Using Fabric to connect to the remote server via an ssh config.

__init__.py

from fabric.api import env

env.use_ssh_config = True
env.forward_agent = True

env.roledefs = {
    # key   # hostname from config
    'foo': ['foo.production'],
}

config

ForwardAgent yes

Host foo.production
    User username
    HostName foo.com
    IdentityFile /path/to/.ssh/keyname_rsa

test.py

from fabric.api import local, run, task, roles

@task
def local_uname():
    local('uname -a')

@roles('foo')
@task
def remote_uname():
    run('uname -a')

The "ssh config" is usually located in ~/.ssh/ and named "config". This gist should support encrypted and unencrypted keys. If you're using an encrypted key you can add the key to ssh-agent to avoid a password request every time you connect to the remote.

References:

• How to generate ssh keys
• An explanation of ssh config params.
• An explanation of ssh-add.
• A good overview of how to use encrypted public keys.
• Copy your keys to the remote.
• Fab docs on leveraging ssh configs

Very helpful, thanks a lot !