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published: Dec 6, 2025,
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GitHub: Authenticated Access via SSH
This article describes how to set up authenticated access to a (private or public) GitHub repository from Linux.
Create & Set Up an SSH Key
SSH Key Creation
Create a new SSH key:
# 1. Adjust the email
# 2. Set a strong passphrase when asked
ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "[email protected]"
Rename the new key to whatever descriptive name you favor (I’m simply using github):
mv ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 ~/.ssh/github
mv ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub ~/.ssh/github.pub
SSH Key Setup: Local
Specify that the new key is to be used for github.com by adding the following to ~/.ssh/config:
Host github.com
HostName github.com
User git
IdentityFile ~/.ssh/github
IdentitiesOnly yes
SSH Key Setup: GitHub
Add the public key to your GitHub account at Settings > SSH and GPG keys > New SSH key.
Enable Automatic Authentication
Start an SSH agent for your terminal session and add the key to be used. Supply the key’s passphrase when asked:
eval "$(ssh-agent -s)"
ssh-add ~/.ssh/github
With the above in place, the git command won’t ask you for the passphrase to you private SSH key anymore – in the current terminal session.
Test Authentication
ssh -T [email protected] -v
More verbose output:
ssh -vvT [email protected] -v
Repo: Check Out via SSH (not HTTPS)
If the repository was checked out via HTTPS, switch to SSH:
git remote set-url origin "$(git remote get-url origin | sed -E 's#https://github.com/(.+)#[email protected]:\1#')"
