Using SSH keys to secure Git operations

Bitbucket Data Center and Server provides a simple way for user accounts and other systems to connect securely to Bitbucket repositories, using SSH keys, in order to perform Git operations. You can:

  • add a personal key to a Bitbucket user account to allow a developer to easily authenticate when performing read operations from his or her local machine. A Bitbucket user can add any number of keys to their account. Read more at SSH user keys for personal use.
  • add an access key to a Bitbucket project or repository to allow other systems, such as build servers like Atlassian's Bamboo, to authenticate for either read-only (pull, clone) or read-write (push, merge) operations, without the need to store user credentials. Read more at SSH access keys for system use.

Before you can use SSH keys to secure a connection with Bitbucket the following must have already been done:

  • your Bitbucket administrator must have already enabled SSH access in Bitbucket.
  • you need an SSH key! See Creating SSH keys. Alternatively, you can use an existing key, if it isn't already being used as a repository or project access key in Bitbucket.

Note that:

  • You can use the same SSH system access key for multiple repositories or projects.
  • A Bitbucket user can add any number of keys to their account.
  • Keys used for personal user accounts can't be re-used as a project or repository access key, and keys used as a project or repository access key can't be re-used for user accounts.
  • Bitbucket supports DSA, RSA2, and Ed25519 key types – RSA1 is not supported. 
Last modified on Oct 28, 2021

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