SSH Infrastructure

Source-controlled SSH routing and wrapper configuration for the Next-Gen jump infrastructure.

Runtime vs project

• Project source: ~/Documents/Workspaces/Bogdan/ssh-infrastructure
• OpenSSH runtime: ~/.ssh

Keep secrets and machine-local state out of this repository:

• private keys: ~/.ssh/keys/
• authorized_keys
• known_hosts
• socket or agent state

The runtime ~/.ssh/config is a generated single-file OpenSSH config. The project is the place to edit wrappers, documentation, inventory, and generator code.

Deploy the local runtime copy with:

tools/deploy-local.sh

The deploy script generates generated/client.conf, installs it as ~/.ssh/config, and installs the wrapper commands into ~/.local/bin. It does not touch keys, authorized_keys, or known_hosts.

Version control

This directory is the git repository for source files only. Generated configs, local state, keys, known hosts, and handoff notes stay out of version control.

Track source changes with:

git status
git add inventory schema scripts tools .doc README.md .gitignore
git commit

Current client layout

~/.ssh/config
~/.local/bin/ssh
~/.local/bin/scp
~/.local/bin/sftp

The wrapper sources stay versioned in scripts/ inside the project; deploy installs executable copies into ~/.local/bin and removes the obsolete ~/.ssh/scripts runtime layout from older checkouts.

Source of Truth

The structured source of truth starts in:

inventory/hosts.yaml
schema/hosts.schema.json
tools/generate-configs.py

The generated/*.conf files are deploy artifacts. They are ignored by git and can be recreated at any time with tools/deploy-local.sh.

Sync from upstream

Pull the upstream inventory, apply this machine's local is-jumper key override, regenerate, and deploy if the inventory changed:

tools/sync-hosts-from-upstream.sh

Defaults:

UPSTREAM_SSH_TARGET=nextgen@192.168.2.103
UPSTREAM_HOSTS_PATH=/home/nextgen/projects/ssh-infrastructure/inventory/hosts.yaml
LOCAL_IS_JUMPER_IDENTITY_FILE=~/.ssh/keys/is-jumper_ed25519
DEPLOY_AFTER_SYNC=1

Useful overrides:

UPSTREAM_HOSTS_FILE=/tmp/hosts.yaml tools/sync-hosts-from-upstream.sh
DEPLOY_AFTER_SYNC=0 tools/sync-hosts-from-upstream.sh
FORCE_DEPLOY=1 tools/sync-hosts-from-upstream.sh

Known defaults captured there:

• jump hosts default to user bogdan.timofte;
• jump hosts default to port 24, with explicit overrides such as 25904;
• final hosts default to user bogdan because most distributions do not like dotted local usernames;
• when imported configs disagree between bogdan and root, bogdan wins;
• final hosts default to port 22, with explicit overrides where needed.
• Cisco/TACACS router entries use auth: password_interactive; generated SSH config marks them so the wrapper does not force BatchMode=yes.
• Imported IFS devices use the canonical hostname already known on the jump servers as client-side HostName, while IPs remain available as aliases for autocomplete.
• J1/J2 configs inherit the company-managed global compatibility block and selected Match Host user/port defaults from the jump servers instead of duplicating them in generated output.
• J1/J2 configs only emit host entries when there is an effective override to keep on the jump side; hosts that only use inherited defaults are omitted.
• J1/J2 generated configs are stripped down to functional SSH stanzas only, without generated comments or group annotations.