher" -> xterm, ssh-agent and gpg-agent are available.

But I normally use a custom keybinding from xbindkeys to launch xterms (faster for me than using the mouse), and they don't get the environment variables necessary for ssh-agent and gpg-agent to work.

[Adam Funk (a-funk)]

I only have this problem on a machine upgraded to oneiric (the one still on natty works fine), and I think my problem is that the new version of GNOME session starts xbindkeys up before ssh-agent and gpg-agent, so xbindkeys and processes it starts do not inherit the environment variables. I get the same problem in Unity, Gnome, and Gnome Classic.

I found that on the oneiric machine, xbindkeys seems to be starting before ssh-agent and gpg-agent (according to the PID sequence), but on the natty machine, xbindkeys starts afterwards. Is there a way to fix the session order in oneiric GNOME?

[Tyler Harmor (tharmor)]

Does anyone have a temporary work around for this?

[markgalassi (mark-galassi)]

this is a real show-stopper for gnome3; is there truly no workaround yet?

[Jamin W. Collins (jcollins)]

For xbindkeys users, this bug is reported against Debian here: http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=628654

The work around is to simply create a ~/.xbindkeys.noauto file (note the leading period on the file name). This will prevent the Xsession startup script from launching xbindkeys too early. Then start xbindkeys via your normal mechanism.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

This bug was fixed in the package gnome-settings-daemon - 3.4.0-0ubuntu3

---------------
gnome-settings-daemon (3.4.0-0ubuntu3) precise; urgency=low

  * debian/patches/correct_logout_action.patch:
    - display the logout action on ctrl-alt-del (lp: #961501)
  * debian/patches/60_unity_hide_status_icon.patch:
    - don't show the power status icon under classic either (lp: #965279)
  * debian/patches/git_keyring_environment.patch:
    - "Get the environment from gnome-keyring When launching
       custom applications." (lp: #839444)
 -- Sebastien Bacher <email address hidden> Tue, 03 Apr 2012 17:28:40 +0200