You need to know ssh to connect Github

Git

ssh

Posted at 2024/02/113 min to read

#Before we dive in

The reason I am writing this is because I have seen numbers of my teammate who is working with Github Desktop app and getting code from http setting. First and foremost, it is not safe and secured, but more importantly, we should be on the same page when we work on the same project. Thus I am making this post to let you on board. It's crucial to configure SSH connection settings properly to ensure seamless authentication. Here are the steps to set up and manage multiple SSH configurations.

#1. Generate SSH Keys

First, we should start by generating SSH keys for each GitHub account you'll be using. Use the

ssh-keygen

command and follow the prompts to create a unique key pair for each account.

ssh-keygen -t rsa -C "your_email@example.com"

Source: www.cloudpanel.io

Ensure that you provide a distinct name for the keys to differentiate them easily.

If you did not know ssh configuration and this is a first time seeing, don't worry. Here is a quick review on ssh configuration where you can learn about SSH Configuration. I always recommend looking up from official documentation, which in this case is Github, but it is always nice to look other posts as second opinion.

docs.github.com

Generating a new SSH key and adding it to the ssh-agent - GitHub Docs

After you've checked for existing SSH keys, you can generate a new SSH key to use for authentication, then add it to the ssh-agent.

www.digitalocean.com

How to Create an SSH Key in Linux: Easy Step-by-Step Guide | DigitalOcean

Learn how to generate SSH keys in Linux with our detailed guide. Includes step-by-step instructions, troubleshooting tips, and practical examples for secure …

#2. Add SSH Keys to SSH Agent

Add the generated SSH keys to your SSH agent using the ssh-add command. This will allow your SSH agent to manage your private keys.

ssh-add ~/.ssh/custom_key

Repeat this step for each SSH key you generated.

#3. Create SSH Configuration File

Create or modify the SSH configuration file (~/.ssh/config) to specify different settings for each GitHub account. You can use aliases to distinguish between the accounts. If you have a github account for personal one and your work on, follow this step to have multiple accounts:

# Default GitHub account
Host github.com
  HostName github.com
  User git
  IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa

# Secondary GitHub account
Host github-second
  HostName github.com
  User git
  IdentityFile ~/.ssh/second_rsa

Replace github-second with an alias of your choice for your secondary GitHub account, and second_rsa with the corresponding private key filename.

www.ssh.com

SSH config file syntax and how-tos for configuring the OpenSSH client

Here is the SSH config file syntax and all the needed how-tos for configuring the your OpenSSH client

#4. Configure Git Remotes

Update the remote URLs in your Git repositories to use the aliases defined in the SSH configuration file.

git remote set-url origin git@github-second:username/repo.git

Replace 'username' with your GitHub username and repo with the name of your repository.

#5. Test SSH Connection

Ensure that your SSH configuration is correctly set up by testing the connection to each GitHub account.

ssh -T git@github-second

If the setup is successful, you'll receive a confirmation message. By following these procedures, you can manage multiple GitHub accounts with distinct SSH connection settings efficiently.