How to Manage Multiple Git Accounts on One Machine with Separate SSH Keys

When you need to use multiple Git accounts on a single computer, you must configure separate SSH keys for each platform.

Idea

Manage multiple SSH keys simultaneously.

Solution

Generate multiple SSH keys

Example using two accounts (one and two). Ensure you run the commands inside the ~/.ssh directory and consider cleaning the directory first.

ssh-keygen -t rsa -C "[email protected]"

ssh-keygen -t rsa -C "[email protected]"

When prompted to "Enter file in which to save the key", rename the files (e.g., id_rsa_one and id_rsa_two) to generate four files: private and public keys for each account.

Add the private keys to the corresponding platforms.

Get public keys

cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa_one.pub

cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa_two.pub

Create a config file in ~/.ssh: touch config Then add the following configuration:

# git server one
Host one.aliyun.com
Hostname code.aliyun.com
PreferredAuthentications publickey
IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa_one
User one

# git server two
Host two.aliyun.com
Hostname code.aliyun.com
PreferredAuthentications publickey
IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa_two
User two

Remote test (optional)

ssh -T one.aliyun.com

ssh -T two.aliyun.com

Clone repositories

Old syntax: [email protected]:project_path.git New syntax using the defined hosts:

git clone [email protected]:project_path.git

git clone [email protected]:project_path.git

Optionally set repository‑specific user name and email:

git config user.name "one_name"; git config user.email "one_email"
git config user.name "two_name"; git config user.email "two_email"

Conclusion

This article summarizes a practical approach to handling multiple Git accounts on one machine by generating separate SSH keys, configuring the SSH client, and using account‑specific clone URLs.