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Github ssh key

Using Github with ssh keys is preferred, as it's much easier to use. Here is how to set it up:

1. Create an ssh key

Run

ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -C "your_email@example.com" -f ~/.ssh/github_id_rsa

The email address is for your convenience, it doesn't really matter what you put there; you can even use this to state the name of the computer that will use that key.

You can use a passphrase - but even without it's sufficiently safe, because only you have the secret key file! But please enabling Two Factor Authentication!

2. Add the key to Github

Log in to https://github.com. In the top right corner, in a drop-down menu, click "Settings". Select "SSH and GPG keys" from the menu on the left. Click "New SSH key", add something as a title and copy the output of

cat ~/.ssh/github_id_rsa.pub

into the "Key" text box.

3. Guide ssh to your key

Edit (or create) ~/.ssh/config and enter the following lines:

Host github.com
   User git
   PreferredAuthentications publickey
   IdentityFile ~/.ssh/github_id_rsa

4. Check

ssh -T git@github.com

should print

Hi UserName! You've successfully authenticated, but GitHub does not provide shell access.

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