Migrating a Git repository from HTTPS to SSH

Step 1: Verify SSH Keys

First, ensure you have SSH keys set up on your machine and added to your GitHub account.

1. Check for existing SSH keys:

   ls -al ~/.ssh

   Look for files named id_rsa and id_rsa.pub or similar.

2. Generate a new SSH key (if necessary):

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

   Follow the prompts to save the key (default location is fine).

3. Add your SSH key to the SSH agent:

   eval "$(ssh-agent -s)"
   ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_rsa
   

4. Add the SSH key to your GitHub account: Copy the contents of your public key file to the clipboard:

   cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
   

   Then, add it to your GitHub account by going to Settings > SSH and GPG keys > New SSH key.

Step 2: Update Remote URL

1. Navigate to your local repository:

   cd /path/to/your/repo
   

2. Get the current remote URL:

   git remote -v
   

3. Update the remote URL to use SSH: Replace origin with the name of your remote if it’s different.

   git remote set-url origin [email protected]:username/repo.git
   

   Replace username with your GitHub username and repo with the name of your repository.

4. Verify the change:

   git remote -v
   

   You should see the SSH URL listed.

Step 3: Test the Connection

1. Test the SSH connection:

   ssh -T [email protected]
   

   You should see a success message like “Hi username! You’ve successfully authenticated, but GitHub does not provide shell access.”

2. Fetch from the remote to ensure everything is working:

   git fetch
   

If everything is set up correctly, your repository should now be using SSH instead of HTTPS.