Managing Multiple GitHub Accounts on the Same Computer

Problem Statement 😐

You have two GitHub accounts: user1 (private) and user2 (work-related), and you want to use both accounts on the same computer without typing passwords every time you use Git.

Solution Overview ✅

Use SSH keys with host aliases in an SSH config file and configure different .gitconfig user credentials based on your current working directory.

This will allow you to change github credentials based on what working directory you’re in.

Step-by-Step Implementation 🌟

1. Navigate to Your Home Directory

Ensure you’re in your home directory (~). You should already have a .ssh folder by default. Since it’s a hidden folder, use ls -a to see it. If it doesn’t exist, create it with:

mkdir ~/.ssh

2. Generate SSH Keys for Both Accounts

Navigate to your .ssh directory and run these commands:

ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 8192 -C "user1@email.com" -f "github-user1"
ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 8192 -C "user2@email.com" -f "github-user2"

Command breakdown:

-C flag adds a comment to help identify the key
-f flag specifies the filename for the key pair

For the passphrase, you can either add one or press Enter to skip it.

You should now have public and private keys for both accounts in your ~/.ssh/ directory.

3. Add SSH Keys to Your SSH Agent

ssh-add --apple-use-keychain ~/.ssh/github-user1
ssh-add --apple-use-keychain ~/.ssh/github-user2

To verify all entries have been added, use:

ssh-add -l

4. Create SSH Config File

If you don’t have a config file, create one:

touch ~/.ssh/config

Add the following configuration to your ~/.ssh/config file:

Host github.com-user1
    HostName github.com
    User git
    UseKeychain yes
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/github-user1

Host github.com-user2
    HostName github.com
    User git
    UseKeychain yes
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/github-user2

5. Add Public Keys to GitHub Accounts

Go to Settings → SSH and GPG Keys
Copy the correct public keys by running:

pbcopy < ~/.ssh/github-user1.pub
pbcopy < ~/.ssh/github-user2.pub

Paste each key into the respective GitHub account

6. Test SSH Connections

Verify your connections by running:

ssh -T git@github.com-user1
ssh -T git@github.com-user2

You should receive a response similar to:

Hi user1! You've successfully authenticated, but GitHub does not provide shell access.

7. Clone Repositories

When cloning repositories, modify the clone URL by adding your username:

Original GitHub URL:

git clone git@github.com:AccountName/pathtoproject.git

Modified URL for user1:

git clone git@github.com-user1:AccountName/pathtoproject.git

Modified URL for user2:

git clone git@github.com-user2:AccountName/pathtoproject.git

Tip
Check your remote configuration using:
git remote -v

8. Configure Git User Settings by Directory

To ensure the correct user configuration for each project, set up conditional includes in your global .gitconfig.

Add this to your global .gitconfig file (~/.gitconfig):

[includeIf “gitdir:~/code/private/“]
  path = ~/.gitconfig-private
[includeIf “gitdir:~/code/work/“]
  path = ~/.gitconfig-work

Now create the specific configuration files:

touch ~/.gitconfig-private
touch ~/.gitconfig-work

Add the following to ~/.gitconfig-private:

[user]
    name = user1
    email = user1@email.com

Add the following to ~/.gitconfig-work:

[user]
    name = user2
    email = user2@email.com

Tip
You can verify your current Git configuration by running:
git config --list

This command displays both global and local Git configurations. Local configurations can be found in .git/config within each repository.

Summary 🏁

You now have a complete setup for managing multiple GitHub accounts on the same computer. Each account will use its respective SSH key and user configuration based on your working directory.

Troubleshooting

Common troubleshooting tips:

Verify SSH keys are properly added: ssh-add -l
Check SSH connections: ssh -T git@github.com-user1
Verify Git configuration: git config --list
Ensure correct host aliases in SSH config

Daniel

Explorer