raven

Posted on Jun 4, 2020

Managing multiple GitHub account using git in windows

#github #git #productivity

Wanna use another GitHub account in my windows pc but wait I already got my personal account added in git.
No problem here you can see how you can manage multiple accounts without any hassle:

Note: This DIY is meant for windows users.

Contents

*Set up SSH Keys.
*Add the keys to your Github accounts:
*Create a configuration file to manage the separate keys
*Update stored identities
*Test PUSH
*Test PULL

Set up SSH Keys

So let's consider your two GitHub accounts are named githubPersonal and githubWork, respectively.

Create two SSH keys, saving each to a separate file:
Execute the below mentioned commands in gitbash

$ cd ~/.ssh

$ ssh-keygen -t rsa -C "your_email_id_associated_with_githubPersonal_account

save it as id_rsa_personal when prompted (you can rename personal)
$ Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase): skip this by pressing enter
$ Enter same passphrase again: skip this by pressing enter

$ ssh-keygen -t rsa -C "your_email_id_associated_with_githubWork_account"

save it as id_rsa_work when prompted (you can rename personal)
$ Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase): skip this by pressing enter
$ Enter same passphrase again: skip this by pressing enter

The above commands setup the following files:
id_rsa_personal
id_rsa_personal.pub
id_rsa_work
id_rsa_work.pub

Add the keys to your Github accounts:

Copy the key to your clipboard by opening the file in vs code:

$ code . id_rsa_personal.pub

Add the key to your account:
Go to your GitHub Account Settings
Click “SSH Keys” then “Add SSH key”
Paste your key into the “Key” field and add a relevant title
Click “Add key” then enter your GitHub password to confirm.

Repeat the process for your githubWork account.

Create a configuration file

Create a configuration file to manage the separate keys in ~/.ssh/ using
$ touch config

Edit the file using the text editor of your choice. I used vs code -
$ code . config

# githubPersonal
Host personal
   HostName github.com
   User git
   IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa_personal

# githubWork
Host work
   HostName github.com
   User git
   IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa_work

Update stored identities

initialize the ssh-agent (use powershell)

Get-Service -Name ssh-agent | Set-Service -StartupType Manual

Clear currently stored identities:
$ ssh-add -D
Add new keys:

$ ssh-add id_rsa_personal

$ ssh-add id_rsa_work

Test to make sure new keys are stored:

$ ssh-add -l

Test to make sure Github recognizes the keys:

$ ssh -T personal

Hi githubPersonal! You've successfully authenticated, but GitHub does not provide shell access.

$ ssh -T work

Hi githubWork! You've successfully authenticated, but GitHub does not provide shell access.

Test PUSH

On Github, create a new repo in your personal account, githubPersonal, called test-personal.
Back on your local machine, create a test directory:
$ cd ~/documents
$ mkdir test-personal
$ cd test-personal
Add a blank “readme.md” file and PUSH to Github:
$ touch readme.md
$ git init
$ git add .
$ git commit -am "first commit"
$ git remote add origin git@personal:githubPersonal/test-personal.git
$ git push origin master
Notice how we’re using the custom account, git@personal, instead of git@github.com.

Repeat the process for your githubWork account.

Top comments (9)

vtranwd • May 14 '21

Hi there! Newbie here. I'm running into an error that won't allow me to push onto my Github repo. My terminal did not stop me when I ran this:
$ git remote add origin git@personal:github.com/personal/test-personal.git

So when I ran this:
git push origin master
I get this error:
fatal: protocol 'git@personal:https' is not supported

Can anybody show me how to fix this? I haven't been able to find anything on google that could help. Should I just delete the repo and start over? My ssh has already been authenticated.

Akhil bellam • Jun 13 '21

After I finished adding my personal account and start adding the work account
I get the following message
git@github.com: Permission denied (public key)

Do I need to switch between the accounts somehow? I think it's still trying to use the personal account for cloning the test-work repo

Also the ssh-agent has to be setup or started manually everytime from now?