Using multiple ssh hosts

Unknown — Sun, 30 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Using multiple ssh hosts for git</a> </h1>

When you want to use multiple git hosts (e.g. multiple github accounts or codeberg etc.) on the same machine you need to alias the host</code> so git knows which keys to try.</p>

So one way to this is howthis stackoveflow</a> answer says: (the steps are skipping the ceremony around creating a new ssh key-pair)</em></p>


set an alternative host in your default ssh config file Host github2.com</code></li>
use that in your git commands like this: git clone git@github2.com:user/repo.git</code></li>
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This works, but I am not really a fan of using different commands and remembering these. I already use some gitconfig trickery to use overlays</em> based on the file system path, that I am currently working in, so here is how you can do this in a more complicated, but -- in my opinion -- a cleaner way, where unrelated configs are not in a single file.</p>

set up an alternative ssh config file .ssh/config-github2</code></li>
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Host github2 github.com</span></span>
  AddKeysToAgent yes</span></span>
  PreferredAuthentications publickey</span></span>
  IdentityFile ~/.ssh/github2</span></span>
  IdentitiesOnly yes</span></span></code></pre>

you can test this config file before proceeding with the set-up: ssh -F ~/.ssh/config-github2 -T git@github.com</code></li>
set up the per path config with git config includes. Create ~/.gitconfig-github2</code>:</li>
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[</span>user</span>]</span></span>
  email</span> =</span> my-mail@no-reply.com</span></span>
  name</span> =</span> tmon xyz</span></span>
[</span>core</span>]</span></span>
  sshCommand</span> =</span> ssh -F /Users/TIVI/.ssh/config-github2</span></span></code></pre>

include this file based on the fs path:</li>
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[</span>includeIf "gitdir:~/other-projects/"</span>]</span></span>
  path</span> =</span> .gitconfig-github2</span></span></code></pre>

Now if you cd ~/other-projects</code> and try to clone a private repo from your github2</code> account it should just work, with the vanilla ssh command and the complexity is hidden from everyday use.</li>
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Why complicate things to this matter?</a>
</h2>
If you work with on-prem infra or for some other reason ssh</code> into a fair amount of remote machines e.g. to check on your little AI</code> helpers running in a remote environment, you might end up 10+ ssh hosts in a single config file. This really quickly becomes hard to manage with a single ssh config</code> file.</p>
If you use multiple git hosts, it also makes sense to use multiple config files. I have used Gitlab, Github and Azure Repositories professionally. Right now I am using Github 100%, but this might change.</p>

Why complicate things to this matter?

another devlog - Devlog

Using multiple ssh hosts

fzf everything