May 26, 2023

4 Min read

How to manage multiple GitHub accounts in a single workstation

Using SSH key-based authentication and SSH config file, you can push code from multiple GitHub accounts in the same computer.

You have two GitHub accounts.

You want to git push from each account to different GitHub repos.

Unfortunately, that’s not possible with the default HTTP authentication.

Here’s a simple 4-step solution to set up SSH key-based authentication, and you push code from any number of GitHub accounts.

#1 Create SSH keys

Create two new SSH keys.

$ mkdir ~/.ssh/github_keys
$ ssh-keygen -f ~/.ssh/github_keys/git-personal
$ ssh-keygen -f ~/.ssh/github_keys/git-work

#2 Configure SSH Keys in GitHub accounts

Click on the SSH and GPG Keys.

Add new SSH Key

Click on New SSH Key.

Print the public key git-personal.pub and copy the output to clipboard.

$ cat .ssh/github_keys/g-personal.pub

Paste the public key in the key field and click on ‘Add SSH Key`. Add new SSH Key

Repeat the same for the other GitHub account using the git-work.pub key.

#3 Update the SSH Config file

Create file ~/.ssh/config, if you don’t have it already, and add the following lines.

Host github_personal
	Hostname github.com
	User git
	IdentityFile ~/.ssh/github_keys/git-personal
Host github_work
	Hostname github.com
	User git
	IdentityFile ~/.ssh/github_keys/git-work

#4 Push code to GitHub

In your computer, create folder personal_app and add the README.md file.

$ mkdir personal_app
$ cd personal_app 
$ echo "This is a test repository" >> README.md
$ git init
$ git add README.md 

Configure local email and username for the repository.

$ git config --local user.email "yourname@gmail.com"
$ git config --local user.name "yourname"

Commit code.

$ git commit -m "test commit"
$ git branch -M main

Here’s the crucial step.

We must configure the URL of the repository referring to the Host we configured in the SSH config file.

The SSH URL of your repository is git@github.com:yourname/personal_app.git. Replace git@github with github_personal and configure the remote URL of the repository.

Make sure to replace yourname also with your correct GitHub username.

$ git remote add origin github_personal:yourname/personal_app.git

You can now push code to GitHub from your personal account.

$ git push -u origin main

Since we configured the remote URL as github_personal:yourname/personal_app.git the git client refers to this corresponding Host in the SSH config file and use git-personal key for authentication.

Host github_personal
	Hostname github.com
	User git
	IdentityFile ~/.ssh/github_keys/git-personal
...

Pushing code from the work account

Create new repository in GitHub, and add the README.md file in the local directory same as the previous.

Configure the local email and username.

$ git config --local user.email "your-work-name@workplace.com"
$ git config --local user.name "your-work-name"

The remote URL of the repository must refer to github_work we used in the SSH config file.

$ git remote add origin github_work:your-work-name/work_app.git

You can push this repository to GitHub from your work account now.

$ git push -u origin main

You can work with any number of GitHub accounts using this method.

Updating an existing repository

For existing repositories, change the remote URL to use SSH authentication.

The remote URL is configured in the .git/config file inside your repository.

...
[remote "origin"]
	url = https://github.com/cloudqubes/your-work-name/work_app.git
...

Open this file in any existing local repository and update the URL according to the GitHub account you wish to use.

Also, you may have to update the name and email fields in the same file. Then, the git client will use SSH authentication for this repository whenever you use git push.

Here’s a sample config file for a a repository in your work account.

...
[remote "origin"]
	url = github_work:your-work-name/another_work_app.git
	fetch = +refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/origin/*
[branch "master"]
	remote = origin
	merge = refs/heads/master
[user]
	email = your-work-name@workplace.com
	name = your-work-name

Cloning a repository

When cloning an existing repository, change the URL to refer the Host in SSH config file.

To clone repository https://github.com/your-work-name/another_work_app.git substitue https://github.com/ with github_work: like this.

$ git clone github_work:your-work-name/another_work_app.git

Wrapping up

We have tested this method in Mac and Linux. Windows 10 PowerShel also supports SSH config file. So, it should work on Windows 10 as well.

SSH key-based authentication is easier than the default HTTP authentication because you don’t have to type in passwords everytime you use git push.

So, give it a try.

Leave a comment if you faced any issues.

Content outline