Adding SSH keys to Windows SSH client

windows-ssh.md

Install Open SSH client

To enable SSH functionality in Windows 11, follow these steps:

Open Settings: Press Win + I to open the Settings app.

Go to Apps: Navigate to Apps > Optional features.

Add an Optional Feature: Scroll down and click on View features under the "Add an optional feature" section.

Search for OpenSSH: In the search box, type OpenSSH and you should see two options:

• OpenSSH Client
• OpenSSH Server

Install OpenSSH Client: Check the box next to OpenSSH Client and click Next, then click Install.

Verify Installation: Open a terminal (Command Prompt or PowerShell) and type:

ssh

You should see the SSH command usage information, indicating that SSH is installed and available.

Generating keys

1. Open Powershell and type

ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -C "[email protected]"

Follow the instructions and save the key to a default location

2. Start the SSH Agent: In PowerShell, start the SSH agent:

Start-Service ssh-agent

IF the service cannot be started, open Powershell as admin and type

Get-Service -Name ssh-agent | Set-Service -StartupType Manual

and then start the service again

Start-Service ssh-agent

3. Add Your SSH Key to the SSH Agent: Run the following command to add your SSH private key to the SSH agent:

ssh-add $env:USERPROFILE\.ssh\id_rsa

4. Add the SSH Key to Your GitHub Account:

Get-Content $env:USERPROFILE\.ssh\id_rsa.pub | clip

Save contents to a new Github SSH key.

5. Test the connection

ssh -T [email protected]