Creating a SSH key with ssh-keygen does not create the .ssh folder

Question

I am trying to create my public/private rsa key pair with msysgit

I run this command:

ssh-keygen -C "[email protected]" -t rsa

Everything looks fine, I have the message

Enter file in which to save the key (/c/Users/user/.ssh/id_rsa)

Then I have the confirmation:

Your public key has been saved in project.pub

But I can't access the folder! It does not exist, it is not even an hidden folder. I don't understand why it does not generate. I am using Windows 7 Ultimate.

more than that. If you create folder - keys not appears after successful generating. Has you resolved you problem? Stuck the same now — iamthevoid
– iamthevoid, Commented Aug 24, 2018 at 11:37
If you enter project as your file, this file gets created in your current directory. If you want it inside the .ssh folder, either cd inside or enter the full path. — Ophidian
– Ophidian, Commented Sep 1, 2018 at 13:43

Amit · Accepted Answer · 2016-01-15 15:56:45Z

49

I had the same problem and I realized I was trying to enter a file name when it asks for the following "Enter file in which to save the key (c/users/user.name/.ssh/id_rsa)"

Rather just enter nothing and press Enter key to use the default and you will move on.

answered Jan 15, 2016 at 15:56

Amit

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3 Comments

CeH9 Over a year ago

I realized it requires full path, not just a name, otherwise file will be created at the cmd current working directory. Moreover if you type name only, you will see in summary default path "bla bla saved in /c/Users/{UserName}/.ssh/id_rsa_name"

ToolmakerSteve Over a year ago

@CeH9 - FWIW, when I made the mistake of typing name only, it did not give the full path; it just said ".. saved in myfilename." [If I hit enter to accept the default path, then it has the full path to that default location.]

Daniel Thompson Over a year ago

didn't work for me until I generated it with no file name specified

VonC · Accepted Answer · 2023-07-21 14:51:36Z

41

You can start with creating the expected folder, and check you can access it:

mkdir "%USERPROFILE%\.ssh"
dir "%USERPROFILE%\.ssh"
cd "%USERPROFILE%\.ssh"

Make sure you do not have a Windows environment variable named HOME, which would take precedence when using ssh.exe or ssh-keygen.exe commands from a CMD session (as opposed to a bash session).

echo HOME='%HOME%'

You can use (from CMD or bash)

ssh-keygen -C "vonc@xxxx" -t rsa -P "" -f ~/.ssh/mykey
                                       ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

That will create a %USERPROFILE%\.ssh\mykey and %USERPROFILE%\.ssh\mykey.pub.

As a test, I just created my key without any problem (Seven Ultimate 64bits, msysgit 1.6.5.1.1367.gcd48)

$ ssh-keygen -C "vonc@xxxx" -t rsa
Generating public/private rsa key pair.
Enter file in which to save the key (/c/Users/VonC/.ssh/id_rsa):# just press enter
                                                                # to accept the
                                                                # default location
Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase):                     
Enter same passphrase again:
Your identification has been saved in /c/Users/VonC/.ssh/id_rsa.
Your public key has been saved in /c/Users/VonC/.ssh/id_rsa.pub.
The key fingerprint is:
xx:yy:zz:aa:bb:cc:... vonc@xxxx

With the result:

VonC@P ~/.ssh
$ ls -alrt
total 10
-rw-r--r--    1 VonC Administ      642 May 23 21:47 known_hosts
drwxr-xr-x   43 VonC Administ    16384 Jun 15 17:01 ..
-rw-r--r--    1 VonC Administ      398 Jun 19 16:14 id_rsa.pub
-rw-r--r--    1 VonC Administ     1675 Jun 19 16:14 id_rsa
drwxr-xr-x    2 VonC Administ        0 Jun 19 16:14 .

Could you check in your bash session (so not CMD) what value your $HOME environment variable is set?

VonC@P ~/.ssh
$ env|grep HOME
HOMEPATH=\Users\VonC
HOME=/c/Users/VonC     # <=== this must be correctly set
HOMEDRIVE=C:

edited Jul 21, 2023 at 14:51

answered Jun 19, 2010 at 16:16

VonC

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3 Comments

Charles Ouellet Over a year ago

Thanks VonC, you made me realized that my error was that I was typing a name when I was asked to enter file in which to save the key. I just hitted Enter and it generated id_rsa and id_rsa.pub files. Now it works perfectly

VonC Over a year ago

@couellet: thank you for this feedback. I have edited my answer to reflect it.

Entalpi Over a year ago

Check if the .ssh is not a symlink (Mackup and others do this for backups).

Ishara Amarasekera · Accepted Answer · 2019-06-27 14:59:22Z

11

I faced a similar issue while creating a SSH key and I resolved it this way.

When you use ssh-keygen -t rsa to generate a SSH key and it prompts you to

Enter file in which to save the key (/Users/iamarasekera/.ssh/id_rsa):

Do not give any file name. Instead, just press "Enter" key and go ahead.

Then it will create .ssh folder and inside that folder it will generate the 2 files id_rsa and id_rsa.pub.

You will also see the message Created directory '/<path to your current folder>/.ssh'. on your command prompt.

Next, it will prompt you toEnter passphraseand you better not skip it.

Check this out for your reference.

Note: If you enter a file name when it prompts you to enter a file name to save the key it creates 2 file as <filename> and <filename>.pub inside the directory where you are currently located without creating a .ssh folder.

Hope this helps.

answered Jun 27, 2019 at 14:59

Ishara Amarasekera

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2 Comments

Abhishek Sengupta Over a year ago

i was wondering why it was not creating anything lol. this explains , thnks

DiskJunky Over a year ago

inside the directory where you are currently located without creating a .ssh folder. is the magic phrase here

Galivan · Accepted Answer · 2019-08-22 15:01:33Z

9

If you already have a key called "id_rsa" and you want to save a new one in a different name, you need to provide the whole path, if I understood it. So when it asks:

Enter file in which to save the key (/c/Users/myname/.ssh/id_rsa):

You can type /c/Users/myname/.ssh/new_key and it will be created (I just tested).

answered Aug 22, 2019 at 15:01

Galivan

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Comments

Adi Developer · Accepted Answer · 2022-09-28 13:43:47Z

6

I faced similar situation, Solution that worked for me has been described below.

When following message comes while creating the key -

Enter file in which to save the key (C:\Users\aditya/.ssh/id_rsa):

Just Press Enter Here , do not provide any filename else the key will get created in your Present Working Directory.

answered Sep 28, 2022 at 13:43

Adi Developer

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Comments

Bala · Accepted Answer · 2022-07-24 07:22:00Z

1

The filename alone is not enough!

you need to specify full path. For your requirement

/c/Users/user/.ssh/project

Otherwise, your keys will be stored in the current directory of the command prompt.

For example, if you were running from /c/project your keys will be stored /c/project/project and /c/project/project.pub

edited Jul 24, 2022 at 7:22

answered Jul 24, 2022 at 7:16

Bala

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Comments

Aparna · Accepted Answer · 2014-02-24 11:04:27Z

0

This worked for me.. Refer link below

http://ekawas.blogspot.co.uk/2007/03/solving-pesky-ssh-issues-in-cygwin.html

edit the passwd file in c:/cygwin64/etc. Open it with wordpad

edit home/YOUR_NAME to /cygdrive/c/Documents and Settings/YOUR_NAME

answered Feb 24, 2014 at 11:04

Aparna

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E. B. · Accepted Answer · 2021-11-28 14:25:13Z

0

This is late but I after the solutions provided here didn't make a change, I simply ran Git Bash as administrator. It worked as expected this way.

answered Nov 28, 2021 at 14:25

E. B.

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