# set SSH_AUTH_SOCK env var to a fixed value
export SSH_AUTH_SOCK=~/.ssh/ssh-agent.sock

# test whether $SSH_AUTH_SOCK is valid
ssh-add -l 2>/dev/null >/dev/null

# if not valid, then start ssh-agent using $SSH_AUTH_SOCK
[ $? -ge 2 ] && ssh-agent -a "$SSH_AUTH_SOCK" >/dev/null