Why doesn't my SSH key work for connecting to github?

ssh github ssh-keys

Note: I'm not a newb, and I've done this a gazillion times, but for some reason today it decided not to work.

I keep getting the Permission denied (publickey). error message when trying to connect to github via SSH or when trying to clone a repo, even after remaking the ssh key and adding it to "SSH Keys" in my account.

This is what I tried to do ten times today without success:

  1. make a key with ssh-keygen.
  2. open ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub with Gedit or Notepad++ and copy the contents.
  3. Go to account settings on github.com
  4. Go to SSH Keys
  5. Click on the Add Key button.
  6. give the key a title
  7. paste the key into the key box.
  8. Save the key (enter my github password to verify).

And now, when I try doing ssh github.com it just won't work.... What in the world? Am I just too tired right now or am I missing something?

Here's the output from ssh -vvv github.com

OpenSSH_5.9p1, OpenSSL 1.0.0f 4 Jan 2012
debug1: Reading configuration data /etc/ssh/ssh_config
debug2: ssh_connect: needpriv 0
debug1: Connecting to github.com [207.97.227.239] port 22.
debug1: Connection established.
debug3: Incorrect RSA1 identifier
debug3: Could not load "/home/trusktr/.ssh/id_rsa" as a RSA1 public key
debug1: identity file /home/trusktr/.ssh/id_rsa type 1
debug1: identity file /home/trusktr/.ssh/id_rsa-cert type -1
debug1: identity file /home/trusktr/.ssh/id_dsa type -1
debug1: identity file /home/trusktr/.ssh/id_dsa-cert type -1
debug1: identity file /home/trusktr/.ssh/id_ecdsa type -1
debug1: identity file /home/trusktr/.ssh/id_ecdsa-cert type -1
debug1: Remote protocol version 2.0, remote software version OpenSSH_5.1p1 Debian-5github2
debug1: match: OpenSSH_5.1p1 Debian-5github2 pat OpenSSH*
debug1: Enabling compatibility mode for protocol 2.0
debug1: Local version string SSH-2.0-OpenSSH_5.9
debug2: fd 3 setting O_NONBLOCK
debug3: load_hostkeys: loading entries for host "github.com" from file "/home/trusktr/.ssh/known_hosts"
debug3: load_hostkeys: found key type RSA in file /home/trusktr/.ssh/known_hosts:16
debug3: load_hostkeys: loaded 1 keys
debug3: order_hostkeyalgs: prefer hostkeyalgs: [email protected],[email protected],ssh-rsa
debug1: SSH2_MSG_KEXINIT sent
debug1: SSH2_MSG_KEXINIT received
debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: ecdh-sha2-nistp256,ecdh-sha2-nistp384,ecdh-sha2-nistp521,diffie-hellman-group-exchange-sha256,diffie-hellman-group-exchange-sha1,diffie-hellman-group14-sha1,diffie-hellman-group1-sha1
debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: [email protected],[email protected],ssh-rsa,[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],ecdsa-sha2-nistp256,ecdsa-sha2-nistp384,ecdsa-sha2-nistp521,ssh-dss
debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: aes128-ctr,aes192-ctr,aes256-ctr,arcfour256,arcfour128,aes128-cbc,3des-cbc,blowfish-cbc,cast128-cbc,aes192-cbc,aes256-cbc,arcfour,[email protected]
debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: aes128-ctr,aes192-ctr,aes256-ctr,arcfour256,arcfour128,aes128-cbc,3des-cbc,blowfish-cbc,cast128-cbc,aes192-cbc,aes256-cbc,arcfour,[email protected]
debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: hmac-md5,hmac-sha1,[email protected],hmac-sha2-256,hmac-sha2-256-96,hmac-sha2-512,hmac-sha2-512-96,hmac-ripemd160,[email protected],hmac-sha1-96,hmac-md5-96
debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: hmac-md5,hmac-sha1,[email protected],hmac-sha2-256,hmac-sha2-256-96,hmac-sha2-512,hmac-sha2-512-96,hmac-ripemd160,[email protected],hmac-sha1-96,hmac-md5-96
debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: none,[email protected],zlib
debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: none,[email protected],zlib
debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: 
debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: 
debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: first_kex_follows 0 
debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: reserved 0 
debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: diffie-hellman-group-exchange-sha256,diffie-hellman-group-exchange-sha1,diffie-hellman-group14-sha1,diffie-hellman-group1-sha1
debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: ssh-rsa,ssh-dss
debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: aes128-cbc,3des-cbc,blowfish-cbc,cast128-cbc,arcfour128,arcfour256,arcfour,aes192-cbc,aes256-cbc,[email protected],aes128-ctr,aes192-ctr,aes256-ctr
debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: aes128-cbc,3des-cbc,blowfish-cbc,cast128-cbc,arcfour128,arcfour256,arcfour,aes192-cbc,aes256-cbc,[email protected],aes128-ctr,aes192-ctr,aes256-ctr
debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: hmac-md5,hmac-sha1,[email protected],hmac-ripemd160,[email protected],hmac-sha1-96,hmac-md5-96
debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: hmac-md5,hmac-sha1,[email protected],hmac-ripemd160,[email protected],hmac-sha1-96,hmac-md5-96
debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: none,[email protected]
debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: none,[email protected]
debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: 
debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: 
debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: first_kex_follows 0 
debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: reserved 0 
debug2: mac_setup: found hmac-md5
debug1: kex: server->client aes128-ctr hmac-md5 none
debug2: mac_setup: found hmac-md5
debug1: kex: client->server aes128-ctr hmac-md5 none
debug1: SSH2_MSG_KEX_DH_GEX_REQUEST(1024<1024<8192) sent
debug1: expecting SSH2_MSG_KEX_DH_GEX_GROUP
debug2: dh_gen_key: priv key bits set: 122/256
debug2: bits set: 510/1024
d    ebug1: SSH2_MSG_KEX_DH_GEX_INIT sent
debug1: expecting SSH2_MSG_KEX_DH_GEX_REPLY
debug1: Server host key: RSA 16:27:ac:a5:76:28:2d:36:63:1b:56:4d:eb:df:a6:48
debug3: load_hostkeys: loading entries for host "github.com" from file "/home/trusktr/.ssh/known_hosts"
debug3: load_hostkeys: found key type RSA in file /home/trusktr/.ssh/known_hosts:16
debug3: load_hostkeys: loaded 1 keys
debug3: load_hostkeys: loading entries for host "207.97.227.239" from file "/home/trusktr/.ssh/known_hosts"
debug3: load_hostkeys: found key type RSA in file /home/trusktr/.ssh/known_hosts:16
debug3: load_hostkeys: loaded 1 keys
debug1: Host 'github.com' is known and matches the RSA host key.
debug1: Found key in /home/trusktr/.ssh/known_hosts:16
debug2: bits set: 497/1024
debug1: ssh_rsa_verify: signature correct
debug2: kex_derive_keys
debug2: set_newkeys: mode 1
debug1: SSH2_MSG_NEWKEYS sent
debug1: expecting SSH2_MSG_NEWKEYS
debug2: set_newkeys: mode 0
debug1: SSH2_MSG_NEWKEYS received
debug1: Roaming not allowed by server
debug1: SSH2_MSG_SERVICE_REQUEST sent
debug2: service_accept: ssh-userauth
debug1: SSH2_MSG_SERVICE_ACCEPT received
debug2: key: /home/trusktr/.ssh/id_rsa (0x14cce60)
debug2: key: trusktr@rocketship (0x14ce2b0)
debug2: key: /home/trusktr/.ssh/id_dsa ((nil))
debug2: key: /home/trusktr/.ssh/id_ecdsa ((nil))
debug1: Authentications that can continue: publickey
debug3: start over, passed a different list publickey
debug3: preferred publickey,keyboard-interactive,password
debug3: authmethod_lookup publickey
debug3: remaining preferred: keyboard-interactive,password
debug3: authmethod_is_enabled publickey
debug1: Next authentication method: publickey
debug1: Offering RSA public key: /home/trusktr/.ssh/id_rsa
debug3: send_pubkey_test
debug2: we sent a publickey packet, wait for reply
debug1: Authentications that can continue: publickey
debug1: Offering RSA public key: trusktr@rocketship
debug3: send_pubkey_test
debug2: we sent a publickey packet, wait for reply
debug1: Authentications that can continue: publickey
debug1: Trying private key: /home/trusktr/.ssh/id_dsa
debug3: no such identity: /home/trusktr/.ssh/id_dsa
debug1: Trying private key: /home/trusktr/.ssh/id_ecdsa
debug3: no such identity: /home/trusktr/.ssh/id_ecdsa
debug2: we did not send a packet, disable method
debug1: No more authentication methods to try.
Permission denied (publickey).

Solution 1:

The GitHub ssh setup mentions testing your GitHub connection with: 

$ ssh -T [email protected]

That follow the ssh uri syntax (also illustrated in "this answer").

But you did:

ssh github.com

(without any user). In that case, ssh reverts to the SCP syntax, which relies on a ~/.ssh/config file, with a section "github.com", to list:

  • the user
  • the hostname
  • (and optionally the public key location, but by default it will try ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub)

To change it to a regular SSH URL, don't edit directly your .git/config file, as shown below.
Use the command git remote set-url:

git remote set-url origin [email protected]:username/repo.git

Solution 2:

I had a similar problem, github did not use my SSH key. I always had to enter my username and password.

I've been looking at .git/config, under [remote "origin"] there was:

    url = http://github.com/path/to/repository

or

    url = https://github.com/path/to/repository

I changed the line into

    url = ssh://[email protected]/path/to/repository

and then it worked.

Solution 3:

After creating a config file (~/.ssh/config) it worked. This is what I had to put in it:

Host github.com
User git
Port 22
Hostname github.com
IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa
TCPKeepAlive yes
IdentitiesOnly yes

Thanks to @VonC for leading me to there in the comments.

I don't get why I never needed this before though.

Solution 4:

If it works for other repositories, but not one in particular, then you are probably using the wrong remote url(i.e. https instead of [email protected])

  1. First, double check that your git ssh connection is working:

    ssh -T [email protected]

  2. If it works, check your remote:

    git remote -v

    it will display something like this:

    origin  https://github.com/username/repo(fetch)
origin  https://github.com/username/repo(push)

  3. If the remotes indicate https at the beginning, then you need to change this url with:

    git remote set-url origin [email protected]:usertname/repo.git

Go here for more details.

Solution 5:

This is what worked for me:

git remote set-url origin [email protected]:<YOUR-USERNAME>/<YOUR-REPOSITORY>.git

Change the items in the <> and run the command, and then try a git push.

Github.com's page on managing remote repositories helped me.

Related

Endless sine generation in C
Relative path to absolute path in C#?
Export from sqlite to csv using shell script
PG::Error: ERROR: new encoding (UTF8) is incompatible
Javascript - Apply trim function to each string in an array
How can I make rounded TextField in flutter?
Load a Bootstrap popover content with AJAX. Is this possible?
How to change grails localhost port?
Add players to team if they are within range?
Minecraft 1.5.2 Single Player Open to LAN ends for friend in Timeout [duplicate]
Bundler: can't find gem bundler (>= 0.a) with executable bundle (Gem::GemNotFoundException) during bundle install with gem
How do I save a helicopter?