Alright, so check it, the other day I was dealing with some serious BS. You know how it is, you’re trying to get stuff done, and then BAM! Someone’s trying to throw a wrench in your plans. This time it was code related, naturally.
It all started when I was trying to push some updates to this one project I’ve been grinding on. I fired up my terminal, did the usual git add ., git commit -m "Some updates", and then went to push it. That’s when I saw it. “Permission denied (publickey).” Ugh, the worst.
My first thought was, “Did my SSH key expire or something?” So, I did a quick check. I ran ssh -T git@*, and yeah, it was failing. Time to troubleshoot.
I started with the basics. I opened up my ~/.ssh/config file to make sure everything was pointing to the right key. Looked good. Then I double-checked that my public key was actually in my GitHub settings. Yep, still there.
Next, I thought maybe my SSH agent wasn’t running. So, I ran eval "$(ssh-agent -s)" to start it up. Then I added my key with ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_rsa. Still no luck. “Permission denied.” Seriously?
I was getting frustrated, so I took a break. Sometimes stepping away helps. I grabbed a coffee, walked around a bit, and then came back to the problem with fresh eyes.
That’s when it hit me. Maybe it wasn’t my key at all. Maybe it was something with the repository itself. So, I went to the GitHub page for the project and checked the settings. Turns out, someone had messed with the deploy keys. The key I was using wasn’t authorized anymore!
Facepalm.
I created a new SSH keypair, added the public key to the deploy keys section in the repo settings, and tried pushing again. And guess what? It worked! Finally!
The lesson here? Don’t always assume the problem is on your end. Sometimes, the fight is coming from somewhere else. Always check the remote settings too!
- First, check SSH connection:
ssh -T git@* - Then, check your
~/.ssh/configfile. - Verify your public key in GitHub settings.
- Restart your SSH agent:
eval "$(ssh-agent -s)"andssh-add ~/.ssh/id_rsa - And most importantly, check the repository settings on GitHub!
So, yeah, that’s how I fought against those that fought against me. A little troubleshooting, a little coffee, and a whole lot of patience. Hope this helps you out if you run into something similar!
