How to solve Permission denied (publickey) error when using Git?

Question

I\'m on Mac Snow Leopard and I just installed git.

I just tried

git clone git@thechaw.com:cakebook.git

but that gives

Answer 1

These are the steps I followed in windows 10

1. Open Git Bash.

2. Generate Public Key:

   ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -C "youremailaddress@xyz.com"
   

3. Copy generated key to the clipboard (works like CTRL+C)

   clip < ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
   

4. Browser, go to Github => Profile=> Settings => SSH and GPG keys => Add Key

5. Provide the key name and paste clipboard (CTRL+V).

6. Finally, test your connection (Git bash)

   ssh -T git@github.com
   

Thanks!

Answer 2

I was getting a similar Permission denied (publickey) error when trying to run a makefile.

As an alternative to the SSH steps above, you can Install the native GitHub for Mac application.

Click Download GitHub for Mac from - https://help.github.com/articles/set-up-git#platform-mac

Once you complete setup with your git hub account (I also installed the git hub command line tools but unsure if this step is required or not) then I received an email -

[GitHub] A new public key was added to your account

and my error was fixed.

Answer 3

In addition to Rufinus' reply, the shortcut to copy your ssh key to the clipboard in Windows is:

• type id_rsa.pub | clip

Refs:

• Print to standard output
• Copy command line output to clipboard

Answer 4

The basic GIT instructions did not make a reference to the SSH key stuff. Following some of the links above, I found a git help page that explains, step-by-step, exactly how to do this for various operating systems (the link will detect your OS and redirect, accordingly):

http://help.github.com/set-up-git-redirect/

It walks through everything needed for GITHub and also gives detailed explanations such as "why add a passphrase when creating an RSA key." I figured I'd post it, in case it helps someone else...

Answer 5

Its pretty straight forward. Type the below command

ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -C "youremailid@yourdomain.com"

Generate the SSH key. Open the file and copy the contents. Go to GitHub setting page , and click on SSH key . Click on Add new SSH key, and paste the contents here. That's it :) You shouldn't see the issue again.

Answer 6

On Windows, make sure all your apps agree on HOME. Msys will surprisingly NOT do it for you. I had to set an environment variable because ssh and git couldn't seem to agree on where my .ssh directory was.