How-to-generate-and-add-SSH-key-to-GitHub (Linux CLI)

The below are verified steps to add SSH key to your GItHub account (Linux CLI):

1. Check for Existing SSH Keys:

ls -al ~/.ssh

There should be files named id_rsa (private key) and id_rsa.pub (public key) or similarly named key pairs. If there is no SSH key available you will receive a message like: ls: cannot access '/c/Users/dell/.ssh': No such file or directory

2. Generate a New SSH Key (if there is no SSH available else skip No. 2)

ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -C "your_email@example.com"

Follow the prompts properly to save the key, and you can press Enter to accept the default file location. When prompted for a passphrase, you can choose to set one or leave it empty by pressing Enter.

3. Type the below command to add the SSH Key to the SSH Agent

eval "$(ssh-agent -s)"

ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_rsa

4. Add Your SSH Key to Your GitHub Account

Copy your SSH key to your clipboard:

cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub

Go to GitHub SSH settings, click "New SSH key," paste your key, and save it.

5. Test your SSH connection to GitHub:

ssh -T git@github.com

You should see a success message like:

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

6. Update the Remote URL.

Ensure your repository's remote URL uses the correct SSH format. Run:

git remote -v

If it shows a URL starting with https://, update it to the SSH format:

git remote set-url origin git@github.com:jekhokie/raspberry-noaa-v2.git

7. Try cloning the repository again:

git clone git@github.com:jekhokie/raspberry-noaa-v2.git

This will resolve the Permission denied (publickey) issue and successfully clone your repository via SSH.