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@adamjohnson
Last active March 27, 2024 17:01
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Fix "Permission denied (publickey)" error when pushing with Git

"Help, I keep getting a 'Permission Denied (publickey)' error when I push!"

This means, on your local machine, you haven't made any SSH keys. Not to worry. Here's how to fix:

  1. Open git bash (Use the Windows search. To find it, type "git bash") or the Mac Terminal. Pro Tip: You can use any *nix based command prompt (but not the default Windows Command Prompt!)
  2. Type cd ~/.ssh. This will take you to the root directory for Git (Likely C:\Users\[YOUR-USER-NAME]\.ssh\ on Windows)
  3. Within the .ssh folder, there should be these two files: id_rsa and id_rsa.pub. These are the files that tell your computer how to communicate with GitHub, BitBucket, or any other Git based service. Type ls to see a directory listing. If those two files don't show up, proceed to the next step. NOTE: Your SSH keys must be named id_rsa and id_rsa.pub in order for Git, GitHub, and BitBucket to recognize them by default.
  4. To create the SSH keys, type ssh-keygen -t rsa -C "your_email@example.com". This will create both id_rsa and id_rsa.pub files.
  5. Now, go and open id_rsa.pub in your favorite text editor (you can do this via Windows Explorer or the OSX Finder if you like, typing open . will open the folder).
  6. Copy the contents--exactly as it appears, with no extra spaces or lines--of id_rsa.pub and paste it into GitHub and/or BitBucket under the Account Settings > SSH Keys. NOTE: I like to give the SSH key a descriptive name, usually with the name of the workstation I'm on along with the date.
  7. Now that you've added your public key to Github and/or BitBucket, try to git push again and see if it works. It should!

More help available from GitHub on creating SSH Keys and BitBucket Help.

@knkailash
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Works like a charm, many thanks for this solution suggestion.

@shazib2022skipq
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Bro, youre a lifesaver. I wasted so much time on setting up the credential manager, but finally your post helped me figure this out. Thanks a lot and lots of love.

@pbatsaihan
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Thanks

@EmilyYChan
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Thank you for the great explanation!

@TonniPaul
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it worked for me but now I have to input my phrase before i could push anything

@Murillo-Henrique-Monteiro-Nacfur

Thanks, it worked.

@mhd-hi
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mhd-hi commented Aug 31, 2022

It didn't work for me. I had to rename my .pub public file and the private file to id_rsa and it works fine now 🎉🎉 Have a great code!

@apprajapati9
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what if I don't wanna have the default name like id_rsa. pub? what would be the setup or changes that I have to do if I change key names?

@2bam
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2bam commented Sep 11, 2022

If you:

  • are using PowerShell or CMD directly
  • don't want to be forced to use id_rsa
  • don't want to input a passphrase on each call to git
  • don't want to use Git Bash because you want to use it from CMD/PowerShell directly
    you need some troubleshooting to use git installation executables and a prior setup:

First of all thanks for this gist, it helped me out when I was at a total loss!!!

1. Start or get currently running agent into env vars (PID and socket/pipe file).
start-ssh-agent.cmd
It should be in PATH, otherwise find it at C:\Program Files\Git\cmd
This command undocumented in the FAQ will spawn a child CMD with the dynamic env vars set. Use it, if you close it will leave the agent on but git calls won't work as wanted.

2. Make sure you're using the ssh executables from the git installation
In PowerShell: Get-Command ssh (this is like which ssh in Linux)
You're probably not using that, so point there before anything else.
In CMD: set PATH=C:\Program Files\Git\usr\bin;%PATH%
In PowerShell: $Env:PATH = "C:\Program Files\Git\usr\bin;$Env:PATH"

3. Only after that load keys using git installation's ssh-add:
ssh-add <PATH_TO_KEY>
And enter the passphrase.

Then you can use git directly from CWD/PowerShell without (so much) troubles. Not only git push but also git clone, etc.
I needed this for some automation and didn't want to spawn a Git Bash per git call, neither wanted to run inside Git Bash.

https://gist.github.com/2bam/33347ff54be8088943450f20323fde53

@andresernajoto
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Thanks, now it's working correctly!

@TadesseDev
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Thank you brother, It's working. And for someone curious like me. If you don't like to name your ssh id_pub. You need to re-install git since most of the time the problem is related to the git you have installed or how you install it. For me the problem was, I install git on a different user account and try to use it in another one. 😎

@joel-dev22
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I added public key to Github...But still i am having the error..Can you explain why brother?

@yusufkarakaya
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it works! thank you.

@Ekta17
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Ekta17 commented Sep 29, 2022

this works!

one extra step is to add the rsa key in your path:

touch ~/.ssh/config
vi ~/.ssh/config

paste following in this file and change location of the rsa file:

Host *
AddKeysToAgent yes
UseKeychain yes
IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa

ssh-add -K ~/.ssh/id_rsa

@Volodymyr-Shabala
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Thanks!

@pfabiszewski
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Thank you!

@kalinchkma
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Thank You!

@vaniswamy
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vaniswamy commented Oct 11, 2022 via email

@Volodymyr-Shabala
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Hello, I think I’m not the correct audience for this mail chain. If yes , please exclude me from this call. Best Regards, Vani From: Ekta Arora @.> Date: Thursday, 29 September 2022 at 07:30 To: adamjohnson @.> Cc: Vani Swamy @.>, Comment @.> Subject: Re: adamjohnson/publickey-git-error.markdown @Ekta17 commented on this gist.

________________________________ this works! one extra step is to add the rsa key in your path: touch ~/.ssh/config vi ~/.ssh/config paste following in this file and change location of the rsa file: Host * AddKeysToAgent yes UseKeychain yes IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa ssh-add -K ~/.ssh/id_rsa — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHubhttps://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgist.github.com%2F5682757%23gistcomment-4319125&data=05%7C01%7Cvani.swamy%40ingka.ikea.com%7Cd6fe2548628e4f8db1bc08daa1dbc5a9%7C720b637a655a40cf816af22f40755c2c%7C0%7C0%7C638000262552187699%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=rwkWT3KspXxH6erjIjL9gwD3kDudmWZU0iw4KVKwpGc%3D&reserved=0, or unsubscribehttps://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgithub.com%2Fnotifications%2Funsubscribe-auth%2FAYDSDCEK2WYHRR7PWI4B62TWAUSQVANCNFSM4HI4HAHA&data=05%7C01%7Cvani.swamy%40ingka.ikea.com%7Cd6fe2548628e4f8db1bc08daa1dbc5a9%7C720b637a655a40cf816af22f40755c2c%7C0%7C0%7C638000262552187699%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=SqRZnNCXjvPN0YuNvdd1WWp23nQELzxKeB5Hjdphjis%3D&reserved=0. You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: @.***>

Hi. There is an unsubscribe button in the email you get that you can press to stop receiving updates from this thread.

@arifbangashse
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How did you fix it with another user?

@a-malacarne
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I got the same error when following the key generation guid for Mac on Github docs: https://docs.github.com/en/authentication/connecting-to-github-with-ssh/generating-a-new-ssh-key-and-adding-it-to-the-ssh-agent#generating-a-new-ssh-key

The problem for me was the entry in .ssh/config which has to be for host *github.com and not *.github.com as the guide says since *.github.com does not match the ssh domain git@github.com:your-user.... So Git didn't even use the key when trying to push to Github.

@BotanicalAmy
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THANK YOU! Finally connected PyCharm because of this.

@GeorgeLukoff
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thanks, you are awesome!!!

@eliascreates
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This helped. Thank you so much 🙏

@appaloosa-marketing
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Thank you!

@kdaysal
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kdaysal commented Nov 24, 2022

Bravo!! I was getting the Permission Denied (publickey) error when trying to execute npm run deploy to publish an app to gh-pages for the first time. Kept going in circles on different forums without much luck. One suggestion was to change the remote's URL from SSH to HTTPS - which I tried, and it worked ONCE (published to gh-pages successfully) - and then some time later I tried to publish new changes and it failed with the same error as before. Such a headache, but the solution described here worked like a charm after I switched my remote URL back to SSH and followed the steps. Thank you so much! :)

@nyamwaya
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nyamwaya commented Dec 1, 2022

worked for me. had to rename files to id_rsa respectfully

@theo-carr
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Thank you so much! fixed a problem I was having for a few days...

@Manimit10
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Very helpful, thanks

@Zyanvel
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Zyanvel commented Dec 15, 2022

Thank you SO much!

@johannesrave
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using WSL, this DID solve my problem for windows-based git. however, using WebStorm and a project based in the linux file system, it still wasn't enough and I couldn't get it to work for several months. the solution finally came by wrapping the git that WebStorm (or IntelliJ etc) uses for WSL projects in a bash script that starts the respective ssh-agent, see this thread:
https://youtrack.jetbrains.com/issue/IDEA-275823/Git-from-WSL-Support-SSH-agent-from-WSL

@bassigbc
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Thanks, it works with Ubuntu on WSL2

@harsh-kp
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Thanks man, i named my keys id_"some_custom_name" but i renamed it to rsa and it started working fine.
Still i didnt get why it didnt work for custom name. I added the identity in the config file

@santosh2818
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This is very helpful. Easy steps saved lots of trouble.

@steveninety
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steveninety commented Jan 3, 2023

WARNING!
Powershell terminal users!

You'll keep getting this error even after following the outlined instructions. It only works in the Bash/Cygwin terminal. In Cygwin, I ran:

ssh -T git@github.com

Result:

Hi steveninety! You've successfully authenticated, but GitHub does not provide shell access.

Find the comment by @2bam where he explains how to get rid of the error in Powershell.

@eprasetyaw
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thanks. it's work master.

@ranjankhanna
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I am also running into same issue on my mac. I tried above solution but didn't work. Following is my ~/.ssh/config file:

Host *
AddKeysToAgent yes
UseKeychain yes
IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa

Can anyone please help!

@TiffLSmith
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TiffLSmith commented Jan 10, 2023

I have this issue and need help! My config file is set up correctly, I can connect to GitHub using the command ssh -T@github.com. I ran the command ssh -vT git@github.com and was able to see my public key connect successfully. However when I run the command ssh-add -l -E sha256 I receive this error message "The agent has no identities." I can not understand how this is possible and any help would be greatly appreciated as I have been working on this issue for 2 weeks. Using a Mac.

@delacrucen
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Thanks!

@mbgoodguy
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Thanks! It's really works! <3

@soscarlos
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It worked! Thanks!

@bitbyalex
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Thank you! Finally it worked!

@starthecode
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Not working at all

@LiuXH98
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LiuXH98 commented Feb 14, 2023

Thank you so much!!!!!

@ArielRobson
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Thanks!

@lanbufan
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Thank You! Works like a charm.

@Coding-Noob30
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you saved me

@FREEDOCTOR1986
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Thanks man, i named my keys id_"some_custom_name" but i renamed it to rsa and it started working fine.
Still i didnt get why it didnt work for custom name. I added the identity in the config file

hello sir, I also have the same issue how can I rename ? please help

@gowthamkumar12
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I have an issue I have created a repo and I am trying to clone the repo using ssh, for that I have setup everything up, but when I am trying to clone the repo I am facing this.

`git@github.com: Permission denied (publickey).
fatal: Could not read from remote repository.

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

I don't know where I am going wrong. someone please help me with this

@Divya0319
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Divya0319 commented Jun 12, 2023

I have an issue I have created a repo and I am trying to clone the repo using ssh, for that I have setup everything up, but when I am trying to clone the repo I am facing this.

`git@github.com: Permission denied (publickey). fatal: Could not read from remote repository.

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

I don't know where I am going wrong. someone please help me with this

Make sure you have created public and private key pairs properly, by following the steps described in SSH key generation official docs, and also make sure you uploaded your public key in "SSH Keys" section of your GitHub account. I have attached two screenshots from my GitHub account for your reference.
Screenshot 2023-06-12 163242
Screenshot 2023-06-12 163451

@gowthamkumar12
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gowthamkumar12 commented Jun 12, 2023

Yeah, I have done all of that and I am also able to get this message "Hi gowthamkumar12! You've successfully authenticated, but GitHub does not provide shell access." while doing "ssh -T git@github.com"

@Divya0319
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Yeah, I have done all of that and I am also able to get this message "Hi gowthamkumar12! You've successfully authenticated, but GitHub does not provide shell access." while doing "ssh -T git@github.com"

For registering newly created SSH keys, you must register your keys (private keys) to SSH agent, instead of requesting shell access of GitHub.

@josehricardo
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This procedure solved my problem! thanks!!!

@tharaka16
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Worked like a charm. thank you!!

@bvercelli99
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Thanks!!

@Vil94
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Vil94 commented Aug 22, 2023

What a lifesaver, thank you!!

@iamkayshow
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Thanks it worked!

@pjkitsune
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Thank you so much! I was stumped!

@Yunishello
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Thanks so much it worked

@emil-raubach
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Thank you!

@ScorpQ
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ScorpQ commented Nov 1, 2023

Thank youuu

@roziqjon1
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l;,
l

@chronkituss
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Thank you, it worked!

@sagar03d
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sagar03d commented Jan 2, 2024

I was having this error on ubuntu, do not forget to add 'sudo' while running ssh-keygen command

@devonkinghorn
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I had this problem but only with docker-compose build with a git context. Git clone and push still worked though

For some reason when I ran ssh-add, it magically worked. No clue why but hopefully it helps someone.

$ ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_rsa

@HarshitJoshi9152
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Thank you bro, needed this

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