Git always asks for my ssh-key passphrase

Question

I have a problem that occurs when using git .

When I use the command git pull origin my_branch or git fetch or git push origin my_branch , git always asks for my passphrase for key. I don't understand why this occurs?

Can someone please explain why and how to avoid entering the passphrase each time.

$ git fetch
Enter passphrase for key '/home/khanhpn/.ssh/id_rsa':

Answer 1

Like Nasreddine says, it's because your key is encrypted with a passphrase to prevent others from reading it.

The most convenient way of using passphrased keys is by using ssh-agent to start an authentication agent (which runs in the background):

$ eval "$(ssh-agent)"
Agent pid 44304

...and then using ssh-add to register your key with the agent so that it's used automatically for subsequent SSH connections:

$ ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_rsa
Enter passphrase for /home/khanhpn/.ssh/id_rsa:

You'll be asked to enter your passphrase when you run ssh-add , but you won't need to do so again while ssh-agent is running.

You can find more information on GitHub . Also note that you'll have to do this every time you log in, so you might like to add the eval "$(ssh-agent)" step to your .profile script.

Answer 2

It's because your private SSH key is protected using a passphrase. You can remove it using this command ( not recommended since anyone could copy your key and use it to access your repos/account ):

$ ssh-keygen -p
Enter file in which the key is (/path/to/your/.ssh/key):

enter your current passphrase when prompted here:

Enter old passphrase:
Key has comment 'rsa w/o comment'

leave empty if you want to remove the passphrase when prompted here:

Enter new passphrase (empty for no passphrase):
Enter same passphrase again:
Your identification has been saved with the new passphrase.