Re: Regarding feature "Option to skip Password-Dialog for identity file"

On Tue, Sep 30, 2025 at 11:29 AM Aditya Toshniwal <
aditya(dot)toshniwal(at)enterprisedb(dot)com> wrote:

> Hi Akshay,
>
> Even if you show the password dialog for the first time, the above
> scenarios are applicable.
> For the context of showing the password prompt first time or not - I'm
> suggesting we try first and then show the password prompt.
>

I tried that implementation, but what if the user doesn’t want a
password prompt at all when the identity file has no password? Do you think
the solution you provided fully meets the user’s requirements?

>
> On Tue, Sep 30, 2025 at 11:16 AM Akshay Joshi <
> akshay(dot)joshi(at)enterprisedb(dot)com> wrote:
>
>> Hi Aditya,
>>
>> I already mentioned that I tried the same solution you suggested, but
>> there are a few combinations where it’s unclear when exactly we should
>> prompt for the tunnel password. For example, assuming an SSH tunnel with an
>> identity file that does not have a password:
>>
>> 1.
>>
>> When a user connects to the server for the first time, the password
>> dialog for the database server appears if the password has not been saved.
>> If the user enters the wrong password, the error we receive is “SSHTunnel
>> failed to create.” In this case, it’s unclear whether we should prompt for
>> the tunnel password or not.
>> 2.
>>
>> If the SSH tunnel fails to create for reasons other than
>> authentication, the error from the sshtunnel library is not descriptive
>> enough. Again, we don’t know whether prompting for the password is
>> appropriate.
>>
>> Suppose we always prompt for the password after a connection attempt. In
>> that case, the original issue remains; users don’t want to see a prompt if
>> an identity file without a password is provided.
>>
>> That’s why I believe the solution I proposed is the simplest and most
>> user-friendly: if users don’t want to be prompted, they can simply disable
>> the prompt option from the server dialog.
>>
>> On Tue, Sep 30, 2025 at 10:33 AM Aditya Toshniwal <
>> aditya(dot)toshniwal(at)enterprisedb(dot)com> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi Akshay,
>>>
>>> How about we prompt for password irrespective of what is the error from
>>> sshtunnel library?
>>> Try to connect without a password for identity file based, if any error
>>> comes then ask for password along with displaying the error message. No
>>> need to bother what the error is about.
>>>
>>> On Mon, Sep 29, 2025 at 7:27 PM Akshay Joshi <
>>> akshay(dot)joshi(at)enterprisedb(dot)com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hi Dave/Hackers,
>>>>
>>>> I am working on the feature "Option to Skip Password Dialog for
>>>> Identity File" #6996
>>>> <https://github.com/pgadmin-org/pgadmin4/issues/6996>.
>>>>
>>>> I initially tried implementing it so that the tunnel password would not
>>>> be requested upfront, and would only be prompted on error. However, the
>>>> *sshtunnel* library currently returns a generic error message, for
>>>> which I have created an issue on the SSHTunnel GitHub repository #305
>>>> <https://github.com/pahaz/sshtunnel/issues/305>.
>>>>
>>>> This approach introduces multiple scenarios for when to prompt for the
>>>> tunnel password, making the code more complex and harder to maintain.
>>>>
>>>> *Proposed solution:*
>>>> Add a new switch *"Prompt for password?"* in the server dialog under
>>>> the *SSHTunnel* tab. By default, the switch is set to *false* and is
>>>> enabled only when the authentication method is *Identity File*. See
>>>> the screenshot below for reference.
>>>> [image: Screenshot 2025-09-29 at 7.12.17 PM.png]
>>>>
>>>> Thoughts/suggestions?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Akshay Joshi
>>>>
>>>> Principal Engineer | Engineering Manager | pgAdmin Hacker
>>>>
>>>> enterprisedb.com
>>>>
>>>> * Blog*: https://www.enterprisedb.com/akshay-joshi
>>>> * GitHub*: https://github.com/akshay-joshi
>>>> * LinkedIn*: https:// <http://goog_373708537>
>>>> www.linkedin.com/in/akshay-joshi-a9317b14
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Thanks,
>>> Aditya Toshniwal
>>> pgAdmin Hacker | Sr. Staff SDE II | *enterprisedb.com*
>>> <https://www.enterprisedb.com/>
>>> "Don't Complain about Heat, Plant a TREE"
>>>
>>
>
> --
> Thanks,
> Aditya Toshniwal
> pgAdmin Hacker | Sr. Staff SDE II | *enterprisedb.com*
> <https://www.enterprisedb.com/>
> "Don't Complain about Heat, Plant a TREE"
>