Is it Possible to transfer the Git SSHKey from one system to another

Question

I am very New to Git. My client asket me to install git in my system and told me to pass the ssh key (id_rsa.pub ).I transfered the key and he registered, after that we were able to download the app.

Then we decided to move to Fedora 14 (Linux). We installed git again and we transferred the key again for registration in server to the client. But now the client mentioned we can use the same key.

Is it possible to use the same key?

I tried the below steps: (Once git got installed in Fedora.)

1. ssh-keygen -t rsa -C "[email protected]" (same email id used as on Windows OS)
2. Replaced all the 3 files created with the copy of the 3 files (id_rsa, id_rsa.pub and known_hosts from Windows install earlier)
3. Tried git clone [email protected]:x2.git

But no luck.

When i try:

git clone [email protected]:x2.git
Cloning into x2...
ssh: connect to host git.xyz.com port 22: connection timed out
fatal: The remote end hung up unexpectedly.

Can somebody help me in understanding and resolving this issue? Is there some other problem locking access?

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

The ssh private key is not tied to a machine and you can just copy it from one machine to another and should be able to ssh ( and hence use git) to the server that has your public key. You do not have to recreate the keys and replace with the copies etc, but even what you have done is fine from the keys point of view.

The error you are getting is ssh: connect to host git.xyz.com port 22: connection timed out fatal which seems to suggest that the box doesn't have access to the server.

Answer 2

As mentioned @manojlds, you can copy ssh keys. I have personally done that across development machines.

The connection time seems to be due to the ssh-daemon not running. To ensure you can connect to the machine please run the following diagnostics

ps -ef | grep sshd

You should get

root       726     1  0 08:07 ?        00:00:00 /usr/sbin/sshd -D

If sshd is running, double check the permissions on your keys and forcibly set to 0700.

cd .ssh
chmod -R 0700 *     #Read only to the user only

Try running ssh -v <user>@<host>, if you get

ssh -v 192.168.0.150
OpenSSH_5.8p1 Debian-1ubuntu3, OpenSSL 0.9.8o 01 Jun 2010
debug1: Reading configuration data /etc/ssh/ssh_config
debug1: Applying options for *
debug1: Connecting to 192.168.0.150 [192.168.0.150] port 22.
debug1: connect to address 192.168.0.150 port 22: Connection refused
ssh: connect to host 192.168.0.150 port 22: Connection refused

then there is an issue with your sshdaemon, because the initial handshake has failed. A successful communication looks like:

OpenSSH_5.8p1 Debian-1ubuntu3, OpenSSL 0.9.8o 01 Jun 2010
debug1: Reading configuration data /etc/ssh/ssh_config
debug1: Applying options for *
debug1: Connecting to 192.168.0.xxx [192.168.0.xxx] port 22.
debug1: Connection established.
debug1: identity file /home/xxx/.ssh/id_rsa type 1
debug1: Checking blacklist file /usr/share/ssh/blacklist.RSA-2048
debug1: Checking blacklist file /etc/ssh/blacklist.RSA-2048
debug1: identity file /home/xxx/.ssh/id_rsa-cert type -1
debug1: identity file /home/xxx/.ssh/id_dsa type -1
debug1: identity file /home/xxx/.ssh/id_dsa-cert type -1
debug1: identity file /home/xxx/.ssh/id_ecdsa type -1
debug1: identity file /home/xxx/.ssh/id_ecdsa-cert type -1
debug1: Remote protocol version 2.0, remote software version OpenSSH_5.6
debug1: match: OpenSSH_5.6 pat OpenSSH*
debug1: Enabling compatibility mode for protocol 2.0
debug1: Local version string SSH-2.0-OpenSSH_5.8p1 Debian-1ubuntu3
debug1: SSH2_MSG_KEXINIT sent
debug1: SSH2_MSG_KEXINIT received
debug1: kex: server->client aes128-ctr hmac-md5 none
debug1: kex: client->server aes128-ctr hmac-md5 none
debug1: SSH2_MSG_KEX_DH_GEX_REQUEST(1024<1024<8192) sent
debug1: expecting SSH2_MSG_KEX_DH_GEX_GROUP
debug1: SSH2_MSG_KEX_DH_GEX_INIT sent
debug1: expecting SSH2_MSG_KEX_DH_GEX_REPLY
debug1: Server host key: RSA zz
The authenticity of host '192.168.0.xxx (192.168.0.xxx)' can't be established.
RSA key fingerprint is zzzzz.
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)? yes
Warning: Permanently added '192.168.0.xxx' (RSA) to the list of known hosts.
debug1: ssh_rsa_verify: signature correct
debug1: SSH2_MSG_NEWKEYS sent
debug1: expecting SSH2_MSG_NEWKEYS
debug1: SSH2_MSG_NEWKEYS received
debug1: Roaming not allowed by server
debug1: SSH2_MSG_SERVICE_REQUEST sent
debug1: SSH2_MSG_SERVICE_ACCEPT received
debug1: Authentications that can continue: publickey,keyboard-interactive
debug1: Next authentication method: publickey
debug1: Offering RSA public key: /home/parj/.ssh/id_rsa
debug1: Server accepts key: pkalg ssh-rsa blen 279
debug1: Authentication succeeded (publickey).
Authenticated to 192.168.0.xxx ([192.168.0.xxx]:22).
debug1: channel 0: new [client-session]
debug1: Requesting [email protected]
debug1: Entering interactive session.
debug1: Sending environment.
debug1: Sending env LANG = en_GB.UTF-8
Last login: Wed Dec 21 16:46:48 2011