Adding an SSH Key to GitHub
A step-by-step guide to generating an SSH key, registering it with GitHub, and pushing your first commit
I got a new laptop today. I've used company-issued machines before, but it's been so long since I had one that was fully mine that I can't even remember the last time. Anyway, if you're registering a GitHub key for the first time, you're probably in a similar situation — once you set up your dev environment once, you rarely need to touch this again.
Let me walk through how to clone a GitHub repository on a brand-new MacBook.
This guide assumes you already have a repository you were working on and covers how to connect to it over SSH.
1. Generate an SSH Key
Run ssh-keygen in your terminal.
It will ask you two things: (1) where to save the key (press Enter to accept the default location ~/.ssh/id_rsa), and (2) a passphrase.
For more details, see this link.
2. Register the Key on GitHub
Your key files are located in the ~/.ssh directory.
Go to GitHub Settings, navigate to the SSH and GPG keys section, and add your public key there.
3. Configure Your GitHub Account Locally
git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "Your Email"
GitHub needs to know who you are in order to attribute commits to you. Set your identity globally using the commands above. There are many other config options available — exploring them with git --help or a quick web search is worth your time.
4. git clone
* Common Error Messages
No local SSH key found
This was the first error I ran into. When trying to git clone over SSH, I got a plain "Permission denied" message. GitHub has no way to verify that this machine belongs to me without an SSH key. The fix is to generate an SSH key with ssh-keygen and then add it in GitHub Settings under SSH keys.
SSH key not registered on GitHub
If ~/.ssh/id_rsa already exists, go to GitHub Settings → SSH keys and verify that the key is listed there.
Closing Thoughts
When I first started using GitHub I was confused about what SSH even was, so I just used HTTPS and moved on. It wasn't until I joined a private project that I actually needed SSH keys. I hope this guide helps you get your first commit pushed to GitHub without any trouble.