How can I perform a `git pull` without re-entering my SSH password?

Question

Is it possible to configure git/ssh so I don't have to enter my passphrase every time I want to perform a git pull? Note that the repo is a private one on github.

Or, alternatively, what would be the best practice to automate code deployment from a private Github repo?

Additional details: EC2 instance running a public AMI based on Fedora.

possible duplicate of [Configuring Git over SSH](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1595848/configuring-git-over-ssh) — user229044, Jun 07 '11 at 13:19
As of git 2.11+ (Q4 2016) using libsecret is another way: https://stackoverflow.com/a/40312117/8477066 — Hielke Walinga, May 28 '20 at 09:49

score 78 · Accepted Answer · edited Aug 30 '15 at 15:21

78

Have a look at this link https://help.github.com/articles/working-with-ssh-key-passphrases/

But I don’t want to enter a long passphrase every time I use the key!

Neither do I! Thankfully, there’s a nifty little tool called ssh-agent that can save your passphrase securely so you don’t have to re-enter it. If you’re on OSX Leopard or later your keys can be saved in the system’s keychain to make your life even easier. Most linux installations will automatically start ssh-agent for you when you log in.

edited Aug 30 '15 at 15:21

Lernkurve

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answered Jun 07 '11 at 13:10

Fredrik Pihl

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This link was helpful in explaining what commands to run in order to get your passphrase saved in `ssh-agent`: http://rabexc.org/posts/using-ssh-agent – Mateus Gondim Oct 11 '17 at 15:36
I dont want use keys. Simple i have user\pass and i want save it on git client side – nim Jan 11 '19 at 19:20
Why does the link only provide Mac/Widows options? I want to git pull on the unix server without reentering the pass. managed to make it work for a historic project but cant tell what I did there. Is the point that when you ssh to a remote unix machine the key is passed on and that is used as a git pull (or private composer vcs) key instead? I believe I'm misunderstanding something here. Any help appreciated :) – trainoasis Aug 07 '19 at 08:26

score 45 · Answer 2 · edited Aug 20 '18 at 18:33

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I enabled the password caching as described here:

https://help.github.com/articles/caching-your-github-password-in-git/#platform-linux

To cache the password for a month:

git config --global credential.helper 'cache --timeout=2628000'

edited Aug 20 '18 at 18:33

tuananh

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answered Feb 14 '14 at 17:10

Sileria

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Thanks, temuri- I've been looking everywhere for this exact detail. It wasn't working, but the documentation seemingly doesn't mention it is only for HTTPS. – Mike Emery Jul 06 '15 at 16:25
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If you use a password (**not** a passphrase with key file) for an SSH-based URL of a remote Git repo, you cannot save the password at all. But I noticed that after issuing any git command, you can **immediately type the password and press Enter**. You don't need to wait for the password prompt to appear. – ADTC Nov 18 '15 at 04:18
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git still ask pass – nim Jan 11 '19 at 19:03

Shailesh · Answer 3 · 2022-08-17T12:42:52.390

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Try this:

git config credential.helper store

You'll have to enter your password once, after that it is stored in a folder inside root.

As comments pointed out, This does NOT work for SSH passwords, only for HTTPS passwords.

edited Aug 17 '22 at 12:42

answered Sep 16 '18 at 17:18

Shailesh

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@nim That doesn't mean you should downvote the answer, I've suggested what worked for me, and someone might find it helpful. – Shailesh Jan 14 '19 at 17:46
It's no save password. I Try it and nothing result. If you remote like this ssh://name@ip/path – nim Jan 15 '19 at 00:52
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This works if you're looking to store the HTTP basic auth password. – Phil Feb 08 '19 at 12:17
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This does NOT work for SSH passwords, only for HTTPS passwords. – Eliezer Berlin Apr 04 '19 at 14:23
works nice for https. You just need to type this in. Next time should be the last time you need to enter the paraphrase. The next next time, the password should be remembered by git. – Jonathan Jun 09 '20 at 06:45
Is there a way to make this work for SSH links? – Parzh from Ukraine Jan 12 '21 at 13:45
@DimaParzhitsky This doesn't work for SSH, you might wanna try something else from the other answers – Shailesh Jan 12 '21 at 15:04
for everything to be ok I use the "git config credential.helper store" and then I trigger the push or pull and after that git no longer asks for the password. – Lucas Torres Apr 07 '22 at 16:42

infoclogged · Answer 4 · 2018-04-29T17:06:11.807

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I dont know why hasnt anyone reported this yet. But the simplest approach would be to simply add a single line AddKeysToAgent yes on the top of the .ssh/config file. Ofcourse ssh-agent must be running beforehand. If its not running ( check by the command ssh-agent on the terminal ) , then simply run it eval $(ssh-agent)

I can confirm that this works, because in my project with lots of submodules and for each submodule being cloned, I had to type in my ssh passphrase. After the above trick, I dont need to do it anymore.

The source of the solution is https://askubuntu.com/questions/362280/enter-ssh-passphrase-once/853578#853578

edited Apr 29 '18 at 17:06

answered Aug 23 '17 at 08:52

infoclogged

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This is absolutely the correct answer. Further, to have ssh-agent running one can use a systemd user service – someonewithpc Feb 16 '20 at 22:35
I've been searching for far too long, and this finally worked. – Luke-zhang-04 Oct 16 '21 at 02:17

score 6 · Answer 5 · edited Jan 12 '16 at 17:14

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Your situation is now fixed, however for me it was the fact that I had more than one key in ~/.ssh/

To resolve the problem I had to create a file called ~/.ssh/config and add the line:

IdentityFile ~/.ssh/my_key2_rsa

where ~/.ssh/my_key2_rsa is my key.

edited Jan 12 '16 at 17:14

Mogsdad

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answered Oct 15 '13 at 21:23

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Thanks for this, my `id_rsa` and `id_rsa.pub` files have a custom name which is why git would never recognize it. ref: https://linux.die.net/man/5/ssh_config – lasec0203 Aug 16 '17 at 02:58

score 2 · Answer 6 · answered Feb 10 '21 at 07:01

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I updated my ~/.ssh/config file to read the following, and no longer have to enter my ssh password.

Host *
  AddKeysToAgent yes
  UseKeychain yes
  IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

answered Feb 10 '21 at 07:01

The Camster

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`Bad configuration option: usekeychain` – crypdick Mar 20 '21 at 18:43
I got the same error as @crypdick in my Ubuntu, but not on macOS. – Leonardo Raele May 10 '21 at 20:46
Solution to this error is here- https://stackoverflow.com/a/47455373/737440 – AmitP Apr 28 '23 at 06:41

score 2 · Answer 7 · answered Oct 13 '22 at 14:59

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open (or create) the ~/.ssh/config file and add these lines to the file:

Host *
UseKeychain yes

Source: https://support.atlassian.com/bitbucket-cloud/docs/set-up-an-ssh-key/

answered Oct 13 '22 at 14:59

Shah

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How can I perform a `git pull` without re-entering my SSH password?

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