Below are step by step instructions for setting up SSH
access to an GitLab
git repository
Create SSH key
First create a key via ssh-keygen
cd ~/.ssh
ssh-keygen -f gitlab -t rsa -b 4096
You will be asked for passphrase
I’ve had issues with using one with VSCode
/ Remote WSL
so suggest not using one.
A typical output will look like below:
$ ssh-keygen -f gitlab -t rsa -b 4096
Generating public/private rsa key pair.
Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase):
Enter same passphrase again:
Your identification has been saved in gitlab.
Your public key has been saved in gitlab.pub.
The key fingerprint is:
SHA256:1nDTaZZ7vUjfYjxcSwW+OEEpCGUrhcJ8HgShPd+iv+Y stephen@navi
The key's randomart image is:
+---[RSA 4096]----+
| oo+o++. ... |
| o+ +o...o.+ . |
| . o+..o o.B . .|
| o.o + + + o.|
| o S . +.o.o|
| . o .=+.+|
| . .*+.|
| .. . o |
| oE. |
+----[SHA256]-----+
Gitlab Configuration
Now log into your Gitlab
account, from the upper-right corner, click your profile photo,
then click Edit Profile
and Click SSH keys
Copy and Paste your new public ssh
key into the window:
cat ~/.ssh/gitlab.pub
Configure SSH
Next you need to configure SSH via the ~/.ssh/config
, to use the new ssh key
for your repos. If the file doesn’t exist, create it via touch ~/.ssh/config
. You will need create / update it like below
Note to update the User key with the one genereated above
# GitLab.com
Host gitlab.com
PreferredAuthentications publickey
IdentityFile ~/.ssh/gitlab
# Private GitLab instance (update Host to your URL)
Host gitlab.company.com
PreferredAuthentications publickey
IdentityFile ~/.ssh/gitlab
Test access
Now we just test our connection
ssh -T git@gitlab.company.com
You should return a Welcome message.