---
name: "Net::SSH::AuthorizedKeysFile"
section: "3pm"
platform: "linux"
package: "libnet-ssh-authorizedkeysfile-perl"
version: "0.18-4"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/Net::SSH::AuthorizedKeysFile"
---

# Net::SSH::AuthorizedKeysFile(3pm)

Read and modify ssh's authorized\_keys files

## NAME

Net::SSH::AuthorizedKeysFile - Read and modify ssh's authorized\_keys files

## SYNOPSIS

```
    use Net::SSH::AuthorizedKeysFile;
        # Reads $HOME/.ssh/authorized_keys by default
    my $akf = Net::SSH::AuthorizedKeysFile->new();
    $akf->read("authorized_keys");
        # Iterate over entries
    for my $key ($akf->keys()) {
        print $key->as_string(), "\n";
    }
        # Modify entries:
    for my $key ($akf->keys()) {
        $key->option("from", 'quack@quack.com');
        $key->keylen(1025);
    }
        # Save changes back to $HOME/.ssh/authorized_keys
    $akf->save() or die "Cannot save";
```

## DESCRIPTION

Net::SSH::AuthorizedKeysFile reads and modifies `"authorized_keys"` files. `"authorized_keys"` files contain public keys and meta information to be used by `"ssh"` on the remote host to let users in without  having to type their password.

## METHODS

- "new"

  Creates a new Net::SSH::AuthorizedKeysFile object and reads in the  authorized\_keys file. The filename  defaults to `"$HOME/.ssh/authorized_keys"` unless overridden with

  ```
      Net::SSH::AuthorizedKeysFile->new( file => "/path/other_authkeys_file" );
  ```

  Normally, the `"read"` method described below will just silently ignore  faulty lines and only gobble up keys that either one of the two parsers accepts. If you want it to be stricter, set

  ```
      Net::SSH::AuthorizedKeysFile->new( file   => "authkeys_file",
                                         abort_on_error => 1 );
  ```

  and read will immediately abort after the first faulty line. Also,  the key parsers are fairly lenient in default mode. Adding

  ```
      strict => 1
  ```

  adds sanity checks before a key is accepted.

- "read"

  Reads in the file defined by **new()**. By default, strict mode is off and  **read()** will silently ignore faulty lines. If it's on (see **new()** above), **read()** will immediately abort after the first faulty line. A textual description of the last error will be available via **error()**.

- "content"

  Contains the original file content, read by `"read()"` earlier. Can be used to set arbitrary content:

  ```
      $keysfile->content( "some\nrandom\nlines\n" );
  ```

  and have `"parse()"` operate on a string instead of an actual file  this way.

- "keys"

  Returns a list of Net::SSH::AuthorizedKey objects. Methods are described in Net::SSH::AuthorizedKey.

- "as\_string"

  String representation of all keys, ultimately the content that gets written out when calling the `"save()"` method.  Note that comments from the original file are lost.

- "save"

  Write changes back to the authorized\_keys file using the **as\_string()** method described above. Note that comments from the original file are lost. Optionally takes a file name parameter, so calling `"$akf->save("foo.txt")"` will save the data in the file "foo.txt" instead of the file the data was read from originally. Returns 1 if successful, and undef on error. In case of an error, **error()** contains a textual error description.

- "sanity\_check"

  Run a sanity check on the currently selected authorized\_keys file. If it contains insanely long lines, then parsing with **read()** (and potential crashes because of out-of-memory errors) should be avoided.

- "ssh\_dir( \[$user\] )"

  Locate the .ssh dir of a given user. If no user name is given, ssh\_dir will look up the .ssh dir of the effective user. Typically returns something like "/home/gonzo/.ssh".

- "path\_locate( \[$user\] )"

  Locate the authorized\_keys file of a given user. Typically returns something  like "/home/gonzo/.ssh/authorized\_keys". See `"ssh_dir()"` for how the  containing directory is located with and without a given user name.

- "error"

  Description of last error that occurred.

## LEGALESE

Copyright 2005-2009 by Mike Schilli, all rights reserved. This program is free software, you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.

## AUTHOR

2005, Mike Schilli \<m@perlmeister.com\>