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Setting up a remote

Now that you have a GitHub account you're going to want to set up an SSH-key. This is a sort of encryption key that is commonly used for connecting to other computers, but is also used for verification on GitHub and GitLab. It is required to be able to access private repositories on GitHub so this is a must.

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On Windows you might have to enable the OpenSSH client to be able to use SSH. How you do this might depend on your version of Windows, but on Windows 10 and 11 you should be able to follow this short guide.

1. Open your settings application.
2. Search for "Optional features".
3. In this menu you should see another search bar, search for "OpenSSH".
4. If anything shows up that means you already have everything you need and can move on to Generating keys
5. If there is nothing, click on Add a feature right at the top of the page.
6. Here search for "OpenSSH" again.
7. Click the checkbox for OpenSSH client and OpenSSH server and then press Add (2) at the bottom. You can now move on.

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{{ .macos.linux }} On MacOS and Linux SSH comes pre-installed on your computer so you don't need any additional setup.

Basic configuration

Git requires two configuration settings to be set before you can use it. There is one additional one we will recommend you set up as well. These options are most easily set in the command line and that's how we suggest you do it.

When using Git, especially for larger projects we want people to be able to reach us, and for people to know who we are. This is to give proper credit for your code but also so people can contact you if that code breaks or if they're wondering something about it. So we connect an email account and a name to Git. You do not have to use your real name or your private email but lots of people do. If you don't want to use your name or your private email address, you can use a nickname and a more public email address.

To configure these settings we use the git config command in the terminal. To make changes stay permanently we use the --global flag. We run these commands:

git config --global user.name "<name>"
git config --global user.email "<email address>"

Beyond these two options we also suggest changing your "default branch name". What branches are is outside the scope of this course and you'll learn about it after you've used Git for a while. Then why do we suggest changing this setting? The "default branch" is functions as the "name" of your Git history. Historically this has been called "master", which refers to "master" and "slave". This terminology is grossly outdated and nowadays we prefer using "main" and something else, common words are child, replica, and secondary. This should be default on most Git installs nowadays but not on Windows, and it won't hurt to set it explicitly. To set this option run:

git config --global init.defaultBranch "main"

Generating keys

First of all open up your terminal. From here, run ssh-keygen. When you've done this you'll be asked to write in the path to where you want to save your new key. Do not write anything here. The default location is where programs will look for the SSH key by default, so just press !kbd[Enter].

Now you'll be asked to write in a passphrase. Again, do not write anything here (unless you really know what you're doing). Certain programs like VSCode do not play nice with SSH-keys with passphrases and can straight up crash with no warnings. Just press !kbd[Enter], and when prompted to write the same passphrase again, just press !kbd[Enter] again.

You'll now be presented with your fingerprint and randomart image. Neither of these are what we need however. Your SSH-key will now be found in ~/.ssh/ (inside your home directory). You'll be presented with two files, one named id_ed25519 and one named id_ed25519.pub. The .pub file is your public key which you need to put into GitHub later. ¹

The other file is the private key, and is for verifying that you are who your public key says you are. Do not share this with anyone else. Ever. Only you should have access to your private key.

SSH-keys in GitHub.

Now the hard part is over! Hooray!

Assuming you followed our steps on creating a GitHub account, you can now put your public key in GitHub to enable SSH verification. If you are signed in you can use this link to go straight to the SSH-keys page. Go to Step 4 below in that case. If you hate clicking links, here's a full guide for finding your way there as well.

1. On the GitHub web page click on your profile icon in the top right corner.
2. Click !icon[gear] Settings (it is the sixth option from the bottom).
3. Click on SSH and GPG keys, it is under the "Access" header.

4. Click on the green New SSH key button.
5. Give it a name if you'd like, such as what computer you're on. Keep the key type as "Authentication Key" and paste in your public key which can be found at ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub. Do not use your private key here.
6. Press Add SSH key.

And that's it! Now you can use GitHub on this computer, or any other computer with the same SSH key pair. We recommend using different SSH keys for different computers for security reasons, but nothing is stopping you from using the same ones.

SSH-keys in GitLab.

Here you can use your CID to sign in. If you are signed in you can use this link to go right to the SSH-keys page. Go to Step 4 below in that case. If you hate clicking links, here's a full guide for finding your way there as well.

1. Click on your user icon. It will be at the top of the left sidebar.
2. Click Preferences.
3. Click on SSH Keys, it's right around the middle.

4. Click on Add new key.
5. Put in your public key and feel free to give it a name. Keep the key type as "Authentication & Signing". Here you can also change the expiration date of the key. If you'd like you can change this to any date you'd like, such as when you will graduate.
6. Press Add key.