Generating a new SSH key and adding it to the ssh-agent

After you've checked for existing SSH keys, you can generate a new SSH key to use for authentication, then add it to the ssh-agent.

Generating a new SSH key

Open TerminalTerminalGit Bash.

Paste the text below, substituting in your GitHub Enterprise email address.

ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -C "your_email@example.com"
# Creates a new ssh key, using the provided email as a label
Generating public/private rsa key pair.

When you're prompted to "Enter a file in which to save the key," press Enter. This accepts the default file location.
```
Enter a file in which to save the key (/Users/you/.ssh/id_rsa): [Press enter]
```

At the prompt, type a secure passphrase. For more information, see "Working with SSH key passphrases".

Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase): [Type a passphrase]
Enter same passphrase again: [Type passphrase again]

Adding your SSH key to the ssh-agent

Before adding a new SSH key to the ssh-agent, you should have checked for existing SSH keys and generated a new SSH key.

Ensure ssh-agent is enabled:

# start the ssh-agent in the background
eval "$(ssh-agent -s)"
Agent pid 59566

Add your SSH key to the ssh-agent. If you used an existing SSH key rather than generating a new SSH key, you'll need to replace id_rsa in the command with the name of your existing private key file.
```
$ ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_rsa
```
Add the SSH key to your GitHub account.

If you have GitHub for Windows installed, you can use it to clone repositories and not deal with SSH keys. It also comes with the Git Bash tool, which is the preferred way of running git commands on Windows.

Ensure ssh-agent is enabled:

If you are using Git Bash, turn on ssh-agent:

# start the ssh-agent in the background
eval "$(ssh-agent -s)"
Agent pid 59566

If you are using another terminal prompt, such as Git for Windows, turn on ssh-agent:
```
# start the ssh-agent in the background
eval $(ssh-agent -s)
Agent pid 59566
```

Add your SSH key to the ssh-agent. If you used an existing SSH key rather than generating a new SSH key, you'll need to replace id_rsa in the command with the name of your existing private key file.
```
$ ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_rsa
```
Add the SSH key to your GitHub account.

Ensure ssh-agent is enabled:

# start the ssh-agent in the background
eval "$(ssh-agent -s)"
Agent pid 59566

Add your SSH key to the ssh-agent. If you used an existing SSH key rather than generating a new SSH key, you'll need to replace id_rsa in the command with the name of your existing private key file.
```
$ ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_rsa
```
Add the SSH key to your GitHub account.

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