diff --git a/bitelab/__init__.py b/bitelab/__init__.py
index 4ebd1d1..a4453b8 100644
--- a/bitelab/__init__.py
+++ b/bitelab/__init__.py
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ from dataclasses import dataclass
 from functools import lru_cache, wraps
 from io import StringIO
 
-from fastapi import APIRouter, Depends, FastAPI, HTTPException, Request
+from fastapi import APIRouter, Body, Depends, FastAPI, HTTPException, Request
 from fastapi.security import OAuth2PasswordBearer
 from httpx import AsyncClient, Auth
 from starlette.responses import JSONResponse
@@ -309,10 +309,16 @@ async def get_board_info(board_id, user: str = Depends(lookup_user),
 	return brd
 
 @router.post('/board/{board_id_or_class}/reserve', response_model=Union[Board, Error])
-async def reserve_board(board_id_or_class, user: str = Depends(lookup_user),
+async def reserve_board(board_id_or_class,
+    req: Request,
+    user: str = Depends(lookup_user),
     brdmgr: BoardManager = Depends(get_boardmanager),
     settings: config.Settings = Depends(get_settings),
+    sshpubkey: str = Body(embed=True, default=None,
+	title='Default public ssh key to install.'),
     data: data.DataWrapper = Depends(get_data)):
+
+	#print('reserve:', repr(sshpubkey), repr(await req.body()))
 	board_id = board_id_or_class
 	brd = brdmgr.boards[board_id]
 
@@ -338,8 +344,11 @@ async def reserve_board(board_id_or_class, user: str = Depends(lookup_user),
 
 		# Initialize board
 		try:
-			sub = await asyncio.create_subprocess_exec(
-			    settings.setup_script, 'reserve', brd.name, user,
+			args = ( settings.setup_script, 'reserve',
+			    brd.name, user, )
+			if sshpubkey is not None:
+				args += (sshpubkey, )
+			sub = await asyncio.create_subprocess_exec(*args,
 			    stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE)
 			stdout, stderr = await sub.communicate()
 			if sub.returncode:
@@ -650,8 +659,11 @@ class TestBiteLab(unittest.IsolatedAsyncioTestCase):
 		        devfsrule='14',
 		    )).encode('utf-8'))
 
+		keydata = 'pubsshkey'
+
 		# that reserving the board
 		res = await self.client.post('/board/cora-1/reserve',
+		    json=dict(sshpubkey=keydata),
 		    auth=BiteAuth('thisisanapikey'))
 
 		# that it is successful
@@ -671,7 +683,7 @@ class TestBiteLab(unittest.IsolatedAsyncioTestCase):
 
 		# and that it called the start script
 		cse.assert_called_with(self.settings.setup_script, 'reserve',
-		    'cora-1', 'foo', stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE)
+		    'cora-1', 'foo', 'pubsshkey', stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE)
 
 		# that another user reserving the board
 		res = await self.client.post('/board/cora-1/reserve',