wsl2-ssh-pageant VS YubiKey-Guide

Hey there! So, I've been using WSL2 with a yubikey for gpg, which is pretty sweet. Basically, this setup uses a Unix socket to Windows gpg-agent and pageant (if you're curious, you can find all the details in this GitHub repo: https://github.com/BlackReloaded/wsl2-ssh-pageant). It's been working great for about a month or so, until I recently installed the Windows Store version for WSLg support on Windows 10. But now, my WSL2 isn't talking to the Win gpg-agent anymore. I've searched GitHub for answers, but no luck yet. Figured I'd post here and see if there are others in the same boat or who might have some tips on this pesky socket issue. Thanks!

You should use the latest wsl2-ssh-peagent, which has a new --gpgConfigBasepath option to allow you to specify the .gnupg directory in Windows.

sshCommand = C:/utils/OpenSSH-Win64/ssh.exe

For GPG, the only things I've done is to use gpg-agent and set up a passthrough for gpg-agent to WSL2 for both OpenSSH and GPG via https://github.com/BlackReloaded/wsl2-ssh-pageant/ since I do development both natively on Windows and via WSL2.

Yeah, I've been using a Yubikey for a bit over a year and I'm already a huge fan of the way it works with SSH/Git. It's a bit more of a pain to set up with WSL2 since you need something like https://github.com/BlackReloaded/wsl2-ssh-pageant but it's absolutely worth the setup time.

I use PuTTY's pageant and https://github.com/BlackReloaded/wsl2-ssh-pageant to share keys between environments but you still need to enter your passphrase at power-on. Window's ssh-agent looks like a better solution. No need to re-enter the passphrase and no need to keep the private key around.

Instead, most people generate keypair(s) on an airgapped machine and write them to two Yubikeys. Or write subkeys to a single Yubikey and keep a backup in encrypted form. See https://github.com/drduh/YubiKey-Guide

I'd recommend using the Yubikey as a GPG smartcard[1]. The private key stays on the Yubikey. I also use it for ssh. But make sure you have a backup key or two, just in case the primary Yubikey gives out. FIDO2 and all other regular Yubikey functionality still works with it.

[1]: https://github.com/drduh/YubiKey-Guide

The excellent guide by drduh should be mentioned here: https://github.com/drduh/YubiKey-Guide — I've been using this approach for years to store my OpenPGP keys on Yubikeys and use them for SSH.

I don't generate my keys on devices. That lets me be flexible and keep backups, as well as use the same keys on multiple physical devices. Using a single yubikey is a bad idea, as you're bound to eventually lose it or break it. Hasn't happened to me yet in 5 years, but I expect it to happen.

I followed this guide to generate a master key and three subkey.

See https://github.com/drduh/YubiKey-Guide . Also google for OpenPGP card specifications, they will answer your question

Regarding GPG/SSH keys, there is a great howto: https://github.com/drduh/YubiKey-Guide

I'd be lying if I said I understood all of that. I'm definitely going to do some research ahaha. Someone else on this post sentence this like which they said was very good guide. https://github.com/drduh/YubiKey-Guide

When storing the key on a Yubikey, however, all you need is just the PIN in order to use the key. It can contain numbers, letters, symbols, etc. and can be quite long, so you can treat it as a passphrase for all intents and purposes. There are actually two PIN codes: one regular one, for a read access, and another administrative one, for write access for when you want to modify the gpg applet settings or the key on the Yubikey. There is also a limit to how many times in a row you can enter pins incorrectly, after which the gpg applet gets locked and the only thing you can do is reset it, erasing the PGP keys. See https://github.com/drduh/YubiKey-Guide for more information.

Try follow this guide from DrDuh https://github.com/drduh/YubiKey-Guide/blob/master/README.md