SSH Help

SSH Help

References:

• The Ultimate Guide to SSH
• How to Set Up Multiple SSH Keys
• Best way to use multiple SSH private keys on one client

---

Configure More Than One SSH Key

If you need to connect to the same host with different keys, you can achieve it by following these steps.

Example: We want to use one SSH key for work and another for personal use.

Steps

1. Generate both SSH keys:

   ssh-keygen -t rsa  # use one default path ( ~/.ssh )
   ssh-keygen -t rsa  # give one different path from default (eg: ~/.ssh2 )
   

2. Add alias host name:

   In your ~/.ssh/config file, add a similar configuration:

   Host work
     HostName bitbucket.org
     IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa    ## /User/admin/.ssh/id_rsa
     User git
   
   Host personal
     HostName bitbucket.org
     IdentityFile ~/.ssh2/id_rsa  ## /User/admin/.ssh2/id_rsa
     User git
   

3. Add SSH private keys to ssh-agent:

   The default one will be added automatically.

   ssh-add ~/.ssh2/id_rsa
   

4. Use aliases while adding origin (or while cloning):

   Then instead of cloning your repos like this:

   git clone git@bitbucket.org:username/my-work-project.git
   git clone git@bitbucket.org:username/my-personal-project.git
   

   You must do this:

   git clone git@work:username/my-work-project.git
   git clone git@personal:username/my-personal-project.git