How to propagate the core.sshCommand option to submodule update?

Question

I've set the core.sshCommand option for a repo so that I could use a different ssh key when working with it (i.e. sshCommand = ssh -i /path/to/key). However, when I run git submodule update this option is not considered:

fatal: Could not read from remote repository.

Please make sure you have the correct access rights
and the repository exists.

Is there any way I can configure the repo to use the given ssh key for itself and any submodules?

@ArkaPravaBasu Did my [answer](https://stackoverflow.com/a/63300000/5337834) help? — John Strood, Aug 07 '20 at 10:34
Hello @JohnStrood, I followed [this](https://stackoverflow.com/a/2419609/5285588) to solve this. — Arka Prava Basu, Aug 07 '20 at 16:44
@ArkaPravaBasu Yes, you can do that too, but that won't help you if you want to set it locally, like if you want to clone different repos to different github accounts. — John Strood, Aug 08 '20 at 17:45
@ArkaPravaBasu Although you can ask ssh to try all keys in succession. It would be more elegant to set the env `GIT_SSH_COMMAND` when you pull/push. — John Strood, Aug 08 '20 at 17:47
Reading the git [docs](https://git-scm.com/docs/git-config#Documentation/git-config.txt-coresshCommand) it would seem you can only use `core.sshCommand` for `git fetch` and `git push`. — AndrewRMillar, Nov 30 '20 at 15:19

phd · Answer 1 · 2019-12-27T13:50:29.203

7

Either set it globally:

git config --global core.sshCommand "ssh -i /path/to/key"

But that sets the key for every repository you work with.

Or set it for every submodule:

git submodule foreach git config core.sshCommand "ssh -i /path/to/key"

edited Dec 27 '19 at 13:50

answered Aug 26 '19 at 12:02

phd

82,685
13
120
165

Not working for me. Unable to add a submodule as it is picking the wrong ssh key – Arka Prava Basu Dec 27 '19 at 12:51
`git submodule foreach` runs through the existing submodules. For a new submodule just being added you need something like `git -c core.sshCommand="ssh -i /path/to/key" submodule add` – phd Dec 27 '19 at 13:51

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 07 '20 at 10:32

According to this answer, from where I pulled this quote,

The core.sshCommand option was added to git 2.10.0. You're running 2.7.4, which doesn't have that functionality. You'd need to upgrade to a newer Git if you wanted to use it.

If you are running a very old version, be mindful of the changes. You can consult this changelog.

You can use the environmental variable GIT_SSH_COMMAND instead.

export GIT_SSH_COMMAND="/usr/bin/ssh -i /your/path/to/id_rsa"

How to propagate the core.sshCommand option to submodule update?

2 Answers2