.profile snippet for making sure an ssh-agent is running

gistfile1.sh

# Make sure we always have a running ssh-agent
# Try and reuse a running one if possible, otherwise start a new one

fail_agent_check () {
    ssh-add -l >/dev/null 2>&1
    [ "$?" = 2 ];
}

if [ -r "${HOME}/.ssh_agent" ]; then
    # the .ssh_agent file already has an 'echo' so augment it
    printf "Found SSH "
    . "${HOME}/.ssh_agent"
    if fail_agent_check; then
echo "... but it's dead"
        unset SSH_AGENT_PID
    fi
fi

if [ -z "$SSH_AGENT_PID" ] || fail_agent_check; then
    rm -f "${HOME}/.ssh_agent"
    ssh-agent -s | (umask 0377; cat >"${HOME}/.ssh_agent";)
    printf "Started new SSH "
    . "${HOME}/.ssh_agent"
fi