Note: statements that need to be executed in terminal are always displayed in code blocks:

execute statement

Note: substitute the placeholder variables in <> with your personal details.

1: Create github account

https://github.com/ (link account to email that you will not lose, e.g. NOT UGent email)

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

https://docs.github.com/en/authentication/connecting-to-github-with-ssh/generating-a-new-ssh-key-and-adding-it-to-the-ssh-agent?platform=windows

2.1: Generating a new SSH key

Follow the step “Generating a new SSH key” in the link.

2.2: Adding to the ssh-agent

Follow the step “Adding your SSH key to the ssh-agent” in the link, but also perform these steps (better if you have multiple SSH keys, later).

  • Check the path to the .ssh folder (where it is located), by default this is C:\Users\<YourUsername>\.ssh we will call this path <YourSSHPath>.
  • Open powershell as administrator (link)
  • Execute in powershell (this creates config file): 
    New-Item -Path <YourSSHPath>\config -ItemType File -Force

    The config file is located in the .ssh folder, which has the path C:\Users\<YourUsername>\.ssh, by default.

Copy this in the config file’s content (with <IdentityFileRelativePath> by default: ~/.ssh/id_ed22519):

Host github.com
    Hostname github.com
    User <GithubUsername>
    IdentityFile <IdentityFileRelativePath>

3: Add (copy paste) SSH key to github account

https://docs.github.com/en/authentication/connecting-to-github-with-ssh/adding-a-new-ssh-key-to-your-github-account?platform=windows

4: Check if git is installed

Execute in terminal:

git --version
  • if no error (for example a good response is “git version 2.41.0”) -> everything is fine.
  • otherwise -> install git: https://git-scm.com/downloads/win (git standalone installor is best option)

5: Setup username and email in git config file https://docs.github.com/en/get-started/getting-started-with-git/setting-your-username-in-git:

In terminal:

git config --global user.name "<GithubUsername>"

git config --global user.email "<GithubEmail>"

These can be checked via:

git config --global user.name 

git config --global user.email

6. Check SSH connection:

ssh -T git@github.com
  • If prompted: “Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no/[fingerprint])?”

Enter:

yes
  • Upon succes the response is: Warning: “Permanently added ‘github.com’ to the list of known hosts. Hi ! You've sucessfully authenticated, but Github does not provide shell access."