Previous: Auto-save and Backup, Up: Configuration [Contents][Index]

### 4.19 Issues with Cygwin ssh

This section is incomplete. Please share your solutions.

Cygwin’s `ssh` works only with a Cygwin version of Emacs. To check for compatibility: type `M-x eshell`, and start `ssh test.host`. Incompatibilities trigger this message:

    Pseudo-terminal will not be allocated because stdin is not a terminal.

Some older versions of Cygwin’s `ssh` work with the `sshx` access method. Consult Cygwin’s FAQ at http://cygwin.com/faq/ for details.

When using the `scpx` access method, Emacs may call `scp` with Windows file naming, such as `c:/foo`. But the version of `scp` that is installed with Cygwin does not know about Windows file naming, which causes it to incorrectly look for a host named `c`.

A workaround: write a wrapper script for `scp` to convert Windows file names to Cygwin file names.

When using the `ssh-agent` on Windows for password-less interaction, `ssh` methods depend on the environment variable `SSH_AUTH_SOCK`. But this variable is not set when Emacs is started from a Desktop shortcut and authentication fails.

One workaround is to use a Windows based SSH Agent, such as Pageant. It is part of the Putty Suite of tools.

The fallback is to start Emacs from a shell.