MobaXterm to Bitwarden (or another) SSH Agent

4 minute read

If you use MobaXterm on Windows and rely on SSH agents like Bitwarden, 1Password, or the Windows built-in SSH agent, you may have encountered a frustrating limitation: MobaXterm only supports Pageant-style agents, not the standard OpenSSH agent format used by most modern SSH agents.

This tutorial will show you how to bridge this gap using WinSSH-Pageant, a tool that proxies between OpenSSH agents and Pageant format, allowing MobaXterm to work seamlessly with your preferred SSH agent.

What You’ll Need

MobaXterm installed on Windows
An SSH agent already running (Bitwarden, 1Password, Windows SSH agent, etc.)
Administrator privileges for some installation options

Test

Before you install, test it and ensure it works for your application.

Get WinSSH-Pageant EXE
- Go to the WinSSH-Pageant releases page
- Download the latest winssh-pageant-vX.X.X_amd64.zip file
- Extract winssh-pageant.exe
Execute winssh-pageant.exe
- You may have a scary warning since Windows Defender is unfamiliar with the file. Run it through your antivirus, look at the source code. If you accept the risk, click “More Info” and “Run Anyway”.
- You can see it running in Task Manager
Test
- Test it with MobaXterm by opening a moba shell and typing ssh-add -L

Installation

Running the installer is the easiest method to get it to run automatically.

Download WinSSH-Pageant
- Go to the WinSSH-Pageant releases page
- Download the latest winssh-pageant-vX.X.X_amd64.msi

Install

Kill it if it’s still running from your test:

Get-Process -Name winssh-pageant
Stop-Process -Name winssh-pageant

Run the installer.

Configure MobaXterm

Now that WinSSH-Pageant is running, you need to configure MobaXterm to use it:

Open MobaXterm Settings
- Click the Settings button (gear icon) in the toolbar
- Go to Configuration → SSH
Enable SSH agent forwarding
- Check “Use external Pageant”
Test your connection
- Open a new SSH session in MobaXterm
- You should now be able to authenticate using keys from your SSH agent
- No need to manually load keys or enter passphrases

Troubleshooting

MobaXterm still asks for passwords

Verify Pageant integration: In MobaXterm Settings → SSH, ensure “Use external Pageant” is checked.
Check SSH agent forwarding: Make sure “Forward SSH agent” is enabled for the session.
Test with PuTTY: If you have PuTTY installed, try connecting to the same server. If PuTTY works but MobaXterm doesn’t, double-check MobaXterm’s Pageant settings.

Keys not appearing

Restart both applications: Close MobaXterm and restart WinSSH-Pageant, then reopen MobaXterm.
Check key formats: Ensure your SSH keys are in a format supported by your SSH agent.
Agent socket issues: If using WSL or custom SSH agents, verify the socket path is correctly detected.

How It Works

WinSSH-Pageant acts as a translator between two different SSH agent protocols:

OpenSSH agent protocol: Used by Windows SSH agent, Bitwarden, 1Password, WSL
Pageant protocol: Used by PuTTY and MobaXterm

The proxy listens for Pageant requests from MobaXterm and forwards them to your OpenSSH-compatible agent, translating the protocols seamlessly.

Conclusion

With WinSSH-Pageant configured, you can now use MobaXterm with any OpenSSH-compatible SSH agent. This eliminates the need to maintain separate key stores or manually load keys into MobaXterm’s built-in agent.

The service installation method is recommended for daily use as it ensures the proxy is always available when you need it.

bradford