Using multiple SSH keys with git

"Someone has already registered that SSH key." - of course I have, not a crime to have two accounts you know. @bitbucket @github

— Tim Pizey (@timPizey) November 26, 2015

The problem I have is that I have multiple accounts with git hosting suppliers (github and bitbucket) but they both want to keep a one to one relationship between users and ssh keys.

For both accounts I am separating work and personal repositories.

Github

• https://github.com/timp
• https://github.com/timp21337

BitBucket

• https://bitbucket.org/timp/
• https://bitbucket.org/eltimp/

In the past I have authorised all my identities on all my repositories, this has resulted in multiple identities being used within one repository which makes the statistics look a mess.

The Solution

Generate an ssh key for your identity and store it in a named file for example ~/.ssh/id_rsa_timp.

Add the key to your github or bitbucket account.

Use an ssh config file ~/.ssh/config

Host bitbucket.timp
    HostName bitbucket.com
    User git
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa_timp
    IdentitiesOnly=yes

You should now be good to go:

git clone git@bitbucket.timp:timp/project.git

Update .git/config

[remote "bitbucket"]
        url = git@bitbucket.timp:timp/wiki.git
        fetch = +refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/bitbucket/*