Note: I'm not a newb, and I've done this a gazillion times, but for some reason today it decided not to work.

I keep getting the Permission denied (publickey). error message when trying to connect to github via SSH or when trying to clone a repo, even after remaking the ssh key and adding it to "SSH Keys" in my account.

This is what I tried to do ten times today without success:

1. make a key with ssh-keygen.
2. open ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub with Gedit or Notepad++ and copy the contents.
3. Go to account settings on github.com
4. Go to SSH Keys
5. Click on the Add Key button.
6. give the key a title
7. paste the key into the key box.
8. Save the key (enter my github password to verify).

And now, when I try doing ssh github.com it just won't work.... What in the world? Am I just too tired right now or am I missing something?

Here's the output from ssh -vvv github.com

OpenSSH_5.9p1, OpenSSL 1.0.0f 4 Jan 2012 debug1: Reading configuration data /etc/ssh/ssh_config debug2: ssh_connect: needpriv 0 debug1: Connecting to github.com [207.97.227.239] port 22. debug1: Connection established. debug3: Incorrect RSA1 identifier debug3: Could not load "/home/trusktr/.ssh/id_rsa" as a RSA1 public key debug1: identity file /home/trusktr/.ssh/id_rsa type 1 debug1: identity file /home/trusktr/.ssh/id_rsa-cert type -1 debug1: identity file /home/trusktr/.ssh/id_dsa type -1 debug1: identity file /home/trusktr/.ssh/id_dsa-cert type -1 debug1: identity file /home/trusktr/.ssh/id_ecdsa type -1 debug1: identity file /home/trusktr/.ssh/id_ecdsa-cert type -1 debug1: Remote protocol version 2.0, remote software version OpenSSH_5.1p1 Debian-5github2 debug1: match: OpenSSH_5.1p1 Debian-5github2 pat OpenSSH* debug1: Enabling compatibility mode for protocol 2.0 debug1: Local version string SSH-2.0-OpenSSH_5.9 debug2: fd 3 setting O_NONBLOCK debug3: load_hostkeys: loading entries for host "github.com" from file "/home/trusktr/.ssh/known_hosts" debug3: load_hostkeys: found key type RSA in file /home/trusktr/.ssh/known_hosts:16 debug3: load_hostkeys: loaded 1 keys debug3: order_hostkeyalgs: prefer hostkeyalgs: ,,ssh-rsa debug1: SSH2_MSG_KEXINIT sent debug1: SSH2_MSG_KEXINIT received debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: ecdh-sha2-nistp256,ecdh-sha2-nistp384,ecdh-sha2-nistp521,diffie-hellman-group-exchange-sha256,diffie-hellman-group-exchange-sha1,diffie-hellman-group14-sha1,diffie-hellman-group1-sha1 debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: ,,ssh-rsa,,,,,,ecdsa-sha2-nistp256,ecdsa-sha2-nistp384,ecdsa-sha2-nistp521,ssh-dss debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: aes128-ctr,aes192-ctr,aes256-ctr,arcfour256,arcfour128,aes128-cbc,3des-cbc,blowfish-cbc,cast128-cbc,aes192-cbc,aes256-cbc,arcfour, debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: aes128-ctr,aes192-ctr,aes256-ctr,arcfour256,arcfour128,aes128-cbc,3des-cbc,blowfish-cbc,cast128-cbc,aes192-cbc,aes256-cbc,arcfour, debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: hmac-md5,hmac-sha1,,hmac-sha2-256,hmac-sha2-256-96,hmac-sha2-512,hmac-sha2-512-96,hmac-ripemd160,,hmac-sha1-96,hmac-md5-96 debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: hmac-md5,hmac-sha1,,hmac-sha2-256,hmac-sha2-256-96,hmac-sha2-512,hmac-sha2-512-96,hmac-ripemd160,,hmac-sha1-96,hmac-md5-96 debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: none,,zlib debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: none,,zlib debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: first_kex_follows 0 debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: reserved 0 debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: diffie-hellman-group-exchange-sha256,diffie-hellman-group-exchange-sha1,diffie-hellman-group14-sha1,diffie-hellman-group1-sha1 debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: ssh-rsa,ssh-dss debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: aes128-cbc,3des-cbc,blowfish-cbc,cast128-cbc,arcfour128,arcfour256,arcfour,aes192-cbc,aes256-cbc,,aes128-ctr,aes192-ctr,aes256-ctr debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: aes128-cbc,3des-cbc,blowfish-cbc,cast128-cbc,arcfour128,arcfour256,arcfour,aes192-cbc,aes256-cbc,,aes128-ctr,aes192-ctr,aes256-ctr debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: hmac-md5,hmac-sha1,,hmac-ripemd160,,hmac-sha1-96,hmac-md5-96 debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: hmac-md5,hmac-sha1,,hmac-ripemd160,,hmac-sha1-96,hmac-md5-96 debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: none, debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: none, debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: first_kex_follows 0 debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: reserved 0 debug2: mac_setup: found hmac-md5 debug1: kex: server->client aes128-ctr hmac-md5 none debug2: mac_setup: found hmac-md5 debug1: kex: client->server aes128-ctr hmac-md5 none debug1: SSH2_MSG_KEX_DH_GEX_REQUEST(1024<1024<8192) sent debug1: expecting SSH2_MSG_KEX_DH_GEX_GROUP debug2: dh_gen_key: priv key bits set: 122/256 debug2: bits set: 510/1024 d ebug1: SSH2_MSG_KEX_DH_GEX_INIT sent debug1: expecting SSH2_MSG_KEX_DH_GEX_REPLY debug1: Server host key: RSA 16:27:ac:a5:76:28:2d:36:63:1b:56:4d:eb:df:a6:48 debug3: load_hostkeys: loading entries for host "github.com" from file "/home/trusktr/.ssh/known_hosts" debug3: load_hostkeys: found key type RSA in file /home/trusktr/.ssh/known_hosts:16 debug3: load_hostkeys: loaded 1 keys debug3: load_hostkeys: loading entries for host "207.97.227.239" from file "/home/trusktr/.ssh/known_hosts" debug3: load_hostkeys: found key type RSA in file /home/trusktr/.ssh/known_hosts:16 debug3: load_hostkeys: loaded 1 keys debug1: Host 'github.com' is known and matches the RSA host key. debug1: Found key in /home/trusktr/.ssh/known_hosts:16 debug2: bits set: 497/1024 debug1: ssh_rsa_verify: signature correct debug2: kex_derive_keys debug2: set_newkeys: mode 1 debug1: SSH2_MSG_NEWKEYS sent debug1: expecting SSH2_MSG_NEWKEYS debug2: set_newkeys: mode 0 debug1: SSH2_MSG_NEWKEYS received debug1: Roaming not allowed by server debug1: SSH2_MSG_SERVICE_REQUEST sent debug2: service_accept: ssh-userauth debug1: SSH2_MSG_SERVICE_ACCEPT received debug2: key: /home/trusktr/.ssh/id_rsa (0x14cce60) debug2: key: trusktr@rocketship (0x14ce2b0) debug2: key: /home/trusktr/.ssh/id_dsa ((nil)) debug2: key: /home/trusktr/.ssh/id_ecdsa ((nil)) debug1: Authentications that can continue: publickey debug3: start over, passed a different list publickey debug3: preferred publickey,keyboard-interactive,password debug3: authmethod_lookup publickey debug3: remaining preferred: keyboard-interactive,password debug3: authmethod_is_enabled publickey debug1: Next authentication method: publickey debug1: Offering RSA public key: /home/trusktr/.ssh/id_rsa debug3: send_pubkey_test debug2: we sent a publickey packet, wait for reply debug1: Authentications that can continue: publickey debug1: Offering RSA public key: trusktr@rocketship debug3: send_pubkey_test debug2: we sent a publickey packet, wait for reply debug1: Authentications that can continue: publickey debug1: Trying private key: /home/trusktr/.ssh/id_dsa debug3: no such identity: /home/trusktr/.ssh/id_dsa debug1: Trying private key: /home/trusktr/.ssh/id_ecdsa debug3: no such identity: /home/trusktr/.ssh/id_ecdsa debug2: we did not send a packet, disable method debug1: No more authentication methods to try. Permission denied (publickey). 

15 Answers

The GitHub ssh setup mentions testing your GitHub connection with:

$ ssh -T 

That follow the ssh uri syntax (also illustrated in "this answer").

But you did:

ssh github.com 

(without any user). In that case, ssh reverts to the SCP syntax, which relies on a ~/.ssh/config file, with a section "github.com", to list:

• the user
• the hostname
• (and optionally the public key location, but by default it will try ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub)

To change it to a regular SSH URL, don't edit directly your .git/config file, as shown below.
Use the command git remote set-url:

git remote set-url origin :username/repo.git 

I had a similar problem, github did not use my SSH key. I always had to enter my username and password.

I've been looking at .git/config, under [remote "origin"] there was:

 url = 

or

 url = 

I changed the line into

 url = ssh://git@ 

and then it worked.

After creating a config file (~/.ssh/config) it worked. This is what I had to put in it:

Host github.com User git Port 22 Hostname github.com IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa TCPKeepAlive yes IdentitiesOnly yes 

Thanks to @VonC for leading me to there in the comments.

I don't get why I never needed this before though.

If it works for other repositories, but not one in particular, then you are probably using the wrong remote url(i.e. https instead of )

1. First, double check that your git ssh connection is working:

   ssh -T 

2. If it works, check your remote:

   git remote -v 

   it will display something like this:

   origin (fetch) origin (push) 

3. If the remotes indicate https at the beginning, then you need to change this url with:

   git remote set-url origin :usertname/repo.git 

Go here for more details.

This is what worked for me:

git remote set-url origin :<YOUR-USERNAME>/<YOUR-REPOSITORY>.git 

Change the items in the <> and run the command, and then try a git push.

Github.com's page on managing remote repositories helped me.

GitHub recently underwent an audit of ALL keys. Go to the key section of your account to re-approve it.

For ssh you need to change the url. Open up the git config file and change the url to

url = :username/repository.git 

I was getting some weird line ending issue in Windows when copying the clone address from github.

Note the extra character before git. It was NOT appearing in my console. It was invisible.

git clone :user/repo.git ./docker Cloning into './docker'... Warning: Permanently added the RSA host key for IP address '140.82.XXX.X' to the list of known hosts. \302\: Permission denied (publickey). fatal: Could not read from remote repository. 

It took me a while to notice the \302\226 before git in the response. Once I saw that, I backspaced before git@ and made sure there was just a space there and it worked.

I had a similar issue when moving from Windows 7 to Windows 10 using Git for Windows.

I had my SSH keys for a Gitlab of our company running on my old computer and using this ssh command in the Windows cmd or the Git Bash worked fine (with git.my_server.com replaced by the Git server domain) - so my Windows was able to use the key, but Git for Windows was not:

ssh -T _server.com 

(which displayed: "Welcome to GitLab, @my_username!). However, when trying to clone, push or pull with git, I got the "Permission denied (publickey)" error message.

I initially couldn't find the location/environment of the SSH keys that Git uses, so I tried to copy/paste the ssh keys into this environment by using the Git Bash:

1. Open the Git Bash from the Windows Start Menu (not from a directory). Enter

   pwd

   I later found out that this returns the location of your ssh keys. In my case this returned '/u/', which was a network drive mounted as "U:\" in my Windows account.

2. Type cd .ssh, then dir. This may list your currently existing id files, like id_rsa and id_rsa.pub. I deleted these files since I didn't need them anymore (you might want to skip this if you successfully used other SSH keys on your installation, e.g. for other Git Servers):

   rm id_rsa

   rm id_rsa.pub

3. Create a new id_rsa file (if you have an existing id_rsa file, you can also use another name, like id_rsa_gitlab_my_username or something like that. Add .pub to this name for the public key):

   vi id_rsa and press the 'i' on your keyboard to switch to text insertion mode. Now copy the content of your private key file (I had mine in C:\Users\my_windows_username.ssh\id_rsa and used Notepad++ to copy the complete content, Windows notepad works fine as well). Press Escape on your keyboard to exit text insertion mode, then enter ':' and 'x', then Enter to save the file. Repeat this for the public key file.

4. If you use multiple SSH keys or used another name for the id_rsa file, you should also create a 'config' file or copy the content of your existing configuration file:

   vi config

   (Again, press 'i', insert text, press ':', 'x', then Enter.) My file looks like this (use your server, user and SSH file name):

   #SCC Gitlab Host git.my_server.com HostName git.my_server.com User git IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa 

Now my Git for Windows was able to push, pull and clone without problems again.

First, try this (changing your email address as needed)

 ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -C "" 

If you're creating using Cygwin, there might be confusion about the home directory, which is what happened for me, as I was referring to (copying to GitHub) an old/incorrect key from a different directory. So in case this happens for you, after creating the key, do:

$ explorer . 

Which will pop up a windows explorer window, showing your full/absolute path. That's when I saw the ~ directory was actually my Cygwin directory

C:\Program Files\cygwin64\home\{your_username}\.ssh 

I was then able to copy my private SSH key and paste in GitHub, and cloning, etc.. then worked.

I had a similar problem on Gnome. Configuration was alright but keys weren't added to ssh-agent. A reboot did the trick. Gnome Keyring uses it's own ssh-agent.

In my case it was because I have 2 users, both had an SSH key. The first one that was authenticated wasn't the one I needed. So I deleted the SSH key from it.

This command helped me understand which user is being used because of it's output:

ssh -T 

Another possible cause is permissions.

This weekend I have had the same problem with a new laptop and been unable to push to github even though my ssh key has been in Github for years.

The permissions on your ~/.ssh/ directory should be 700 and your id_rsa and id_rsa.pub should be 600

When I copied my keys to the new laptop my permissions were too permissive.

More info:

you need to edit remote URL settings, just follow this step:

1. Open Terminal.

2. Change the current working directory to your local project.

3. List your existing remotes in order to get the name of the remote you want to change.

$ git remote -v 

4. Change your remote's URL from HTTPS to SSH with the git remote set-url command. change USERNAME and REPOSITORY as yours.

$ git remote set-url origin :USERNAME/REPOSITORY.git 

5. Verify that the remote URL has changed.

$ git remote -v 

Verify new remote URL

now will shows:

origin :USERNAME/REPOSITORY.git (fetch)
origin :USERNAME/REPOSITORY.git (push)

After this you will never found Permission denied (publickey) and your push will run okay.

In .git/config I changed

[remote "origin"] url = 

to

[remote "origin"] url = :path/to/the/repo.git 

It started working without any problem. In addition, if you have previously cloned your project before setting up your SSH key, recloning will solve the problem. Ensure that your local repository is up to date with your remote repository.