'ssh-keygen' is not recognized as an internal or external command

Question

I run git push -u origin master

It tells me that "Permission denied (public key) fatal: The remote end hung up unexpectedly"

Then I looked up on the internet and found that I had to generate an ssh key for my account on GitHub. However, upon doing so, when I tried to do ssh-keygen -t rsa "email@youremail.com" it simply said ssh-keygen is not recognized. I tried doing mkdir C:\ssh but that didn't work. If it helps I'm using Ruby Rails and I'm on a Windows computer. Could anyone help me?

score 135 · Answer 1 · edited May 23 '17 at 11:54

135

2012:
ssh-keygen.exe is part of msysgit:

 C:\path\to\msysgit1.7.11\bin\ssh-keygen.exe

if your %PATH% includes C:\path\to\msysgit1.7.11\bin\, you will have ssh-keygen.

Update 2015:
ssh-keygen.exe is part of Git For Windows, whose releases include PortableGit-2.4.3.1-2nd-release-candidate-64-bit.7z

c:\path\to\PortableGit-2.4.3.1-2nd-release-candidate-64-bit\usr\bin\ssh-keygen.exe

That means the %PATH% must include c:\path\to\PortableGit-2.4.3.1-2nd-release-candidate-64-bit\usr\bin (without the ssh-keygen.exe)

As I explained before, Git for Windows will soon phase out msysgit.
I detailed in "Why is it that if you download Git 2.0 from the net, you always get a 1.9.4 installer package?" how this new version is based on the more recent msys2 project.

edited May 23 '17 at 11:54

Community

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answered Aug 02 '12 at 06:07

VonC

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Is it safe to have `ssh-keygen.exe` in the PATH on Windows? Do I need to remove its location after that? – Green Apr 25 '13 at 20:51
@Green actually, it is part of the Windows `PATH` only during your session with git, since you are launching a special DOS session with `git-cmd.bat`: https://github.com/msysgit/msysgit/blob/master/git-cmd.bat. It will complete the `PATH` and set `HOME`. – VonC Apr 25 '13 at 21:14
Acutally, the path should be without `ssh-keygen.exe`. I mean, it works only in this way for me. – alexander Dec 01 '15 at 20:58
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@alexander I agree, and I have edited the answer to make that more visible. – VonC Dec 01 '15 at 21:01
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for me, path was `C:\Program Files (x86)\Git\usr\bin` – rupinderjeet Jul 08 '16 at 14:49
@rupinderjeet47 Yes, it is ``. I prefer using the archives unzipped where I want rather than the msi setup which installs by default in `C:\Program files\Git`. – VonC Jul 08 '16 at 14:53

score 65 · Answer 2 · answered May 10 '13 at 22:30

65

I just had this issue and thought I'd share what I thought was an easier way around this.

Open git-bash and run the same command with the addition of -C since you're commenting in your email address: ssh-keygen -t rsa -C "email@youremail.com" command. That's it.

git-bash should have been installed when you installed git. If you can't find it you can check C:\Program Files\Git\Git Bash

The first time I did this it failed to create the .ssh folder for me so I had to open a standard Command Prompt and mkdir C:\Users\yourusername\.ssh

answered May 10 '13 at 22:30

cjaypierson

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+1 for not suggesting installation of another software package – Chip McCormick Mar 14 '14 at 21:51
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+1 this is a better solution becuase do not need other installation – guoleii Aug 13 '14 at 02:36
My key didn't saved in `.ssh` folder. It was saved in the same directory as `Git Bash` exists. – Ahmad Behzadi Jul 31 '18 at 11:54
In my case neither `ssh-keygen` nor `ssh` is found in powershell. Sessions before however it worked. – Timo Jun 22 '21 at 07:35

Dinesh Rajan · Answer 3 · 2017-06-14T16:17:19.630

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I followed below in windows (With Git for Windows installed)

Run "Git Gui" (Start --> Git --> Git Gui)
Click Help and then Show SSH Key
Click Generate Key if you do not have one already

Note:- this creates the key files under your personal profile folder C:\Users\YourUserID\.ssh\

edited Jun 14 '17 at 16:17

answered Jun 14 '17 at 16:11

Dinesh Rajan

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Great answer - a nice easy way to create a new SSH-key - TY :) – gav_aus_web Aug 11 '20 at 14:48

score 10 · Answer 4 · answered Jul 28 '14 at 12:07

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No need to add anything to environmental variables! Just open up git bash and perform command the ssh-keygen in there.

Link to download git bash here

answered Jul 28 '14 at 12:07

Bilton Tran

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score 9 · Answer 5 · answered Apr 10 '14 at 16:50

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I found an easy solution to fix this :

In the command prompt, go to your git\bin directory, and then execute your commands from here

answered Apr 10 '14 at 16:50

pirgauthier

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On my system, Windows 10, ssh-keygen.exe was found in 'git\usr\bin'. – Tarabass Aug 23 '16 at 19:31

score 8 · Answer 6 · answered Sep 08 '17 at 16:21

If you have installed Git, and is installed at C:\Program Files, follow as below

Go to "C:\Program Files\Git"
Run git-bash.exe, this opens a new window
In the new bash window, run "ssh-keygen -t rsa -C""
It prompts for file in which to save key, dont input any value - just press enter
Same for passphrase (twice), just press enter
id_rsa and id_rsa.pub will be generated in your home folder under .ssh

score 4 · Answer 7 · answered Dec 18 '13 at 11:46

Just go to heroku.bat and add:

@SET PATH="D:\Program Files (x86)\Git\bin";%PATH% after @SET PATH=%HEROKU_RUBY%;%PATH%

in my case it's in D:\Program Files (x86)\Git\bin, change it to the path you've installed Git to. (i just left it with my path so it will be clearer on how to write this)

score 3 · Answer 8 · answered Oct 30 '12 at 13:47

I think you can add the location of the file ssh-keygen.exe in the PATH environment variable. Follow the steps: Go to My Computer->Right click->Properties->Advanced System Settings->Click Environmental Variables. Now click PATH and then click EDIT. In the variable value field, go to the end and append ';C:\path\to\msysgit1.7.11\bin\ssh-keygen.exe' (without quotes)

score 3 · Answer 9 · answered Nov 07 '17 at 06:26

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don't do anything just type in your command prompt

C:\> sh

then you got like this

sh-4.4$ 
# type here 
ssh-4.4$ ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -C "example@example.com"

this should must work.

answered Nov 07 '17 at 06:26

Osama Saeed

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score 3 · Answer 10 · edited Oct 31 '18 at 07:27

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For windows you can add this:

SET PATH="C:\Program Files\Git\usr\bin";%PATH%

edited Oct 31 '18 at 07:27

Mike Doe

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answered Oct 31 '18 at 05:24

oumina

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score 1 · Answer 11 · answered Aug 02 '12 at 05:12

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You probably should check this. Windows doesn't have that command built in.

answered Aug 02 '12 at 05:12

Benjamin Tan Wei Hao

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score 0 · Answer 12 · answered Jun 10 '13 at 07:52

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I got it fixed by just adding ssh-keygen to my environment variables.

answered Jun 10 '13 at 07:52

Bartel De Brabandere

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What exactly did you do? – Antony Hatchkins Oct 27 '17 at 05:05

score 0 · Answer 13 · answered Nov 17 '16 at 20:25

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for those who does not choose BASH HERE option. type sh in cmd then they should have ssh-keygen.exe accessible

answered Nov 17 '16 at 20:25

Zeeshan Khan

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score 0 · Answer 14 · answered Apr 01 '19 at 17:36

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In my machine, ssh-keygen was available from powershell.

answered Apr 01 '19 at 17:36

mikeLundquist

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'ssh-keygen' is not recognized as an internal or external command

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