Using git with powershell and ssh key with passphrase

Question

Whenever I enter a git command in powershell, I'm asked:

Enter passphrase for key '/c/Users/***/.ssh/id_rsa'

This key is created with a passphrase:

ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -C "[email protected]" 

I've setup ssh-agent to load on startup of my powershell, and the environment variables SSH_AUTH_SOCK and SSH_AGENT_PID are setup. The connection to github is successful:

ssh -T [email protected] replies with: Hi tkvw! You've successfully authenticated, but GitHub does not provide shell access.

This shows the git urls are used instead of https.

git remote -v
origin  [email protected]:tkvw/pshazz.git (fetch)
origin  [email protected]:tkvw/pshazz.git (push)

This shows the agent is active and the key is loaded:

ssh-add -l
4096 b1:73:2a:11:....63:e8:2a:34 /c/Users/***/.ssh/id_rsa (RSA)

But calling a git operation:

git fetch 
Enter passphrase for key '/c/Users/***/.ssh/id_rsa':

I have no ideas left. I don't want to use git bash or something, I like this to work from powershell.

Answer 1

None of these worked for me. The solution on this page did though: https://gist.github.com/danieldogeanu/16c61e9b80345c5837b9e5045a701c99

Here it is:

You should not use the Open SSH client that comes with Git for Windows. Instead, Windows 10 has its own implementation of Open SSH that is integrated with the system. To achieve this:

1. Start the ssh-agent from Windows Services:

• Type Services in the Start Menu or Win+R and then type services.msc to launch the Services window;
• Find the OpenSSH Authentication Agent in the list and double click on it;
• In the OpenSSH Authentication Agent Properties window that appears, choose Automatic from the Startup type: dropdown and click Start from Service status:. Make sure it now says Service status: Running.

2. Configure Git to use the Windows 10 implementation of OpenSSH by issuing the following command in Powershell: git config --global core.sshCommand C:/Windows/System32/OpenSSH/ssh.exe;

3. Configure SSH to automatically add the keys to the agent on startup by editing the config file found at C:\Users\%YOUR_USERNAME%\.ssh\config, and add the following lines:

Host *
    AddKeysToAgent yes
    IdentitiesOnly yes

You can also add the following lines if you generated an SSH key with custom name or multiple SSH keys:

Host github.com
    HostName github.com
    User your_user_name
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/your_file_name

4. Add your SSH key to the ssh-agent by issuing the ssh-add command and entering your passphrase:

ssh-add $HOME/.ssh/your_file_name

5. Done! Now restart your Powershell and even Windows if necessary.

Answer 2

I'm using openssh, which is shipped with Windows 10 Pro. git is installed with scoop (scoop install git).

I had to set GIT_SSH environment variable.

$env:GIT_SSH = (gcm ssh | select -expand source) or for scoop users $env:GIT_SSH = (scoop which ssh)