Generating a new SSH key and adding it to the ssh-agent

Generating a new SSH key

1. Open Git Bash.

2. Paste the text below, substituting in your GitHub Enterprise email address.

   ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -C "your_email@example.com"
   # Creates a new ssh key, using the provided email as a label
   Generating public/private rsa key pair.
   

3. 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 (/Users/you/.ssh/id_rsa): [Press enter]
   

4. 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, you should have checked for existing SSH keys andgenerated a new SSH key.

If you have GitHub for Windows installed, you can use it to clone repositories and not deal with SSH keys. It also comes with the Git Bash tool, which is the preferred way of running git commands on Windows.

1. Ensure ssh-agent is enabled:

   • If you are using Git Bash, turn on ssh-agent:

     # start the ssh-agent in the background
     eval "$(ssh-agent -s)"
     Agent pid 59566
     

   • If you are using another terminal prompt, such as Git for Windows, turn on ssh-agent:

     # start the ssh-agent in the background
     eval $(ssh-agent -s)
     Agent pid 59566
     

2. Add your SSH key to the ssh-agent. If you used an existing SSH key rather than generating a new SSH key, you'll need to replace id_rsa in the command with the name of your existing private key file.

   $ ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_rsa
   

3. Add the SSH key to your GitHub account.