rojter-tech / ssh_git_windows_minimal_setup

Minimal set up for working SSH Git keychain in Windows

1.) Have a valid rsa public private key pair located in $HOME/.ssh

id_rsa
id_rsa.pub

2.) Have Putty and its tools installed

Eg. installed in C:\Program Files\PuTTY and with the following tools:

puttygen.exe
plink.exe
pageant.exe

3.) Create a ppk version of the public private key pair with puttygen

Open up puttygen, import the key, save as a ppk version in $HOME/.ssh

eg. we now have

id_rsa
id_rsa.pub
id_rsa.ppk
id_rsa.pub.ppk

inside our .ssh directory

Optional.) Create a Gitlab reference config for the Git environment you you have other public private keypairs

Inside .ssh dir create a file named config with the content

Host gitlab.com
  HostName gitlab.com
  Preferredauthentications publickey
  IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa_otherkey

4.) Register the public key on Gitlab

5. Register the public key in plink, use powershell

& 'C:\Program Files\PuTTY\plink.exe' [e-mail]

6.) Create an environment variable named GIT_SSH, and reference to plink

GIT_SSH = C:\Program Files\PuTTY\plink.exe

7a.) Create a startup shortcut in the user local "Startup" directory for automating import

(It is ofc possible to create a task or a service also, but it is a bit overkill for this purpose)

Navigate to Startup

C:\Users\$USER\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup\peagant.lnk"

Create a shortcut that points to peagant.exe followed by all the public keys that we want to load automaticly when windows start.

Target

"C:\Program Files\PuTTY\pageant.exe" C:\Users\$HOME\.ssh\id_rsa.ppk

7b.) Screw the the "Startup" location and create the shortcut anywhere you like for manual imports of private keys.

9.) Try pull and push something