Hi, I just realized that the help message of "ssh-add -h" is incomplete: # ssh-add -h ssh-add: illegal option -- h Usage: ssh-add [options] Options: -l List fingerprints of all identities. -L List public key parameters of all identities. -d Delete identity. -D Delete all identities. -x Lock agent. -X Unlock agent. -t life Set lifetime (in seconds) when adding identities. The manual page says: SYNOPSIS ssh-add [-lLdDxX] [-t life] [file ...] ssh-add -s reader ssh-add -e reader Most important, ssh-add -h does not tell you that you may pass an identity file as argument. Regards, Ulrich