How to setup multiple SSH keys

[Irakli Ghachava]

Hi, I've followed the guidelines for setting up multiple SSH keys in bitbucket but it doesn't work.

Here is my setup

~/.ssh/config

Host github.com
IdentityFile ~/.ssh/github
IdentitiesOnly yes

Host bitbucket.org-{username_1}
HostName bitbucket.org
User git
IdentityFile ~/.ssh/bitbucket-nari

Host bitbucket.org-{username_2}
HostName bitbucket.org
User git
IdentityFile ~/.ssh/bitbucket-delori

I can't connect to either bitbucket.org-{username_1} or bitbucket.org-{username_2}.

ika@Iraklis-MacBook-Pro ~ % ssh -Tv bitbucket.org-{username_2}
OpenSSH_9.8p1, LibreSSL 3.3.6
debug1: Reading configuration data /Users/ika/.ssh/config
debug1: Reading configuration data /etc/ssh/ssh_config
debug1: /etc/ssh/ssh_config line 21: include /etc/ssh/ssh_config.d/* matched no files
debug1: /etc/ssh/ssh_config line 54: Applying options for *
debug1: Authenticator provider $SSH_SK_PROVIDER did not resolve; disabling
debug1: Connecting to bitbucket.org-{username_2} port 22.
ssh: Could not resolve hostname bitbucket.org-{username_2}: nodename nor servname provided, or not known.

Here is local git config in one of my repositories

[user]
name = {username_2}
email = {email}

[core]
  repositoryformatversion = 0
  filemode = true
  bare = false
  logallrefupdates = true
  ignorecase = true
  precomposeunicode = true

[remote "origin"]
  url = git@bitbucket.org-{username_2}:trsthb/dpp-portal.git
  fetch = +refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/origin/*

[branch "master"]
  remote = origin
  merge = refs/heads/master
  vscode-merge-base = origin/master

[branch "develop"]
  remote = origin
  merge = refs/heads/develop
  vscode-merge-base = origin/develop

Everytime I run git pull it throws following error

ssh: Could not resolve hostname bitbucket.org-irakli____ghachava: nodename nor servname provided, or not known 

fatal: Could not read from remote repository. 

Please make sure you have the correct access rights and the repository exists.

What am I doing wrong here?

P.S. Yes, I've added public keys to corresponding bitbucket accounts in personal bitbucket settings.

[Patrik S · Accepted solution]

Hello @Irakli Ghachava ,

thank you for reaching out to the Community!

This happens because the alias you used in your SSH configuration file is not being correctly translated to a valid hostname when you're trying to connect. The alias you define should match exactly what you use in your Git remote URL.

Double-check your SSH config and Git remote URL for any typos. The alias in the SSH config (bitbucket.org-{username_1} and bitbucket.org-{username_1}) should match exactly with what you use in your Git remote URL.

Also, confirm if the owners of the ssh config file is the same user executing the command.

You can check if the configuration is correctly taking place by testing the SSH with more verbose logs : 

ssh -Tvvv git@bitbucket.org-{username1}

If the config file is properly configured, we will expect a log similar to below at the very beginning:

debug1: Reading configuration data /Users/<username>/.ssh/config

debug1: /Users/<username>/.ssh/config line 7: Applying options for bitbucket.org-{username_1}

You may also want to check the following guide on how to configure multiple SSH keys in your local environment:

• Managing multiple Bitbucket user SSH keys on one device 

Thank you, @Irakli Ghachava !

Patrik S

[Irakli Ghachava]

@Patrik S  thanks for response.

Below you can see 1. my git config 2. remote url in my local git config in repository 3. repo url given by bitbucket by default when cloning 4. my username

[Irakli Ghachava]

This is why I get when I run 

ssh -Tvvv git@bitbucket.org-{username1}

[Irakli Ghachava]

I've deleted /etc/ssh and it still doesn't work

[Patrik S]

Hello @Irakli Ghachava ,

the issue is likely due to the underscores you have in the config file.

The appending of your username to the Host entry on the config file is just a suggestion to you can easily identify which account the ssh key that is going to be used was added to. However, you can append any string to the config file, as long as you use the same string in the git remote URL.

For example:

• SSH config: Host entry set as bitbucket.org-key1

Host bitbucket.org-key1
  HostName bitbucket.org
  User git
  IdentityFile ~/.ssh/bitbucket-nari

• Git remote URL : The URL needs to match the Host entry of the config file (bitbucket.org-key1)

git@bitbucket.org-key1:WORKSPACE/REPOSITORY.git

Could you change your config file and git remote to match the example above and let us know how it goes?

Thank you, @Irakli Ghachava !

Patrik S

[Irakli Ghachava]

Hi @Patrik S .

What you've suggested works!

Thank you!

[Patrik S]

Awesome @Irakli Ghachava ! Glad I could be of some help :)