ssh_config_file and IdentityFile

[isomogyi]

I was browsing the base_connection.py and started wondering why is the ssh_config_file is used to extract:

• username
• hostname
• port
• proxycommand
• proxyjump

but no the keys? What would be an argument be not to modify the def _use_ssh_config() to add something like:

        if self.key_file is None and (keys := source.get("identityfile")):
            valid_keys = (key for key in keys if Path(key).expanduser().exists())
            if key_file := next(valid_keys, None):
                connect_dict["key_filename"] = key_file
                connect_dict["look_for_keys"] = True
        return connect_dict

to use IdentityFile defined in ssh config?

[ktbyers]

Netmiko really only uses SSH config file for proxy configuration. Are you talking about a proxy configuration here or more general?

[isomogyi]

I am proposing an enhancement of using the SSHConfig for picking and using the private key file if defined.
The code example is real, it's how my module importer patches netmiko to suite my needs. I did not submit a PR to see what would disqualify it for reasons I do not know about.