Generating a new SSH key
- Open Git Bash.
- Paste the text below, substituting in your GitHub email address.
$ ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -C "your_email@example.com"
This creates a new ssh key, using the provided email as a label.
> Generating public/private rsa key pair.
- When you’re prompted to «Enter a file in which to save the key,» press Enter. This accepts the default file location.
> Enter a file in which to save the key (/c/Users/you/.ssh/id_rsa):[Press enter]
- At the prompt, type a secure passphrase. For more information, see «Working with SSH key passphrases».
> Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase): [Type a passphrase] > Enter same passphrase again: [Type passphrase again]
Adding your SSH key to the ssh-agent
Before adding a new SSH key to the ssh-agent to manage your keys, you should have checked for existing SSH keys and generated a new SSH key.
If you have GitHub Desktop installed, you can use it to clone repositories and not deal with SSH keys.
- Ensure the ssh-agent is running. You can use the «Auto-launching the ssh-agent» instructions in «Working with SSH key passphrases«, or start it manually:
# start the ssh-agent in the background $ eval $(ssh-agent -s) > Agent pid 59566
- Add your SSH private key to the ssh-agent. If you created your key with a different name, or if you are adding an existing key that has a different name, replace id_rsa in the command with the name of your private key file.
$ ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_rsa
- Add the SSH key to your GitHub account.