Manage multiple GitHub accounts on a single machine

11 March 2018 - 4 mins read time
Tags: Github

Most developers work life needs to manage multiple GitHub accounts on the same machine. Also, It could simply be a desire to have separate GitHub accounts for work-related projects and personal projects.

Let’s talk, How to manage multiple Github accounts from one computer?

Manage multiple GitHub accounts on a single machine with SSH keys

Set up SSH Keys:

Open your computer terminal. Proceed and follow the steps below to create and save two separate keys.

$ cd ~/.ssh
$ ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -C "rahulpatil2387@gmail.com"
  # save as id_rsa_personal
$ ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -C "rahul.patil@office.com"
  # save as id_rsa_work

Running the above commands will create four (4) files in the .ssh directory in your local machine:

id_rsa_personal
id_rsa_personal.pub
id_rsa_work
id_rsa_work.pub

The files with the .pub extension are the public files that you would add to your GitHub account.

Add SSH keys to GitHub account:

Copy one of the keys you created, say, the personal key by running the command below:

$ pbcopy < ~/.ssh/id_rsa_personal.pub

Go to Settings under your Github account,
Click on the SSH and GPG keys link
Click on the green New SSH key button
Add a title to identify the key you are about to paste
Paste the personal key in the key input field provided. Click on Add SSH key and confirm your GitHub password when prompted.

Go through the same steps to add your work SSH key.

Create configuration files to manage keys

Go back to the .ssh folder in your terminal and create a configuration file for your keys using the command below:

$ touch config

Open and edit the file using nano/vim. nano: $ nano config

 #github work account
Host work
        HostName github.com
        User git
        IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa_work

 #github personal account
Host personal
        HostName github.com
        User git
        IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa_personal

Save and exit.

Update stored identities:

Clear currently stored identities:

$ ssh-add -D

Add new keys:

$ ssh-add id_rsa_personal
Identity added: id_rsa_personal (id_rsa_personal)

$ ssh-add id_rsa_work
Identity added: id_rsa_work (id_rsa_work)

Test to make sure new keys are stored:

$ ssh-add -l
2048 SHA256:xBxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx id_rsa_personal (RSA)
2048 SHA256:wXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx id_rsa_work (RSA)

Test to make sure Github recognizes the keys:

$ ssh -T personal
Hi rah00l! You've successfully authenticated, but GitHub does not provide shell access.

$ ssh -T work
Hi rahul-work! You've successfully authenticated, but GitHub does not provide shell access.

Test PUSH with new repo:

On Github, create a new repo in your personal account, called test-personal.

Back on your local machine, create a test directory:

$ cd ~/documents
$ mkdir test-personal
$ cd test-personal

Just to add a blank “readme.md” file and PUSH to Github:

$ touch readme.md
$ git init
$ git add .
$ git commit -am "first commit"
$ git remote add origin git@personal:rah00l/test-personal.git
$ git push origin master

Notice how we’re using the custom account, git@personal, instead of git@github.com.

Test PUSH with existing repo:

cd ~/your project

Modify a pre-existing repository,

To switch a pre-existing repository to use SSH instead of HTTPS, you can change the remote url within your .git/config file.

[remote "origin"]
    fetch = +refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/origin/*
    -url = https://github.com/rah00l/rah00l.github.io.git
    +url = git@personal:rah00l/rah00l.github.io.git

A shortcut is to use the set-url command:

$ git remote set-url origin git@personal:rah00l/rah00l.github.io.git

Now push and test at your personal account.

Repeat the process for your githubWork account.