Check for Existing SSH Keys¶
This guide will help you check if you have existing SSH keys on your machine.
Make sure you choose the correct tabs based on your operating system and development environment.
SSHD Running
Before checking for existing SSH keys, make sure the SSH daemon (sshd) is running. If it is not running, you will not be able to load the keys into the agent.
If you followed the setup guide to install OpenSSH, it should already be running. If you did not install OpenSSH because it is already installed, make sure it is running by executing the following command. You only have to run this command once.
Run the following command in Windows PowerShell as an Administrator to set the sshd service to start automatically.
# Set the sshd service to be started automatically.
Get-Service -Name sshd | Set-Service -StartupType Automatic
# Start the sshd service.
Start-Service sshd
1. Checking File Path for Existing SSH Keys
Open Windows PowerShell as an Administrator.
Run the following command to check for existing SSH keys:
Get-ChildItem -Path ~/.ssh -Filter "id_*"
If you see any files with names like id_rsa, id_rsa.pub, id_dsa, id_dsa.pub, id_ecdsa, id_ecdsa.pub, id_ed25519, or id_ed25519.pub, then you already have SSH keys, but they may not be loaded into the SSH agent. Complete the next step to check if the agent is running and has the keys loaded.
2. Checking SSH Agent for Existing Keys
Run the following command to check if the SSH agent is running:
Get-Service -Name ssh-agent
If the service is running, you should see output similar to the following:
Status Name DisplayName
------ ---- -----------
Running ssh-agent OpenSSH Authentication Agent
If the service is not running, you can start it with the following command:
Start-Service -Name ssh-agent
After the SSH agent is started, run the following command to check if it has any keys loaded:
ssh-add -l
If you see any keys listed, then you already have keys loaded in the agent. If you have key files but no keys loaded into the agent, refer to Loading SSH Keys into the Agent.
1. Checking File Path for Existing SSH Keys
Open Terminal.
Run the following command to check for existing SSH keys:
ls -al ~/.ssh
If you see any files with names like id_rsa, id_rsa.pub, id_dsa, id_dsa.pub, id_ecdsa, id_ecdsa.pub, id_ed25519, or id_ed25519.pub, then you already have SSH keys, but they may not be loaded into the SSH agent. Complete the next step to check if the agent is running and has the keys loaded.
2. Checking SSH Agent for Existing Keys
Run the following command to check if the SSH agent is running:
echo "$SSH_AUTH_SOCK"
If the agent is running, you should see an output path. If the SSH Agent is not running, you should see no output or blank output.
If the agent is not running, you can start it with the following command:
eval "$(ssh-agent -s)"
After the SSH agent is started, run the following command to check if it has any keys loaded:
ssh-add -l
If you see any keys listed, then you already have keys loaded in the agent. If you have key files but no keys loaded into the agent, refer to Loading SSH Keys into the Agent.
1. Checking File Path for Existing SSH Keys
Open your Bash terminal or shell.
Run the following command to check for existing SSH keys:
ls -al ~/.ssh
If you see any files with names like id_rsa, id_rsa.pub, id_dsa, id_dsa.pub, id_ecdsa, id_ecdsa.pub, id_ed25519, or id_ed25519.pub, then you already have SSH keys, but they may not be loaded into the SSH agent. Complete the next step to check if the agent is running and has the keys loaded.
2. Checking SSH Agent for Existing Keys
Run the following command to check if the SSH agent is running:
echo "$SSH_AUTH_SOCK"
If the agent is running, you should see an output path. If the SSH Agent is not running, you should see no output or blank output.
If the agent is not running, you can start it with the following command:
eval "$(ssh-agent -s)"
After the SSH agent is started, run the following command to check if it has any keys loaded:
ssh-add -l
If you see any keys listed, then you already have keys loaded in the agent. If you have key files but no keys loaded into the agent, refer to Loading SSH Keys into the Agent.