SSH Key Management Script

Available languages:

• English
• Español

This Bash script simplifies SSH key management for a user. It allows checking for existing SSH keys, displaying the current public key, and generating a new ED25519 SSH key with a provided email.

⚠️ Note: This script is intended for Linux systems only. A Windows-compatible version (likely using PowerShell) is planned for a future update.

Features

• Check if an SSH key already exists (id_ed25519.pub)
• Show the current SSH public key
• Generate a new SSH key pair with a given email address
• Optionally install ssh-keygen if it's not present
• Automatically adds the key to ssh-agent if it's running

Setup

Clone this repository to your local machine running the following commands:

git clone https://github.com/sfonzo96/ssh-keys-gh
cd ssh-keys-gh

Usage

./set_ssh_key.sh [option] [email]

Options

• -h, --help Show usage information.

• -s, --show Display the current SSH public key.

• -c, --check Check if an SSH key already exists.

• -g, --generate <email> Generate a new SSH key pair. Requires a valid email as an argument.

Examples

Check if an SSH key exists:

./set_ssh_key.sh --check

Generate a new key with an email:

./set_ssh_key.sh --generate your_email@example.com

Show your current SSH public key:

./set_ssh_key.sh --show

Add your SSH key to GitHub

• After generating the SSH key, you need to add it to your GitHub account. Follow these steps:

  • Copy the SSH key to your clipboard:
  • Go to your GitHub account settings.
  • Navigate to "SSH and GPG keys".
  • Click on "New SSH key".
  • Add a title for the key (e.g., "My Laptop SSH Key").
  • Make sure the "Key type" field has the "Authentication Key" option selected.
  • Paste the SSH key into the "Key" field.
  • Click "Add SSH key".
  • You may be prompted to enter your GitHub password to confirm the addition of the key.

• Following those steps should allow you to push and pull from your GitHub repositories right away.

Notes

• If ssh-keygen is not installed, the script will prompt to install it using apt-get.
• Keys are generated using the ED25519 algorithm and stored at ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.

Future Plans

• Add support for Windows via PowerShell
• Implement more advanced error handling

References

• Generating a new SSH key and adding it to the ssh-agent
• Adding a new SSH key to your GitHub account