Why does ssh-agent need root access?

I just installed Archbang and am trying to clone a Git project that requires SSH keys.

I've followed the Github guide for success in the past, on Ubuntu and RedHat blocks, but for some reason it doesn't work for me on my fresh Arch install.

I have successfully generated SSH public and private key pairs using this command:

ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -C "email@address"

      

        
        
        
      

    

But when I go to start the SSH agent and add my public key, I run into problems.

[user@arch ~]$ eval "$(ssh-agent -s)"
bind: Permission denied
unix_listener: cannot bind to path: /tmp/ssh-ZqYqSabxjZeA/agent.9328

      

        
        
        
      

    

This is successful, however, if I run it as root:

[user@arch ~]$ eval "$(sudo ssh-agent -s)"
[sudo] password for user: 
Agent pid 9146

      

        
        
        
      

    

But I'm pretty sure I don't want to SSH as root.

Continuing forward, when I try to use ssh-add

, I also get permission errors, but this time as standard user and root:

[user@arch ~]$ ssh-add .ssh/id_rsa.pub
Could not open a connection to your authentication agent.
[user@arch ~]$ sudo ssh-add .ssh/id_rsa.pub
Could not open a connection to your authentication agent.

      

        
        
        
      

    

So now I'm really confused.

I tried to open the bash process as root to do this, but 1) I don't like the idea, and 2) it still doesn't work, but this time for a different reason:

[user@arch ~]$ sudo ssh-agent -s
[root@arch ~]# ssh-add .ssh/id_rsa.pub
Enter passphrase for .ssh/id_rsa.pub:
Bad passphrase, try again for .ssh/id_rsa.pub:

      

        
        
        
      

    

For some reason, this in the root shell causes my SSH keyword passphrase to reject; I've tried this a few times, with the simplest phrases, so I'm pretty sure I gave it the correct passphrase.

I'm at a loss. I really don't like all this stuff sudo

and I don't know why it seems necessary; I have checked the permissions on the .ssh directory and its files, even if you delete the entire directory and restore the keys to make sure they are not generated with the wrong permissions.

Can someone please help me here? What am I doing wrong?

EDIT: In response to the suggested answers, I tried this again using the socket location inside my home directory. Here are the results:

[user@arch ~]$ mkdir -m 700 ~/.ssh
[user@arch ~]$ ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -C "email@address"
Generating public/private rsa key pair.
Enter file in which to save the key (/home/user/.ssh/id_rsa): 
Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase): 
Enter same passphrase again: 
Your identification has been saved in /home/user/.ssh/id_rsa.
Your public key has been saved in /home/user/.ssh/id_rsa.pub.
...
[user@arch ~]$ chmod 644 .ssh/id_rsa.pub && chmod 600 .ssh/id_rsa
[user@arch ~]$ eval "$(ssh-agent -sa .ssh-agent.$$)"
Agent pid 1881
[user@arch ~]$ ssh-add .ssh/id_rsa.pub
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
@         WARNING: UNPROTECTED PRIVATE KEY FILE!          @
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Permissions 0644 for '.ssh/id_rsa.pub' are too open.
It is recommended that your private key files are NOT accessible by others.
This private key will be ignored.

      

        
        
        
      

    

At this point, I am confused as to why these permissions are not acceptable, and why it thinks my public key is a private key. But I am humorous by changing the permissions to 600 and trying to add it again.

[user@arch ~]$ chmod 600 .ssh/id_rsa.pub
[user@arch ~]$ ssh-add .ssh/id_rsa.pub
Enter passphrase for .ssh/id_rsa.pub:
Bad passphrase, try again for .ssh/id_rsa.pub:

      

        
        
        
      

    

And now I ended up in the same place as before: he doesn't like the phrase I created for my SSH key. What's happening?! This is really puzzling.