Setting a custom path for git private SSH key on linux

Question

I\'m trying to setup a git client on linux. I uploaded my private key to the machine, and I understand that I should put it in ~/.ssh, but I don\'t have access to that folder.

Answer 1

For a project I am working on my app needs to spit out a shell script with all of the git commands to init/commit/push to an external repository. The ~/.ssh/config is off limits so I have my public/private keys in my app directory. I used vhallac's answer. This is what I had to do in my shell script to use my key:

eval `/usr/bin/ssh-agent`
ssh-add /path/to/.ssh/id_rsa

hope this helps someone