# Setting multiple accounts

Source: [https://betterprogramming.pub/how-to-use-multiple-github-accounts-with-one-computer-c9ba3f851b75](https://betterprogramming.pub/how-to-use-multiple-github-accounts-with-one-computer-c9ba3f851b75)

For windows I use

```
ssh-keygen -t rsa -C “your-email-address”
```

- **t** stands for ‘**type**’ and **rsa** is type of encryption
- **C** is for comment

3. The following will then show:

```
Generating public/private rsa key pair.
Enter file in which to save the key (/c/Users/your_username/.ssh/id_rsa):
```

Copy and paste the path followed by an **identifiable name** for the file:

```
/c/Users/your_username/.ssh/id_rsa_IDENTIFIABLE_NAME_HERE
```

I named my one test for the sake of this tutorial:

```
/c/Users/your_username/.ssh/id_rsa_test
```

**Make sure you don’t override id_rsa as this is your existing key for your original account.**

It will then ask you for the following:

```
Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase):
Enter same passphrase again:
```

Press ‘Enter’ twice to leave it blank.

You can now type in the following command to see all the SSH keys you have on your local machine:

```
ls -al ~/.ssh
```

- **ls** lists all the files in the current directory
- **a** is for listing all files including hidden ones
- **l** is for listing in a long format

You should then get something similar to this:

```
total 46
drwxr-xr-x 1 your_username 1049089    0 Jan 26 10:40 .
drwxr-xr-x 1 your_username 1049089    0 Jan 23 12:12 ..
-rw-r--r-- 1 your_username 1049089 3326 Nov 30 11:21 id_rsa
-rw-r--r-- 1 your_username 1049089  748 Nov 30 11:21 id_rsa.pub
-rw-r--r-- 1 your_username 1049089 1675 Jan 26 10:40 id_rsa_test
-rw-r--r-- 1 your_username 1049089  399 Jan 26 10:40 id_rsa_test.pub
-rw-r--r-- 1 your_username 1049089  803 Nov 30 12:08 known_hosts
```

You should be able to see your new SSH key file. As you can see in my one I have both **id_rsa_test** and **id_rsa_test.pub**.

**id_rsa_test** is your private key stored on your machine, whilst **id_rsa_test.pub** is the public key which you will provide GitHub with.

Next you need to copy the **SSH key** which is stored in **id_rsa_test.pub** file. You can open this in text editor of your choice. I am currently using atom so I opened the file using the following command:

```
atom ~/.ssh/id_rsa_test.pub
```

You will then get something similar to this:

```
ssh-rsa AAAAB3NzaC1yc2EAAAADAQABAAABAQDEmSbc7ms4SNIf7G0e9EqdrQRTB17VFTqRtCbQ55sSc11xZP5B07UXf9+................a955cf1GUzsNIr60E7VuVxirrr+K2WcleqifnDEg1H/VbyJtEekh4Aav9csBwemTz3test@test.com
```

The key is actually longer but I shortened it for the sake of this tutorial.

Copy this and navigate to your **GitHub account** → **Settings** → **SSH and GPG keys**

![https://miro.medium.com/max/1050/1*hGgGWVSSLZ14dfRlvHx59Q.png](https://miro.medium.com/max/1050/1*hGgGWVSSLZ14dfRlvHx59Q.png)

Click on **New SSH key**

![https://miro.medium.com/max/1050/1*Dv0QXfBnu5mcb2eKLcQxUg.png](https://miro.medium.com/max/1050/1*Dv0QXfBnu5mcb2eKLcQxUg.png)

Give your new key a title and then paste the **new generated SSH key** you copied before. ***It is a good idea to name your keys after the machine they’re from. As you can see I have three, Macbook, Windows and Cloud9 IDE***.

If you’re on a Mac you should be able to add this key on your terminal as well using the command below:

```
ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_rsa_test
```

For enabling ssh:

39

In Windows PowerShell (run as admin):

1. Check the current status of **ssh-agent**:
    
    `Get-Service | ?{$_.Name -like '*ssh-agent*'} | select -Property Name, StartType, Status`
    
2. Enable the Service if it is disabled:
    
    `Set-Service -Name ssh-agent -StartupType Manual`
    
3. Start the Service:
    
    `Start-Service ssh-agent`
    
    then 
    
    `cd ~`
    
4. Add your key as before:
    
    `ssh-add <path to the key>`
    

Creating config file : format

```
Host github.com
  HostName github.com
  User git
  IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa
Host github.com-work
  HostName github.com
  User git
  IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa_work
```