Share a login with identities

An identity is a user name with a password or key, saved once and used by many hosts.

1. Create an identity

Open Keychain › Identities and create one, with a Label, the Username, and a Key or Password.

2. Use it on hosts

In each host’s editor, pick it under Login › Identity.

Changing the identity’s key changes it for every host using it. When you install a key on a host that logs in through an identity, Sternway asks whether to change the identity or only that host.

Export a key

On the key’s page, export the private key to a file. For a key without its own passphrase, Sternway offers to encrypt the copy with one.

Caution

An exported key without a passphrase lets anyone who gets the file log in as you.

What to know

• Keys, identities and certificates sync encrypted unless you turn off Settings › Security › Sync keys and identities. Then they stay on the device that made them.
• A team can require keys instead of passwords for its hosts (Team policies).
• The Hardware keys tab is for keys in the computer’s own secure hardware, which no platform supports yet. For a key that can’t be copied, use a FIDO2 security key.