Permissions error github (ssh key not recognized)

Question

I seem to have lost my permissions to a github account after pushing to it from another (local) repository. I am now receiving the following error:

git push 
Permission denied (publickey).fatal: 
The remote end hung up unexpectedly

I then took the following steps to regenerate a key:

ssh-keygen
Set up an ssh on my account for this laptop, using id_rsa.pub

However, this was unsuccessful. When I try the following code suggested, I receive the following error:

ssh-add -l
Could not open a connection to your authentication agent.

Any thoughts?

Answer 1

I solved this problem following this step-by-step instructions:

Step 1: Check for SSH keys

$ cd ~/.ssh
# Checks to see if there is a directory named ".ssh" in your user directory
# If it says "No such file or directory" skip to step 3. Otherwise continue to step 2.

Step 2: Backup and remove existing SSH keys

$ ls
# Lists all the subdirectories in the current directory
# config  id_rsa  id_rsa.pub  known_hosts

$ mkdir key_backup
# Makes a subdirectory called "key_backup" in the current directory

$ cp id_rsa* key_backup
# Copies the id_rsa keypair into key_backup

$ rm id_rsa*
# Deletes the id_rsa keypair

Step 3: Generate a new SSH key

$ ssh-keygen -t rsa -C "[email protected]"
# Creates a new ssh key using the provided email

# Generating public/private rsa key pair.
# Enter file in which to save the key (/home/you/.ssh/id_rsa):    
# Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase): [Type a passphrase]
# Enter same passphrase again: [Type passphrase again]    
# Your identification has been saved in /home/you/.ssh/id_rsa.
# Your public key has been saved in /home/you/.ssh/id_rsa.pub.
# The key fingerprint is:
# 01:0f:f4:3b:ca:85:d6:17:a1:7d:f0:68:9d:f0:a2:db [email protected]

Step 4: Add your SSH key to GitHub

$ sudo apt-get install xclip
# Downloads and installs xclip

$ xclip -sel clip < ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
# Copies the contents of the id_rsa.pub file to your clipboard

Then, go to GitHub, and do:

1. Go to your Account Settings
2. Click "SSH Keys" in the left sidebar
3. Click "Add SSH key"
4. Paste your key into the "Key" field
5. Click "Add key"
6. Confirm the action by entering your GitHub password

Step 5: Test everything out

$ ssh -T [email protected]
# Attempts to ssh to github

If ok, you'll see

Hi username! You've successfully authenticated, but GitHub does not
# provide shell access.

Otherwise (it happened with me), you will see

Agent admitted failure to sign using the key.
# debug1: No more authentication methods to try.
# Permission denied (publickey).

To solve this

$ ssh-add
# Enter passphrase for /home/you/.ssh/id_rsa: [tippy tap]
# Identity added: /home/you/.ssh/id_rsa (/home/you/.ssh/id_rsa)

For original info

https://help.github.com/articles/generating-ssh-keys

https://help.github.com/articles/error-agent-admitted-failure-to-sign

Answer 2

If you already have a public key in ~/.ssh (and have already added that key to your github account), you might only have to load your key into the SSH agent again.

To test if the SSH agent has the key, type ssh-add -l If the result is:

The agent has no identities.

Then simply load your key into the SSH agent like this:

ssh-add ~/.ssh/github_rsa

(github_rsa is the name on my machine for the stored SSH key. This file can, among others, also be named: id_rsa)

After that you have to enter your passphrase for the key (this is likely your password to log into github). If you get a message like this:

Identity added: /Users/name/.ssh/github_rsa (/Users/cpotzinger/.ssh/github_rsa)

Answer 3

Doing an $ ssh-add This worked for me to resolve the following as well for gitlab

jovimac-2:work joviano$ git clone [email protected]:bjetfweb.git
Cloning into 'bjetfweb'...
Access denied.
fatal: Could not read from remote repository.

Please make sure you have the correct access rights
and the repository exists.