Re: run ssh in emacs

[Ted Zlatanov <tzz@lifelogs.com>]

On Thu, 15 Jan 2015 15:26:54 -0500 Haines Brown <haines@histomat.net> wrote: 

HB> Ted Zlatanov <tzz@lifelogs.com> writes:
>> What does `auth-sources' contain?
>> 
>> Turn `auth-source-debug' to 'trivia to see useful debug logs in
>> *Messages*.  That will help you figure out what's going wrong, and what
>> specifically is needed in the .authinfo file.

HB> Thanks, Ted, but I've made no progress. Auth-sources is new to me. I've
HB> managed for years without being aware of it. I suppose that's because
HB> its defaults suited my needs. Now I'm variouly told it is both a library
HB> and a variable, which leaves me uncomfortable.

`auth-sources' is a variable (the `quoted' format is standard in the
Emacs community).  So is `auth-source-debug'.  auth-source.el is a library.

You may want to consult (info "auth") to learn more about the library.

HB> This ~/.emacs.d/elisp/tramp is an init file that has only these lines:

HB>      (set auth-source-debug `trivia)
HB>      (setq tramp-default-method "ssh")
HB>      (require 'auth-source) 
HB>      (customize-variable 'auth-sources) 

HB> The second line is because I use SSH most often with LAN hosts. The
HB> third and fourth lines probably unecessary.

Yes, the third is superfluous and the fourth is probably wrong.

More importantly, (set auth-source-debug `trivia) is just wrong.  You
mean to use `setq' there, but you should just customize the variable:

`M-x customize-variable RET auth-source-debug'

Save the customization.  Done.  Learn this method and use it for all
variables you want to change.  The interface is very helpful.

Do the same for `tramp-default-method' to set it to "ssh" as you desire.
There's no reason to run these only when you use Tramp.

HB> I now do C-x C-f /HostName.com:

HB>   ssh: Could not resolve hostname HostName.com. Name or server not known
HB>   Tramp: Waiting for prompts...

HB>   In *Messages* buffer:

HB>     Loading tramp... done
HB>     Tramp: Opening Connection for HostName.com using ssh
HB>     Tramp: Sending command `exec ssh -e None HostName.com

Erm, you're using SSH in your example but we started with FTP...

With SSH, this will have nothing to do with auth-source. SSH has its own
authentication system, typically managed through ssh-agent and so on.

HB> Beucase the web server wants the ftp protocol, my .authinfo file has the
HB> line:
 
HB>   machine HostName.com port ftp login Benutzer password Geheim

HB> apparently this value for port is not seen. It seems the authinfo file
HB> not being accessed at all, although it is accessed when I SSH to LAN
HB> hosts.

Set `auth-source-debug' to 'trivia as requested, then open
`/ftp:username@hostname.com' and see what shows up in the *Messages*
buffer (to see it, type `C-x b *Messages*').

Ted