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content/posts/2024/10/10/ssh-config-hostnames.md

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+---
+title: "fzf + SSH Config Hosts"
+date: 2024-10-10T20:42:48+02:00
+draft: false
+tags:
+  - linux
+  - ssh
+  - tips
+---
+
+SSH has a nice feature in which you can store aliases for frequently accessed hosts.
+
+Combining this with [`fzf`](https://github.com/junegunn/fzf), you can have a nice quick shortcut to quickly pick a server to connect to into.
+
+This comes in very handy if you need to ssh into different servers and forget their IP or hostname often.
+
+Here's a sample ssh config file (normally located at `~/.ssh/config`):
+
+```sh
+# see https://man.openbsd.org/ssh_config.5 for all the available configuration settings
+Host runner-staging
+    HostName 10.0.0.8
+    User alpha
+
+Host runner-production
+    HostName 10.0.0.9
+    User beta
+
+Host mainframe
+    HostName mainframe.computer.world
+    User hackerman
+```
+
+Here's a small shell function which calls fzf with the hostnames configured and allows you to pick one to connect to:
+
+```sh
+s () {
+  local server
+  server=$(grep -E '^Host ' ~/.ssh/config | awk '{print $2}' | fzf)
+  if [[ -n $server ]] then
+    ssh $server
+  fi
+}
+```
+
+Add this function to your `.bashrc` (or `.zshrc`, or whichever config file for your shell) and reload the configuration.
+
+Now, you can quickly ssh into `mainframe` by typing `s`:
+
+```sh
+$ s
+
+# fzf will allow to quickly search and pick your server
+> runner-staging
+  runner-production
+  mainframe
+  3/3 ──────────
+
+# press enter and you will be connected!
+[[email protected] ~]$ 
+```