Adding SSH Keys for Multiple GitHub Accounts on the Same System | Complete Guide
If you have different personal and work GitHub accounts and are trying to use SSH-based authentication for both of them chances are you will face some errors. In this article I will show you how to do it.
1. Generate SSH keys
The first step will be to generate two separate ssh keys for the two accounts. To generate SSH key use the following command:
ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -C your_email@example.comreplace
Let’s say the two key generate are named as:
your_email@example.com with the email registered for the github account and provide suitable name for the keys when prompted.- id_rsa_account1
- id_rsa_account2
2. Add SSH keys
Use the following command to add the new ssh-keys:
ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_rsa_account1ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_rsa_account13. Add SSH keys to your GitHub account
Steps to add ssh keys to GitHub account:
- First You need to copy the ssh-key that we generated. You can run
and copy the output. You can follow the GitHub documentation for detailed steps.
cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa_account1.pub - Login to your GitHub account.
- Go to
settings -> SSH and GPG keys - Click on
New SSH key - Paste the copied key.
4. Creating the config file
Now Here the most important step.
Create a config file using the following command:
touch ~/.ssh/configIn this file we will specify which key is for which account.
Here is an example of what it should look like:
# The 'me' can be replaced with anything
you like
Host me.github.com
HostName github.com
PreferredAuthentications publickey
IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa_account1
Host github.com
HostName github.com
PreferredAuthentications publickey
IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa_account2
5. Verifying
You can verify that the GitHub accounts are added using the following command:
ssh -T git@me.github.com
Hi {username}! You've successfully authenticated
ssh -T git@github.com
Hi {username}! You've successfully authenticated6. While cloning a repository or adding remote origin
Just like what we did while verifying, we have to replace
Here is an example:
git@github.com with the customised Host.- Cloning:
git clone git@me.github.com:USERNAME/PROJECT.git - Adding remote origin:
git remote add origin git@me.github.com:USERNAME/PROJECT.git
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