Remote Connections Manager was initially built as an utility that allows to launch ssh sessions with password authentication in different terminal applications and login with password without user. SSH URLs have changed, but old SSH URLs will continue to work. If you have already set up SSH, you should update your remote URLs to the new format: Verify which remotes are using SSH by running git remote -v in your Git client. Visit your repository on the web and select the Clone button in the upper right. Select SSH and copy the new SSH URL.
-->Azure DevOps Services | Azure DevOps Server 2020 | Azure DevOps Server 2019 | TFS 2018 - TFS 2015
Connect to your Git repos through SSH on macOS, Linux, or Windows to securely connect using HTTPS authentication. On Windows, we recommended the use of Git Credential Managers or Personal Access Tokens.
Important
SSH URLs have changed, but old SSH URLs will continue to work. If you have already set up SSH, you should update your remote URLs to the new format:
- Verify which remotes are using SSH by running
git remote -v
in your Git client. - Visit your repository on the web and select the Clone button in the upper right.
- Select SSH and copy the new SSH URL.
- In your Git client, run:
git remote set-url <remote name, e.g. origin> <new SSH URL>
. Alternatively, in Visual Studio, go to Repository Settings, and edit your remotes.
Note
As of Visual Studio 2017, SSH can be used to connect to Git repos.
How SSH key authentication works
SSH public key authentication works with an asymmetric pair of generated encryption keys. The public key is shared with Azure DevOps and used to verify the initial ssh connection. The private key is kept safe and secure on your system.
Set up SSH key authentication
The following steps cover configuration of SSH key authentication on the following platforms:
- Linux
- macOS running at least Leopard (10.5)
- Windows systems running Git for Windows
Configure SSH using the command line.
bash
is the common shell on Linux and macOS and the Git for Windows installation adds a shortcut to Git Bash in the Start menu.Other shell environments will work, but are not covered in this article.Step 1: Create your SSH keys
Note
If you have already created SSH keys on your system, skip this step and go to configuring SSH keys.
The commands here will let you create new default SSH keys, overwriting existing default keys. Before continuing, check your
~/.ssh
folder (for example, /home/jamal/.ssh or C:Usersjamal.ssh) and look for the following files:- id_rsa
- id_rsa.pub
If these files exist, then you have already created SSH keys. You can overwrite the keys with the following commands, or skip this step and go to configuring SSH keys to reuse these keys.
![Mac Mac](/uploads/1/3/4/8/134827494/441843942.png)
Create your SSH keys with the
ssh-keygen
command from the bash
prompt. This command will create a 2048-bit RSA key for use with SSH. You can give a passphrasefor your private key when prompted—this passphrase provides another layer of security for your private key.If you give a passphrase, be sure to configure the SSH agent to cache your passphrase so you don't have to enter it every time you connect.This command produces the two keys needed for SSH authentication: your private key ( id_rsa ) and the public key ( id_rsa.pub ). It is important to never share the contents of your private key. If the private key iscompromised, attackers can use it to trick servers into thinking the connection is coming from you.
Step 2: Add the public key to Azure DevOps Services/TFS
Associate the public key generated in the previous step with your user ID.
- Open your security settings by browsing to the web portal and selecting your avatar in the upper right of theuser interface. Select SSH public keys in the menu that appears.
- Select + New Key.
- Copy the contents of the public key (for example, id_rsa.pub) that you generated into the Public Key Data field.ImportantAvoid adding whitespace or new lines into the Key Data field, as they can cause Azure DevOps Services to use an invalid public key. When pasting in the key, a newline often is added at the end. Be sure to remove this newline if it occurs.
- Give the key a useful description (this description will be displayed on the SSH public keys page for your profile) so that you can remember it later. Select Save to store the public key. Once saved, you cannot change the key. You can delete the key or create a new entry for another key. There are no restrictions on how many keys you can add to your user profile.
- Test the connection by running the following command:
ssh -T [email protected]
.If everything is working correctly, you'll receive a response which says:remote: Shell access is not supported.
If not, see the section on Questions and troubleshooting.
Step 2: Add the public key to Azure DevOps Services/TFS
Associate the public key generated in the previous step with your user ID.
- Open your security settings by browsing to the web portal and selecting your avatar in the upper right of theuser interface. Select Security in the menu that appears.
- Select + New Key.
- Copy the contents of the public key (for example, id_rsa.pub) that you generated into the Public Key Data field.ImportantAvoid adding whitespace or new lines into the Key Data field, as they can cause Azure DevOps Services to use an invalid public key. When pasting in the key, a newline often is added at the end. Be sure to remove this newline if it occurs.
- Give the key a useful description (this description will be displayed on the SSH public keys page for your profile) so that you can remember it later. Select Save to store the public key. Once saved, you cannot change the key. You can delete the key or create a new entry for another key. There are no restrictions on how many keys you can add to your user profile.
- Test the connection by running the following command:
ssh -T [email protected]
.If everything is working correctly, you'll receive a response which says:remote: Shell access is not supported.
If not, see the section on Questions and troubleshooting.
Step 3: Clone the Git repository with SSH
Note
To connect with SSH from an existing cloned repo, see updating your remotes to SSH.
- Copy the SSH clone URL from the web portal. In this example, the SSL clone URL is for a repo in an organization named fabrikam-fiber, as indicated by the first part of the URL after
dev.azure.com
.NoteProject URLs have changed with the release of Azure DevOps Services and now have the formatdev.azure.com/{your organization}/{your project}
, but you can still use the existingvisualstudio.com
format. For more information, see VSTS is now Azure DevOps Services. - Run
git clone
from the command prompt.
SSH may display the server's SSH fingerprint and ask you to verify it.You should verify that the displayed fingerprint matches one of the fingerprints in the SSH public keys page.
SSH displays this fingerprint when it connects to an unknown host to protect you from man-in-the-middle attacks.Once you accept the host's fingerprint, SSH will not prompt you again unless the fingerprint changes.
When you are asked if you want to continue connecting, type
yes
. Git will clone the repo and set up the origin
remote to connect with SSH for future Git commands.Tip
Avoid trouble: Windows users will need to run a command to have Git reuse their SSH key passphrase.
Questions and troubleshooting
Q: After running git clone
, I get the following error. What should I do?
A: Manually record the SSH key by running:
ssh-keyscan -t rsa domain.com >> ~/.ssh/known_hosts
Q: How can I have Git remember the passphrase for my key on Windows?
A: Run the following command included in Git for Windows to start up the
ssh-agent
process in PowerShell or the Windows Command Prompt. ssh-agent
will cacheyour passphrase so you don't have to provide it every time you connect to your repo.If you're using the Bash shell (including Git Bash), start ssh-agent with:
Q: I use PuTTY as my SSH client and generated my keys with PuTTYgen. Can I use these keys with Azure DevOps Services?
A: Yes. Load the private key with PuTTYgen, go to Conversions menu and select Export OpenSSH key.Save the private key file and then follow the steps to set up non-default keys.Copy your public key directly from the PuTTYgen window and paste into the Key Data field in your security settings.
Q: How can I verify that the public key I uploaded is the same key as I have locally?
A: You can verify the fingerprint of the public key uploaded with the one displayed in your profile through the following
ssh-keygen
command run against your public key usingthe bash
command line. You will need to change the path and the public key filename if you are not using the defaults.You can then compare the MD5 signature to the one in your profile. This check is useful if you have connection problems or have concerns about incorrectlypasting in the public key into the Key Data field when adding the key to Azure DevOps Services.
Q: How can I start using SSH in a repository where I am currently using HTTPS?
A: You'll need to update the
origin
remote in Git to change over from a HTTPS to SSH URL. Once you have the SSH clone URL, run the following command:You can now run any Git command that connects to
origin
.Q: I'm using Git LFS with Azure DevOps Services and I get errors when pulling files tracked by Git LFS.
A: Azure DevOps Services currently doesn't support LFS over SSH. Use HTTPS to connect to repos with Git LFS tracked files.
Q: How can I use a non default key location, i.e. not ~/.ssh/id_rsa and ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub?
A: To use keys created with
ssh-keygen
in a different place than the default, you do two things:Ssh Clients For Mac
- The keys must be in a folder that only you can read or edit. If the folder has wider permissions, SSH will not use the keys.
- You must let SSH know the location of the keys. You make SSH aware of keys through the
ssh-add
command, providing the full path to the private key.
On Windows, before running
ssh-add
, you will need to run the following command from included in Git for Windows:This command runs in both PowerShell and the Command Prompt. If you are using Git Bash, the command you need to use is:
You can find
ssh-add
Mac os wallpapers for iphone. as part of the Git for Windows distribution and also run it in any shell environment on Windows.On macOS and Linux you also must have
ssh-agent
running before running ssh-add
, but the command environment on these platforms usuallytakes care of starting ssh-agent
for you.Q: I have multiple SSH keys. How do I use different SSH keys for different SSH servers or repos?
Mac Sftp Client
A: Generally, if you configure multiple keys for an SSH client and connect to an SSH server, the client can try the keys one at a time until the server accepts one.
However, this doesn't work with Azure DevOps for technical reasons related to the SSH protocol and how our Git SSH URLs are structured. Azure DevOps will blindly accept the first key that the client provides during authentication. If that key is invalid for the requested repo, the request will fail with the following error:
For Azure DevOps, you'll need to configure SSH to explicitly use a specific key file. One way to do this to edit your
~/.ssh/config
file (for example, /home/jamal/.ssh
or C:Usersjamal.ssh
) as follows:Q: How do I fix errors that mention 'no matching key exchange method found'?
A: Git for Windows 2.25.1 shipped with a new version of OpenSSH which removed some key exchange protocols by default.Specifically,
diffie-hellman-group14-sha1
has been identified as problematic for some Azure DevOps Server and TFS customers.You can work around the problem by adding the following to your SSH configuration (~/.ssh/config
):Ssh Tunnel Manager For Mac
Replace
<your-azure-devops-host>
with the hostname of your Azure DevOps or TFS server, like tfs.mycompany.com
.Q: What notifications may I receive about my SSH keys?
A: Whenever you register a new SSH Key with Azure DevOps Services, you will receive an email notification informing you that a new SSH key has been added to your account.
Q: What do I do if I believe that someone other than me is adding SSH keys on my account?
A: If you receive a notification of an SSH key being registered and you did not manually upload it to the service, your credentials may have been compromised.
The next step would be to investigate whether or not your password has been compromised. Changing your password is always a good first step to defend against this attack vector. If you’re an Azure Active Directory user, talk with your administrator to check if your account was used from an unknown source/location.
SSH is a multi-purpose protocol for secure system administration and file transfers. It is included in every Linux and Unix system. PuTTY is the most popular SSH Connection Clients, however, it is a very basic SSH Client.
Alternative 2020 Article ➤ 10 XAMPP Alternatives – Install WordPress On Windows And macOS Laptop
If you are searching for SSH with more features, here are some of the best and free SSH Clients for both Apple macOS and Microsoft Windows. Download away!
↓ 01 – Solar-PuTTY | Windows
Manage remote sessions in a professional way. Connect to any server or device in your network with Solar-PuTTY for Windows.
- Manage multiple sessions from one console with a tabbed interface
- Save credentials or private keys to any session for easy login
- Automate all scripts you’re using when connection is established
- Find your saved session easily thanks to Windows Search integration
↓ 02 – OpenSSH | Windows | macOS | Linux
OpenSSH is a free version of the SSH connectivity tools that technical users rely on. OpenSSH encrypts all traffic (including passwords) to effectively eliminate eavesdropping, connection hijacking, and other attacks. Additionally, OpenSSH provides secure tunneling capabilities and several authentication methods, and supports all SSH protocol versions. The OpenSSH suite consists of the following tools:
- Remote operations are done using ssh, scp, and sftp.
- Key management with ssh-add, ssh-keysign, ssh-keyscan, and ssh-keygen.
- The service side consists of sshd, sftp-server, and ssh-agent.
- Strong cryptography (AES, ChaCha20, RSA, ECDSA, Ed25519…) – Encryption is started before authentication, and no passwords or other information is transmitted in the clear. Encryption is also used to protect against spoofed packets. A number of different ciphers and key types are available, and legacy options are usually phased out in a reasonable amount of time.
- Strong authentication (public keys, one-time passwords) – Strong authentication protects against several security problems: IP spoofing, fakes routes and DNS spoofing. Some authentication methods include public key authentication, one-time passwords with s/key and authentication using Kerberos (only in -portable).
↓ 03 – MobaXterm Home Edition | Windows
Enhanced terminal for Windows with X11 server, tabbed SSH client, network tools and much more. MobaXterm is your ultimate toolbox for remote computing. In a single Windows application, it provides loads of functions that are tailored for programmers, webmasters, IT administrators and pretty much all users who need to handle their remote jobs in a more simple fashion.
- Full X server and SSH support
- Remote desktop (RDP, VNC, Xdmcp)
- Remote terminal (SSH, telnet, rlogin, Mosh)
- X11-Forwarding
- Automatic SFTP browser
↓ 04 – KiTTY | Windows
KiTTY is an opensource terminal emulator, forked from Small PuTTY iconPuTTY , that adds many extra features to the original software. Some of these extra features are automatic password, automatic command, running a locally saved script on a remote session, ZModem integration and more.
↓ 05 – mRemoteNG | Windows
mRemoteNG is a fork of mRemote: an open source, tabbed, multi-protocol, remote connections manager. mRemoteNG adds bug fixes and new features to mRemote. It allows you to view all of your remote connections in a simple yet powerful tabbed interface. mRemoteNG supports the following protocols:
Specifications Maximum Polyphony 11 voices Sampling Frequency 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz, 88.2 kHz, 96 kHz, 176.4 kHz, 192 kHz Step Sequencer 11 instrument parts16 steps per 1 measure8 (A - H) variations per 1 pattern Memories per bank 128 memoriesUser can make new user banks INST tone BASS DRUMSNARE DRUMLOW TOM / LO CONGAMID TOM / MID CONGAHI TOM / HI CONGARIM SHOT / CLAVESHAND CLAP / MARACASCOWBELLCYMBALOPEN HI-HATCLOSED HI-HAT. Roland 808 for mac. Slashed instruments are selectable.
- RDP (Remote Desktop/Terminal Server)
- VNC (Virtual Network Computing)
- ICA (Citrix Independent Computing Architecture)
- SSH (Secure Shell)
- Telnet (TELecommunication NETwork)
- HTTP/HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol)
- rlogin
- Raw Socket Connections
↓ 06 – Hyper | Windows | macOS | Linux
Hyper is a beautiful and extensible, cross-platform terminal built on open web standards. It provides an elegant command-line experience that is consistent across all supported platforms which includes macOS, Windows and various Linux distributions like Fedora and Debian.
The goal of the project is to create a beautiful and extensible experience for command-line interface users, built on open web standards. In the beginning, our focus will be primarily around speed, stability and the development of the correct API for extension authors.
↓ 07 – Bitvise SSH Client | Windows
SSH client supports all desktop and server versions of Windows, 32-bit and 64-bit, from Windows XP SP3 and Windows Server 2003, up to the most recent – Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016. As for encryption, it provides state-of-the-art encryption and security measures suitable as part of a standards-compliant solution meeting the requirements of PCI, HIPAA, or FIPS 140-2 validation.
- one of the most advanced graphical SFTP clients
- State-of-the-art terminal emulation with support for the bvterm, xterm, and vt100 protocols
- Support for corporation-wide single sign-on using SSPI (GSSAPI) Kerberos 5 and NTLM user authentication, as well as Kerberos 5 host authentication
- Support for RSA and DSA public key authentication with comprehensive user keypair management
- Powerful SSH port forwarding capabilities, including dynamic forwarding through integrated SOCKS and HTTP CONNECT proxy
- Powerful command-line parameters which make the SSH client highly customizable and suitable for use in specific situations and controlled environments
- An advanced, scriptable command-line SFTP client (sftpc)
↓ 08 – Termius Basic | Windows | macOS | Linux
Termius is more than a mere SSH client – it’s a complete command-line solution that’s redefining remote access for sysadmins and network engineers. Securely access Linux or IoT devices and quickly fix issues from the comfort of your couch via laptop or phone.