GitLab and SSH keys

GitLab and SSH keys

Git is a distributed version control system, which means you can work locally but you can also share or "push" your changes to other servers. Before you can push your changes to a GitLab server you need a secure communication channel for sharing information.

The SSH protocol provides this security and allows you to authenticate to the GitLab remote server without supplying your username or password each time.

For a more detailed explanation of how the SSH protocol works, we advise you to read this nice tutorial by DigitalOcean.

Locating an existing SSH key pair

Before generating a new SSH key pair check if your system already has one at the default location by opening a shell, or Command Prompt on Windows, and running the following command:

Windows Command Prompt:

type %userprofile%\.ssh\id_rsa.pub

Git Bash on Windows / GNU/Linux / macOS / PowerShell:

cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub

If you see a string starting with ssh-rsa you already have an SSH key pair and you can skip the generate portion of the next section and skip to the copy to clipboard step. If you don't see the string or would like to generate a SSH key pair with a custom name continue onto the next step.

Note: Public SSH key may also be named as follows:

• id_dsa.pub
• id_ecdsa.pub
• id_ed25519.pub

Generating a new SSH key pair

1. To generate a new SSH key pair, use the followin