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bondarenkod/git-windows-ssh.md

Last active March 5, 2025 02:00
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Git SSH: Permission denied (publickey). fatal: Could not read from remote repository.
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git-windows-ssh.md

If you encounter the following error on Windows: Permission denied (publickey). fatal: Could not read from remote repository. But at the same time, the command ssh -vT [email protected] gives you this message: Hi USER_NAME! You've successfully authenticated, but GitHub does not provide shell access.

  • Add to your environment variables: GIT_SSH_COMMAND="C:/Windows/System32/OpenSSH/ssh.exe". Ensure there's no space after the equal sign. Also, verify that the path is correct for your OS.
  • Alternatively, change the Git configuration by running: git config --global core.sshCommand C:/Windows/System32/OpenSSH/ssh.exe
  • Don't forget to start the SSH agent service: Get-Service -Name ssh-agent | Set-Service -StartupType Manual Start-Service ssh-agent You can set the StartupType to Automatic if you want it to run when Windows starts.

A restart might be necessary, but in many cases, simply re-opening the terminal is sufficient.

Note: Git for Windows includes an embedded SSH client, which it might use by default. Switching to the Windows System32 SSH client can resolve certain authentication issues. image

@ma-sadeghi
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Thank you so much, I literally wasted 2-3 hours!

@chair3-01
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actual life saver, thank you

@raulcanbereached
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I just found this article. Thank you, thank you, thank you @bondarenkod - This solved my issue!

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