Git how to clone with SSH key, username

Question

I have the following and i need to clone the repository in either windows terminal command prompt or linux.

URL: [email protected]:xxx/xxx/git
username: [email protected]
SSH key: ssh-rsa [email protected]

I tried as :

git clone [email protected]:xxx/xxx/git

I get

Permission denied(public key)
Couldn't read from remote repository

Also tried to change the URL as:

git clone https://xxxxx.com:xxx/xxx/git

Have you added your ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub in your account profile (e.g. GitHub, BitBucket)? — Sajib Khan
– Sajib Khan, Commented Jan 18, 2017 at 9:02
We dont have access to the account profile...The details are shared from the client and we just need to clone our code into their github — Sushivam
– Sushivam, Commented Jan 18, 2017 at 11:34

Wiston Coronell · Accepted Answer · 2019-11-27 15:58:41Z

285

Always coming late to answer anything, it may be possible that you have more than one ssh keys and if not specified git will try to use id_rsa but if you need a different one you could use

git clone [email protected]:userName/projectName.git --config core.sshCommand="ssh -i ~/location/to/private_ssh_key"

This way it will apply this config and use a key different than id_rsa before actually fetching any data from the git repository.

subsequent fetch or push will use the specified key to authenticate for the cloned repository.

Hope this is helpful to anyone.

answered Nov 27, 2019 at 15:58

Wiston Coronell

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6 Comments

rundekugel Over a year ago

But it makes problems with recursive submodules

wrapperapps Over a year ago

after cloning, initializing submodules does not work. is there any workaround?

Wiston Coronell Over a year ago

well, the problem with sub-module is a bit different, that the one I was initially trying to tackle, but basically you would need to override the .git/config file inside of each submodule and correct the sshCommand to whatever the submodule requires. you may get a better explanation reading the documentation here git-scm.com/docs/git-config#_configuration_file

Draco Over a year ago

You can add this as a function to your ~/.profile and have git "aliases" specific for each repo/organization. function git-company(){git ${@:1} --config core.sshCommand="ssh -i ~/.ssh/company_private_key"} This allows use of git-company instead of git for repos that need company_private_key. All parameters are being passed transparently.

jaques-sam Over a year ago

I've found out (this is maybe specific to BitBucket) that the repo cannot be private in order to clone it even if the private SSH key is used.

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Jöcker · Accepted Answer · 2024-03-12 07:34:26Z

78

I suggest that you follow those steps:

Step 1: Check for existing SSH keys

$> ls -al ~/.ssh

Do you see any files named id_rsa and id_rsa.pub?

If yes go to Step 3

If no, you need to generate them

Step 2: Generate a new SSH key

$> ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -C "yourEmail"

Add your SSH key to the ssh-agent

$> eval "$(ssh-agent -s)"

$> ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_rsa

Step 3.1: Add the SSH key to your GIT account.

Get your public key

$> cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub

Go to your GIT Account Settings (your profile picture in the upper right corner) -> Settings -> SSH and GPG keys -> New SSH key

Then paste the content of your public key into SSH keys

Step 3.2: Force SSH Client To Use Given Private Key

This is an alternative solution when you can't set keys on your Git account

$> sudo nano ~/.ssh/config

Then change this line

IdentityFile <yourPrivateKey>

Step 4: Clone the project

$> git clone [email protected]:xxx/xxx/git

edited Mar 12, 2024 at 7:34

Jöcker

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answered Jan 18, 2017 at 9:54

Ala Eddine JEBALI

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11 Comments

Sushivam Over a year ago

Is there alternate way to Step3 , cause we dont have access to GIT account, having only the specified details from my question , i guess i cant access the Git account... Also i have the ssh key content (i guess its id_rsa.pub contents)....so i created a folder, with the file name id_rsa.pub and pasted the contents i have...

Ala Eddine JEBALI Over a year ago

When you tape in a command cat ~/.ssh/config Do you see IdentityFile line?

Sushivam Over a year ago

Here is the structure, i have a folder in my windows local drive as : C/Users/me/Test/.ssh in My ssh folder , i have .id_rsa file, and i when i type cat ~/.ssh/config i get no such file

Ala Eddine JEBALI Over a year ago

@Sachins I updated my answer: See Step 3.2: Force SSH Client To Use Given Private Key

Nathaniel Ford Over a year ago

Please note that while id_rsa is the default given to ssh keys, they need not be named this.

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Community · Accepted Answer · 2020-06-20 09:12:55Z

10

test ssh with GitHub to get actionable feedback.

in the command line run ssh -T [email protected]
(see https://help.github.com/articles/testing-your-ssh-connection/)

if that works, bother with git next. but likely there will, be your issue.

to clone, THEN use git clone [email protected]:$USERNAME/$REPONAME.git

edited Jun 20, 2020 at 9:12

CommunityBot

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answered Jan 18, 2017 at 9:54

Daij-Djan

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1 Comment

Kevin Buchs Over a year ago

Doesn't really address the question as asked.

Matthew Wilcoxson · Accepted Answer · 2024-07-03 15:02:30Z

2

If you need to specify a key other than the default one, adjust ssh's config.

It's usually at ~/.ssh/config. Add something like:

Host gitlab.domain.com
    PreferredAuthentications publickey
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa_my_key

(Change "gitlab.domain.com" and "id_rsa_my_key" to yours!)

answered Jul 3, 2024 at 15:02

Matthew Wilcoxson

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Comments

OneCricketeer · Accepted Answer · 2022-06-01 22:26:21Z

-14

To clone source code without using ssh, we can use http url with following format:

http://usernameWITHOUTdomain:password@the_rest_httpURL

ex: http://myname:[email protected]/projectname/project.git

edited Jun 1, 2022 at 22:26

OneCricketeer

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answered Mar 19, 2020 at 4:40

Thien Pham

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4 Comments

Schlueter Over a year ago

This is using http, not ssh.

Schlueter Over a year ago

Sure, but you said "To clone source code with Git using ssh", which is not what the example does.

Kevin Buchs Over a year ago

This does not follow ssh protocol - not a solution

izogfif Over a year ago

Just another issue with this: sometimes reverse proxy on the server side has a timeout. For large repositories, GIT server takes much longer than this timeout value to generate initial response. This makes virtually impossible to clone repository via HTTP. That's why we have to fallback to using SSH instead.

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Git how to clone with SSH key, username

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Step 1: Check for existing SSH keys

Step 2: Generate a new SSH key

Step 3.1: Add the SSH key to your GIT account.

Step 3.2: Force SSH Client To Use Given Private Key

Step 4: Clone the project

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test ssh with GitHub to get actionable feedback.

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5 Answers 5

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Step 1: Check for existing SSH keys

Step 2: Generate a new SSH key

Step 3.1: Add the SSH key to your GIT account.

Step 3.2: Force SSH Client To Use Given Private Key

Step 4: Clone the project

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test ssh with GitHub to get actionable feedback.

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