_GitBash Profile
It is a good idea to configure your GitBash shell to automatically start the agent when you launch GitBash. The .bashrc file is the shell initialization file. It contains commands that run each time your GitBash shell starts. You can add commands to the .bashrc file that start the agent when you start GitBash. The folks at GitHub have developed a nice script for this (their script was developed from a post by Joseph M. Reagle Jr. from MIT on the cygwin list). To start the agent automatically, do the following.
- Start GitBash.
Edit your
If you don't have a~/.bashrcfile..bashrcfile you can create the file using your favorite text editor. Keep in mind the file must be in your~(home) directory and must be named exactly .bashrc.Add the following lines to the file:
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SSH_ENV=$HOME/.ssh/environment # start the ssh-agent function start_agent { echo "Initializing new SSH agent..." # spawn ssh-agent /usr/bin/ssh-agent | sed 's/^echo/#echo/' > "${SSH_ENV}" echo succeeded chmod 600 "${SSH_ENV}" . "${SSH_ENV}" > /dev/null /usr/bin/ssh-add } if [ -f "${SSH_ENV}" ]; then . "${SSH_ENV}" > /dev/null ps -ef | grep ${SSH_AGENT_PID} | grep ssh-agent$ > /dev/null || { start_agent; } else start_agent; fi- Save and close the file.
- Close GitBash, then reopen GitBash.
The system prompts you for your passphrase:
Welcome to Git (version 1.7.8-preview20111206) Run 'git help git' to display the help index. Run 'git help <command>' to display help for specific commands. Enter passphrase for /c/Documents and Settings/manthony/.ssh/id_rsa:- Enter your passphrase.
After accepting your passphrase, the system displays the command shell prompt. Verify that the script identity added your identity successfully by querying the SSH agent:
$ ssh-add -l
2048 0f:37:21:af:1b:31:d5:cd:65:58:b2:68:4a:ba:a2:46 /Users/manthony/.ssh/id_rsa (RSA)