Permission denied using multiple Github user SSH keys

Question

Folks, it’s my first time to manage multiple SSH keys for multiple users. I point out in the following all the steps I carried out:

Assume I have 2 GitHub users attached to 2 different GitHub accounts, user1 and user2 respectively.

1. I was able to generate different SSH keys for each user

2. Similarly, I have uploaded the respective private keys to each user account

3. Thereafter, I set up the SSH config file like this:

Host user1.github.com
    HostName github.com
    PreferredAuthentications publickey
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_git_user1      # private key user1

Host user2.github.com
    HostName github.com
    PreferredAuthentications publickey
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_git_ user2      # private key user2

4. I cleared the SSH cache and load the new identities

ssh-add -D *
eval `ssh-agent -s`
ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_git_ user1
ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_git_ user2

and after issuing ssh-add -l, both keys are listed down

5. Whenever I create a new repo to any of them, I’m used to updating the local file .git/config.
For instance, I append the following config for each repo related to user1 manually:

[user]
    name = user1
    mail = [email protected]

and I did the same for user2 repositories

The problem is, whenever I load both keys at step 4, I was unable to do git push using user1, and it throws this error.
Let’s assume repo_user1 is a newly created repository related to user1.

ERROR: Permission to user1/repo_user1.git denied to user2
fatal: Could not read from remote repository.

Please make sure you have the correct access rights
and the repository exists.

I doubt the problem is, git failed to load the right key of the current user cause when I redo step 4 and omit to load the second key, it works fine. The error also says denied to user2 though my config is set for user1.

I really appreciate any workaround to avoid repeating the same steps each time I push my update.

Thanks,

The issue here is that as far as ssh is concerned, they are both the same user named "git". — jordanm
– jordanm, Commented Oct 21, 2020 at 14:39
If you run git remote get-url origin on your repos, you will see it always shows [email protected]. The ssh username is always "git" with github. — jordanm
– jordanm, Commented Oct 21, 2020 at 14:56

VonC · Accepted Answer · 2020-10-22 20:08:42Z

5

Try with the follwoign ~/.ssh/config file:

Host user1.github.com
    HostName github.com
    PreferredAuthentications publickey
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_git_user1      # private key user1
    User git

Host user2.github.com
    HostName github.com
    PreferredAuthentications publickey
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_git_ user2      # private key user2 
    User git

Then, for repo1, make sure to use the right SSH URL:

cd /path/to/repo1
git remote set-url user1.github.com:user1/repo_user1.git

That will use ~/.ssh/id_git_user1.

answered Oct 22, 2020 at 20:08

VonC

1.4m568 gold badges4.8k silver badges5.7k bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

Comments

Machavity · Accepted Answer · 2025-09-26 18:59:39Z

Try this after facing lot of issue this works better for multiple user

First, one needs to generate the SSH keys

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -f ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_work -C "[email protected]"

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -f ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_personal -C "[email protected]"

Write this to get the contents inside the keys

cat id_ed25519_personal.pub // added to ssh keys in personal github

cat id_ed25519_work.pub // added to ssh keys in work github

Now, add this to your known SSH keys

ssh-add --apple-use-keychain ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_work
ssh-add --apple-use-keychain ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_personal

Validate using the below command that these SSH keys are added or not

ssh-add -l -E md5

Now, open this file ~/.ssh/config , and add these inside this file

# Work GitHub account [default]
Host github.com
  HostName github.com
  User git
  IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_work
  AddKeysToAgent yes
  UseKeychain yes

# Personal GitHub account
Host github.com-personal
  HostName github.com
  User git
  IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_personal
  AddKeysToAgent yes
  UseKeychain yes

For the Validation of SSH keys, to determine if you are able to connect, add this to the terminal

ssh -T [email protected] 
ssh -T [email protected]

Try cloning like this now

# FOR WORK:
git clone [email protected]:work_username/another-project.git

# FOR PERSONAL:
git clone [email protected]:personal_username/another-project.git

OR use this in the add origin if you want to attach one repo to your GitHub

git remote add origin [email protected]:personal_username/repo.git

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Permission denied using multiple Github user SSH keys

2 Answers 2

Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Linked

Related