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~ Oneliner to Install ssh-copy-id on Mac OS X

» By Joren on Saturday 25 December 2010

ssh-copy-id is a practical bash script, installed by default on Ubuntu. The script is used to distribute public keys. The following oneliner makes it available on Mac OS X:


  
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sudo bash < <( curl --silent http://0110.be/files/attachments/314/install-ssh-copy-id.bash )

This oneliner does three things:

  1. It copies ssh-copy-id from this website to /bin/ssh-copy-id.
  2. It makes sure that ssh-copy-id is executable, using chmod.
  3. There is no three

The install procedure needs superuser rights because it writes in the /bin folder. Executing scripts from untrusted sources with superuser rights is actually really, really, extremely dangerous. But in this case it is rather innocent.

The ssh-copy-id script is the one provided with Ubuntu and Debian, I assume it is GPL’ed. I have not modified it for Mac OS X but it seems to behave as expected. I have only tested the install script and behavior on 10.6.5, YMMV.

Tags Code, Mac OS X, and 0110.be Attachments ssh-copy-id.txt, install-ssh-copy-id.bash, and install-ssh-copy-id.bash