The ssh-askpass is a generic executable name for many packages, with similar names, that provide a interactive X service to grab password for packages requiring administrative privileges to be run. It prompts the user with a window box where the necessary password can be inserted. Here, we choose Damien Miller's package distributed in the OpenSSH tarball.
![[Note]](../images/note.png)
Development versions of BLFS may not build or run some packages properly if dependencies have been updated since the most recent stable versions of the book.
Download (HTTP): https://ftp.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD/OpenSSH/portable/openssh-9.3p1.tar.gz
Download (FTP): ftp://ftp.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD/OpenSSH/portable/openssh-9.3p1.tar.gz
Download MD5 sum: 3430d5e6e71419e28f440a42563cb553
Download size: 1.8 MB
Estimated disk space required: 10 MB
Estimated build time: less than 0.1 SBU
GTK+-3.24.37, Sudo-1.9.13p3 (runtime), Xorg Libraries, and a graphical environment (runtime)
User Notes: https://wiki.linuxfromscratch.org/blfs/wiki/ssh-askpass
Install ssh-askpass by running the following commands:
cd contrib && make gnome-ssh-askpass3
Now, as the root user:
install -v -d -m755 /usr/libexec/openssh/contrib && install -v -m755 gnome-ssh-askpass3 /usr/libexec/openssh/contrib && ln -sv -f contrib/gnome-ssh-askpass3 /usr/libexec/openssh/ssh-askpass
The use of /usr/libexec/openssh/contrib and a symlink is justified by the eventual necessity of a different program for that service.
As the root user, configure
Sudo-1.9.13p3 to use ssh-askpass:
cat >> /etc/sudo.conf << "EOF" &&
# Path to askpass helper program
Path askpass /usr/libexec/openssh/ssh-askpass
EOF
chmod -v 0644 /etc/sudo.conf
If a given graphical <application> requires administrative privileges, use sudo -A <application> from an x-terminal, from a Window Manager menu and/or replace "Exec=<application> ..." by "Exec=sudo -A <application> ..." in the <application>.desktop file.
gnome-ssh-askpass3)