Fix "Permission denied (publickey)" error when pushing with Git

publickey-git-error.markdown

"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.

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

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.

thanks. it's work master.

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!

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.

Thanks!

Thanks! It's really works! <3

It worked! Thanks!

Thank you! Finally it worked!

Not working at all

Thank you so much!!!!!

Thanks!

Thank You! Works like a charm.

you saved me

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

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

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.

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"

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.

This procedure solved my problem! thanks!!!

Worked like a charm. thank you!!

Thanks!!

What a lifesaver, thank you!!

Thanks it worked!

Thank you so much! I was stumped!

Thanks so much it worked

Thank you!

Thank youuu

l;,
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Thank you, it worked!

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

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

Thank you bro, needed this

Gracias, esta solución me funciono perfectamente