While we recommend HTTPS because it is generally easier to set up, you can also use SSH keys to establish a secure connection between your computer and GitHub. The steps below will walk you through generating an SSH key and then adding the public key to your GitHub account.
Step 1: Check for SSH keys
First, we need to check for existing ssh keys on your computer. Open up Terminal and run:
cd ~/.ssh ls # Lists the files in your .ssh directory
Check the directory listing to see if you have a file named either id_rsa.pub or id_dsa.pub. If you don't have either of those files go to step 2. Otherwise, you already have an existing keypair, and you can skip to step 3.
Step 2: Generate a new SSH key
To generate a new SSH key, enter the code below. We want the default settings so when asked to enter a file in which to save the key, just press enter.
ssh-keygen -t rsa -C "[email protected]" # Creates a new ssh key, using the provided email as a label # Generating public/private rsa key pair. # Enter file in which to save the key (/home/you/.ssh/id_rsa): ssh-add id_rsa
Now you need to enter a passphrase.
# Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase): [Type a passphrase] # Enter same passphrase again: [Type passphrase again]
Which should give you something like this:
# Your identification has been saved in /home/you/.ssh/id_rsa. # Your public key has been saved in /home/you/.ssh/id_rsa.pub. # The key fingerprint is: # 01:0f:f4:3b:ca:85:d6:17:a1:7d:f0:68:9d:f0:a2:db [email protected]
Run the following code to copy the key to your clipboard.
sudo apt-get install xclip # Downloads and installs xclip. If you don't have `apt-get`, you might need to use another installer (like `yum`) xclip -sel clip < ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub # Copies the contents of the id_rsa.pub file to your clipboard