Set up a SSH Key to connect to bitbucket

Set up SSH for Git on Windows

Use this section to create a default identity and SSH key when you're using Git on Windows. By default, the system adds keys for all identities to the /Users//.ssh directory.

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Set up SSH on macOS/Linux

Whether you use Git or Mercurial, use this section to create a default identity and SSH key when on macOS or Linux. By default, the system adds keys to the /Users//.ssh directory on macOS and /home//.ssh on Linux.

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Step 1. Set up your default identity

From the terminal, enter ssh-keygen at the command line.
The command prompts you for a file to save the key in:

$ ssh-keygen Generating public/private rsa key pair. Enter file in which to save the key (/Users/emmap1/.ssh/id_rsa):
Press the Enter or Return key to accept the default location.

We recommend you keep the default key name unless you have a reason to change it.

To create a key with a name or path other than the default, specify the full path to the key. For example, to create a key called my-new-ssh-key, enter a path like the one shown at the prompt:

$ ssh-keygen Generating public/private rsa key pair. Enter file in which to save the key (/Users/emmap1/.ssh/id_rsa): /Users/emmap1/.ssh/my-new-ssh-key
Enter and re-enter a passphrase when prompted.
The command creates your default identity with its public and private keys. The whole interaction will look similar to the following:

$ ssh-keygen Generating public/private rsa key pair. Enter file in which to save the key (/Users/emmap1/.ssh/id_rsa): Created directory '/Users/emmap1/.ssh'. Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase): Enter same passphrase again: Your identification has been saved in /Users/emmap1/.ssh/id_rsa. Your public key has been saved in /Users/emmap1/.ssh/id_rsa.pub. The key fingerprint is: 4c:80:61:2c:00:3f:9d:dc:08:41:2e:c0:cf:b9:17:69emmap1@myhost.local The key's randomart image is: +--[ RSA 2048]----+ |*o+ooo. | |.+.=o+ . | |. *.* o . | | . = E o | | o . S | | . . | | . | | | | | +-----------------+
List the contents of ~/.ssh to view the key files.

$ ls ~/.ssh id_rsa id_rsa.pub

The command displays two files, one for the public key (for example id_rsa.pub) and one for the private key (for example, id_rsa).

Step 2. Add the key to the ssh-agent

If you don't want to type your password each time you use the key, you'll need to add it to the ssh-agent.

To start the agent, run the following:

$ eval `ssh-agent` Agent pid 9700
Enter ssh-add followed by the path to the private key file:

macOS

$ ssh-add -K ~/.ssh/

Linux

$ ssh-add ~/.ssh/
(macOS only) So that your computer remembers your password each time it restarts, open (or create) the ~/.ssh/config file and add these lines to the file:
```
Host *
  UseKeychain yes
```

Step 3. (Mercurial only) Enable SSH compression

Enabling SSH compression is recommended but not required.

By default, Git automatically performs compression when sending or retrieving data, but Mercurial doesn't. Enabling SSH compression can speed up sending and retrieving data, drastically in some cases.

To enable SSH compression:

Open the Mercurial global configuration file (~/.hgrc).

Add this line to the UI section:

ssh = ssh -C

When you are done the file should look similar to this:

[ui]
# Name data to appear in commits
username = Emma <emmap1@atlassian.com>
ssh = ssh -C

Save and close the file.

Step 4. Add the public key to your Bitbucket settings

From Bitbucket, choose Bitbucket settings from your avatar in the lower left.
The Account settings page opens.
Click SSH keys.
If you've already added keys, you'll see them on this page.
In your terminal window, copy the contents of your public key file. If you renamed the key, replace id_rsa.pub with the public key file name.

On Linux, you can cat the contents:

$ cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub

On macOS, the following command copies the output to the clipboard:

$ pbcopy < ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
Select and copy the key output in the clipboard.
If you have problems with copy and paste, you can open the file directly with Notepad. Select the contents of the file (just avoid selecting the end-of-file characters).
From Bitbucket, click Add key.
Enter a Label for your new key, for example, Default public key.
Paste the copied public key into the SSH Key field.
You may see an email address on the last line when you paste. It doesn't matter whether or not you include the email address in the Key.
Click Save.
Bitbucket sends you an email to confirm the addition of the key.

Edit an SSH key

After you add a key, you can edit the key's Label but not the key itself. To change the key's contents, you need to delete and re-add the key.
Return to the terminal window and verify your configuration and username by entering the following command:

$ ssh -T git@bitbucket.org

The command message tells you which of your Bitbucket accounts can log in with that key.
```
conq: logged in as emmap1.
You can use git or hg to connect to Bitbucket. Shell access is disabled.
```
If you get an error message with Permission denied (publickey), check the Troubleshoot SSH issues page for help.

Now that you've got an SSH key set up, use the SSH URL the next time you clone a repository. If you already have a repository that you cloned over HTTPS, change the remote URL for your repository to use its SSH URL.

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