Can't do git commands while remoting into a vps via source control in visual studio code

Question

I realize the title is a bit of a mouthful but I'm not entirely sure how else to describe my issue. I've remoted into a server (via VS Code's RemoteSSH extension) that I have hosted online; while I was trying to connect to the server I had to enter an ssh passphrase as per usual. I'm trying to update a repository via Github that I have cloned on the remote machine, but whenever I try to use the pull/push options within the Source Control extension, I get a git@github.com: Permission denied (publickey). message. If I go into the terminal window within VS Code I can do git pull normally; it asks me to enter my passphrase, and gives the appropriate response:

name@server:~/test-repo$ git pull
Enter passphrase for key '/home/name/.ssh/github_rsa': 
Already up to date.

I'm not sure if there's something I'm missing here. I will say that my key is not named the default id_rsa file - but I'm not sure if that is the cause of this issue? I have an ssh config file on the server and it looks like the Terminal is reading that properly, but why isn't the Source Control extension working the same way?

Answer 1

You can set GIT_SSH_COMMAND to ssh -Tv

That way, you will see the difference between the SSH session through the remote SSH extension and the terminal Windows.

If the key is not named id_rsa , look for a ~/.ssh/config file, which would include the actual private key path.