DRY your SSH Config with Rubbissh

by Jean-Michel Lacroix on January 31, 2011

I really hate to repeat myself, and that happens way too much when managing my ever-growing ~/.ssh/config file. I decided to get my hands dirty and created a tool to handle all the repeating.

How It Works

Define your ssh rules in a YAML formatted config.yml file:

*:
  server_alive_interval: 30
  server_alive_count_max: 120

dev-:
  *:
    user: bobby
    port: 1221

  website: my-web-host.com
  database:
    host_name: my-db-host.com
    identity_file: ~/ident.key

Use rubbissh to generate a classic ssh config file:

Host *
    ServerAliveCountMax 120
    ServerAliveInterval 30
Host dev-*
    User    bobby
    Port    1221
Host dev-database
    HostName    my-db-host.com
    IdentityFile    ~/ident.key
Host dev-website
    HostName    my-web-host.com

More Details

Using the * wildcard at any level will define default keywords for all machines in the group.
Using a - at the end of a machine name creates a server group.
The default vaue of a server: string match is its host name.
You can nest as much definitions as you want.

You can get more information on installation, fork the sources or report problems on GitHub.