Using multiple github accounts with ssh keys -

Using multiple github accounts with ssh keys.

Generate ssh key pairs for accounts and add them to GitHub accounts.

Edit/Create ssh config file (~/.ssh/config):

# Default github account: oanhnn
Host github.com
   HostName github.com
   IdentityFile ~/.ssh/oanhnn_private_key
   IdentitiesOnly yes

# Other github account: superman
Host github-superman
   HostName github.com
   IdentityFile ~/.ssh/superman_private_key
   IdentitiesOnly yes

NOTE: If you use any account frequently, you should use the default hostname (github.com).

Add ssh private keys to your agent:

$ ssh-add ~/.ssh/oanhnn_private_key
$ ssh-add ~/.ssh/superman_private_key

Test your connection

$ ssh-keyscan github.com >> ~/.ssh/known_hosts
$ ssh -T git@github.com
$ ssh -T git@github-superman

If everything is OK, you will see these messages:

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

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

Now all are set, you need remember

git@github-superman:org/project.git => user is superman
git@github.com:org/project.git.     => user is oanhnn

If you need clone a repository, just do:

$ git clone git@github-superman:org1/project1.git /path/to/project1
$ cd /path/to/project1
$ git config user.email "superman@example.com"
$ git config user.name  "Super Man"

If you already have the repo set up, after the ssh config instructions, you need change the URL of origin, just do:

$ cd /path/to/project2
$ git remote set-url origin git@github-superman:org2/project2.git
$ git config user.email "superman@example.com"
$ git config user.name  "Super Man"

If you are creating a new repository on local:

$ cd /path/to/project3
$ git init
$ git remote add origin git@github-superman:org3/project3.git
$ git config user.email "superman@example.com"
$ git config user.name  "Super Man"
$ git add .
$ git commit -m "Initial commit"
$ git push -u origin master

There’s also Git Identity Switcher but I’ve not really tried that yet.

See also