SSH Agent & Multiple Local Accounts (Windows)
First, the setup:
I have a computer that I use for work and for fun.
I like to keep these things separate, so I have two local user accounts accordingly.
Sometimes I don't fully log-out of one account to switch to the other.
I have one single 1Password subscription; likewise, I have 1Password installed within each account.
I enabled the SSH agent for both accounts as well, and the OpenSSH service is disabled.
Here's the issue:
The SSH agent for the first account that logs in after a reboot works. If another account logs in later, while the first account is still logged in, the SSH agent for the second account does not work.
Essentially, the sockets or other resources that one account uses for the SSH agent function do not allow another to start. On the account that the SSH agent doesn't work on, this message appears in the log:
ERROR 2024-03-14T16:01:49.537 tokio-runtime-worker(ThreadId(27)) [1P:ssh\op-ssh-agent\src\lib.rs:209] Unable to start agent, another process is already listening ERROR 2024-03-14T16:01:49.538 tokio-runtime-worker(ThreadId(27)) [1P:ssh\op-agent-controller\src\lib.rs:667] SSH Agent failed to start.
And yet, this is a silent error - it still shows a green "Active" on the SSH Agent panel.
The issue has been noted before, in the context of Remote Desktop: see this thread.
I'm not sure exactly what's required to operate an SSH agent, so I'm left asking: is it even possible for two ssh-agents to be running on a single Windows system, each within its own account? Currently, the resources used by ssh-agent seem to be at a system level and trying to launch more than one causes problems. Perhaps this two-agent setup was never considered, and changes could be made to support it. Only the development team can answer this.
At a minimum:
- The "active" bubble on the SSH Agent panel should show an error, or a message should be shown.
1Password Version: 8.10.27
Extension Version: Not Provided
OS Version: Windows 11
Browser: Not Provided