The ssh-copy-id command fails with error "No identities found" when distributing ssh key of foreman-proxy user in Red Hat Satellite 6

Environment

• Red Hat Satellite 6
• Red Hat Capsule 6

Issue

• The ssh-copy-id command fails with the following error.

  [root@satellite ~]# ssh-copy-id -i ~foreman-proxy/.ssh/id_rsa_foreman_proxy.pub rexuser@172.28.yy.xx
  /usr/bin/ssh-copy-id: INFO: Source of key(s) to be installed: "/usr/share/foreman-proxy/.ssh/id_rsa_foreman_proxy.pub"
  /usr/bin/ssh-copy-id: INFO: Source of key(s) to be installed: "/usr/share/foreman-proxy/.ssh/id_rsa_foreman_proxy.pub"
  /usr/bin/ssh-copy-id: ERROR: No identities found
  

Resolution

Follow the steps from Diagnostic Steps and confirm the availability of the SSH private key file of the foreman-proxy user on the affected Satellite/Capsule server.

Scenario 1:

If the SSH private key file exists and is valid, then

• Execute the following command to regenerate the public key file on the affected Satellite/Capsule server.

  # su foreman-proxy -s /bin/bash -c 'set -e; \
     keyfile="$HOME/.ssh/id_rsa_foreman_proxy"
     pubkey="$(ssh-keygen -y -f "$keyfile")"
     echo "$pubkey $USER@$(hostname -f)" | tee "$keyfile".pub'
  

• Fix the permissions\ownership and restart the applicable services:

  # chmod 644 /var/lib/foreman-proxy/ssh/id_rsa_foreman_proxy.pub 
  # chown foreman-proxy:foreman-proxy /var/lib/foreman-proxy/ssh/id_rsa_foreman_proxy.pub 
  # restorecon -RFv /var/lib/foreman-proxy/ssh/
  # systemctl restart foreman-proxy
  

• Once done, the ssh-copy-id command will start functioning as expected and the remote-execution jobs will be executed properly as well.

Scenario 2:

If both the SSH private and public key files are corrupted or missing for the foreman-proxy user, then

• Follow the steps from this solution article to generate a new pair of ssh-keys for the foreman-proxy user of the affected Satellite\Capsule server.

• Re-distribute the new SSH public key to the client hosts from the affected Satellite\Caspsule server by following this solution article or using any other methods.

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Root Cause

The public key file i.e /usr/share/foreman-proxy/.ssh/id_rsa_foreman_proxy.pub got deleted by mistake or having no content inside it.
Hence the ssh-copy-id command was unable to detect a valid ssh public key to share with the target system.

Diagnostic Steps

• Execute the following commands on the affected Satellite or capsule server to identify whether the ssh public key is missing or not.

  # curl -s https://$(hostname -f):9090/ssh/pubkey
  # cat ~foreman-proxy/.ssh/id_rsa_foreman_proxy.pub
  # su - postgres -c 'psql foreman -c "select id,name,url,pubkey from smart_proxies;"'
  

• Ensure that the ssh private key of the foreman-proxy user is intact and the public key information is retrievable from it.

  # cat ~foreman-proxy/.ssh/id_rsa_foreman_proxy
  # file ~foreman-proxy/.ssh/id_rsa_foreman_proxy
  # ssh-keygen -y -f ~foreman-proxy/.ssh/id_rsa_foreman_proxy
  

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