1. Generate an SSH key

Linux/Mac

Open terminal to create ssh keys:

cd ~                 #Your home directoryssh-keygen -t rsa    #Press enter for all values

For Windows

(Only works if the commit program is capable of using certificates/private & public ssh keys)

1. Use Putty Gen to generate a key
2. Export the key as an open SSH key

Here is a walkthrough on putty gen for the above steps

2. Associate the SSH key with the remote repository

This step varies, depending on how your remote is set up.

• If it is a GitHub repository and you have administrative privileges, go to settings and click 'add SSH key'. Copy the contents of your ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub into the field labeled 'Key'.

• If your repository is administered by somebody else, give the administrator your id_rsa.pub.

• If your remote repository is administered by your, you can use this command for example:

  scp ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub YOUR_USER@YOUR_IP:~/.ssh/authorized_keys/id_rsa.pub

3. Set your remote URL to a form that supports SSH ¹

If you have done the steps above and are still getting the password prompt, make sure your repo URL is in the form

git+ssh://git@github.com/username/reponame.git

as opposed to

https://github.com/username/reponame.git

To see your repo URL, run:

git remote show origin

You can change the URL with:

git remote set-url origin git+ssh://git@github.com/username/reponame.git

_{[1] This section incorporates the answer from Eric P}

Permanently authenticating with Git repositories,

Run the following command to enable credential caching.

$ git config credential.helper store$ git push https://github.com/repo.gitUsername for 'https://github.com': <USERNAME>Password for 'https://USERNAME@github.com': <PASSWORD>

Use should also specify caching expire,

git config --global credential.helper 'cache --timeout 7200'

After enabling credential caching, it will be cached for 7200 seconds (2 hours).

Note: Credential helper stores an unencrypted password on a local disk.

If you already have your SSH keys set up and are still getting the password prompt, make sure your repo URL is in the form

git+ssh://git@github.com/username/reponame.git

as opposed to

https://github.com/username/reponame.git

To see your repo URL, run:

git remote show origin

You can change the URL with git remote set-url like so:

git remote set-url origin git+ssh://git@github.com/username/reponame.git