Git clone / pull continually freezing at "Store key in cache?"

Question

I had this problem when cloning a repo on Windows 10 too.

I got around it by using the Putty GUI to SSH to the server in question (in your case: bitbucket.org) then clicked 'Yes' when the prompt asks if you want to save the server key to the cache. Running the clone command again then worked for me!

1. Open Putty
2. Type in the Host Name (like bitbucket.org)
3. Click Open
4. Click yes in the popup to cache the host key
5. Close Putty

I managed to get it working by running plink directly, after pageant is running use the plink command directly - plink.exe -agent -v [email protected] then after this git works without hanging.

To do this from powershell open a powershell window and paste in the following:

echo y | & 'C:\Program Files (x86)\GitExtensions\PuTTY\plink.exe' -ssh [email protected]
echo y | & 'C:\Program Files (x86)\GitExtensions\PuTTY\plink.exe' -ssh [email protected]
echo y | & 'C:\Program Files (x86)\GitExtensions\PuTTY\plink.exe' -ssh [email protected]

or with PuTTY standalone version:

echo y | & 'C:\Program Files (x86)\PuTTY\plink.exe' -ssh [email protected]
echo y | & 'C:\Program Files (x86)\PuTTY\plink.exe' -ssh [email protected]
echo y | & 'C:\Program Files (x86)\PuTTY\plink.exe' -ssh [email protected]

Also worth knowing is that putty stores known hosts under a registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SoftWare\SimonTatham\PuTTY\SshHostKeys

To shortcut the above you could put the following in a .reg file and run it:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\SimonTatham\PuTTY\SshHostKeys]
"rsa2@22:github.com"="0x23,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"
"rsa2@22:gist.github.com"="0x23,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"
"rsa2@22:bitbucket.org"="0x23,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"

putty-hosts.reg gist

To workaround this problem I configured GitBash to use plink with -batch option. The option disables all prompts - the plink will terminate without hanging and won't add any key fingerprint to cache.

To add -batch parameter to plink command executed by GitBash you can set a git config option:

git config --global core.sshCommand "plink -batch"

Or set GIT_SSH_COMMAND environment variable.

The output when you cloning a repo from unknown host will be similar to this:

The server's host key is not cached in the registry. You
have no guarantee that the server is the computer you
think it is.
The server's rsa2 key fingerprint is:
ssh-rsa 2048 97:8c:1b:f2:6f:14:6b:5c:3b:ec:aa:46:46:74:7c:40
Connection abandoned.
fatal: Could not read from remote repository.

After this message you can add a key to cache with command:

echo y | plink [email protected]

REMARK: Please check if plink is in your PATH. Alternatively use UNIX-like path in the GitBash config option, e.g.:

/c/Program\ Files/PuTTY/plink.exe -batch

Even after performing the workaround mentioned in other answers, you may encounter an error like:

FATAL ERROR: Disconnected: No supported authentication methods available (server sent: publickey)

To solve both problems at once, change git bash to use SSH instead of PuTTY by adding the following to your ~/.profile file (C:\Users\<Username>\.profile). If you don't already have this file, then create a new file with this line.

GIT_SSH="/usr/bin/ssh.exe"

Then open a new git bash window and try your git clone or git pull again.

Note that this may require you to create an SSH key if you don't already have one. To do this, follow the instructions on the Bitbucket site.

See this SO question for related info.