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How to use multiple accounts in git?

1. Check Existing SSH Keys

Before proceeding, check if you already have SSH keys generated on your system. Open a terminal and run the following command:

ls ~/.ssh

If you see files named id_rsa and id_rsa.pub, it means you already have an SSH key pair. If not, you can generate a new key pair using the following command:

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

Replace "[email protected]" with your email address associated with the Git account. This will create a new SSH key pair in the ~/.ssh directory.

2. Create a "config" File

Next, we'll create a config file in the ~/.ssh directory to specify which SSH key to use for different Git accounts. Open the terminal and enter the following command:

nano ~/.ssh/config

This will open the Nano text editor to create or edit the config file.

3. Add SSH Key Configuration

In the config file, we will define different configurations for each Git account based on specific conditions. For example:

Match host github.com exec "pwd | grep personal"
IdentityFile ~/.ssh/personal

Match host github.com exec "pwd | grep work_1"
IdentityFile ~/.ssh/work_1

Match host gitlab.com exec "pwd | grep work_2"
IdentityFile ~/.ssh/work_2

Explanation of the above configuration:

  • Match: This is used to match a specific condition before applying the configuration.
  • host: Specifies the hostname for which the configuration should be applied (e.g., github.com, gitlab.com).
  • exec: Executes a shell command to check if the condition is met. In this case, we use pwd | grep to match the current working directory.
  • IdentityFile: Specifies the path to the corresponding SSH private key for the matched condition.

The example assumes you have three SSH key pairs named personal, work_1, and work_2, and they correspond to different Git accounts on GitHub and GitLab.

4. Save and Exit

After adding the necessary configurations, save the file and exit the text editor. In Nano, you can do this by pressing Ctrl + X, then confirming the save by typing Y and pressing Enter.

5. Test the Configurations

To ensure that the configurations are working as expected, navigate to the directories associated with your different Git accounts and check if the corresponding SSH keys are being used. For example:

cd ~/projects/personal-repo
git pull

cd ~/projects/work-1-repo
git pull

cd ~/projects/work-2-repo
git pull

If everything is set up correctly, Git should automatically use the appropriate SSH key based on the directory you are in.

That's it! Now you can manage multiple Git accounts seamlessly with the right SSH keys, making your development workflow more efficient and hassle-free.

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