Visual Studio Code - SFTP Extension Using SSH Authentication

Question

I'm using the vscode-sftp extension in my Visual Studio Code workflow to upload files to my remote server, whenever I hit save. I am trying to achieve password-less authentication as I used to do with Sublime Text's SFTP plugin. However, the catch is that for vscode-sftp, in the sftp.json file, I have to enter my Password as plain text for this to work:

{
    "host": "mysamplehost.com",
    "port": 22,
    "username": "username",
    "password": "password",
    "protocol": "sftp",
    "agent": null,
    "privateKeyPath": null,
    "passphrase": null,
    "passive": false,
    "interactiveAuth": false,
    "remotePath": "/",
    "uploadOnSave": true,
    ...
}

However, if I SSH into my server, I do not get asked for a password - since I have the SSH key in my MacBook. How do I configure vscode-sftp to use this authentication method?

I see the following comment in the documentation, however I don't know how to set this up:

  /**
   * string - Path to ssh-agent's UNIX socket for ssh-agent-based user authentication.
   * Windows users: set to 'pageant' for authenticating with Pageant or (actual) path to a cygwin "UNIX socket.
   */
  agent: null, 
  privateKeyPath: null, // absolute path to user private key
  passphrase: null,
  passive: false, // ftp passive mode

Answer 1

I figured it out after stumbling upon this. Here is how I did it. First, run:

$ echo $SSH_AUTH_SOCK

Enter the path to agent in your sftp.json file. Also enter the path to your private key (id_rsa file). The following config did the trick for me:

"agent": "/private/tmp/com.apple.launchd.nPw17MhOqq/Listeners",
"privateKeyPath": "/Users/amitsn/.ssh/id_rsa",
"passphrase": null,

Note that I do not have a passphrase, so I left it null. Do not forget to fill this one if you have one.

Answer 2

For me, it was enough to just use the privateKeyPath option:

...
    "host": "my.site",
    "protocol": "sftp",
    "port": 22,
    "username": "username",
    "privateKeyPath": "/Users/username/.ssh/id_rsa",
...

Note: in order to login with the key, you need to install your key to the remote server first with ssh-copy-id [email protected] command.