multiple-ssh-keys.md

layout	title	author	author_url	date
protocols	Set up multiple ssh keys for different GitHub accounts	Shaohe Wang	https://shaohewanglab.org	2022-06-06

1. Generate ssh keys following this instruction.

   During the process, you will be asked which file to save the key:

   > Enter a file in which to save the key (/Users/{your_username}/.ssh/id_ed25519): [Press enter]
   

   You can use the default private key file name (i.e., id_ed25519) for one of your keys, but you will need to use different names for other keys, and better to be descriptive (e.g., id_lab, or id_{account_name}). At least on Mac, it seems that you have to type out the full path (/Users/{your_username}/.ssh/id_{some_descriptive_name}), but using ~ for home (~/.ssh/id_{some_descriptive_name}) will not work.

2. Adding corresponding SSH keys to your GitHub accounts following this instruction.

3. Create or modify the ssh config file (~/.ssh/config).

   For example, if you have two accounts:

   Host gh1
     HostName github.com
     User git
     AddKeysToAgent yes
     UseKeychain yes
     IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_{account_1}
   Host gh2
     HostName github.com
     User git
     AddKeysToAgent yes
     UseKeychain yes
     IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_{account_2}
   

4. Add ssh private keys to your agent following this instruction.

5. Test ssh connections.

   ssh -T git@gh1
   ssh -T git@gh2

   If it works OK, you should see this message:

   Hi {account name}! You've successfully authenticated, but GitHub does not provide shell access.
   

6. Now you are ready to use the configured gh1 and gh2 hosts for your different GitHub accounts.

   • You can clone your remote repository using git clone git@gh1:{repo_remote_path} {local_path} for account_1, or git clone git@gh2:{repo_remote_path} {local_path} for account_2.

   • If you have a local repository you want to link to a remote repository, run git remote add origin git@gh1:{repo_remote_path} for account_1, or git remote add origin git@gh2:{repo_remote_path} for account_2.

   • If you want to update the remote url from using https to using ssh connections, run git remote set-url origin git@gh1:{repo_remote_path} for account_1, or git remote set-url origin git@gh2:{repo_remote_path} for account_2.