CODEWITHSUNDEEP
gitsshssh-keys
Qiaosen Huang
Qiaosen Huang

Reputation: 1133

ssh key stops functioning after a while

I was using git on a remote server (Ubuntu 14.04 LTS). It works smoothly, until a certain amount of time passed by. I was denied access to the repository (no this issue on my local machine). How does this happen? And is there anyway to solve it?

Upvotes: 8

Views: 18541

Answers (4)

cellepo
cellepo

Reputation: 4499

I just had to re-add my key to Github (same key as before it stopped working, did not have to make a new key) and I could then instantly resume working remote Git commands. I did not have to remove "prior" key "copy" (it was still displayed as, "Last used within the last week"). definitely mysterious why it stopped working before, but I guess whatev

Upvotes: 1

VonC
VonC

Reputation: 1327134

First, an ssh key does not "expire" (ssl certificates do, but that is another topic). They are revoked (removed from the .authorized_keys on the remote side)

(Update August 2019: as shown in "SSH certificate authentication for GitHub Enterprise Cloud", SSH allows one SSH key (a certificate authority) to sign another SSH key, along with information about the developer it belongs to. And that include an expiration date)

Second, if it was working and no longer work, something must have changed, like the $HOME value (since ssh looks for a public/private key in $HOME/.ssh)

If is possible that the process using ssh does not run with the usual account, but with another user (or with root if preceded by sudo)

Upvotes: 7

Stephen P. Schaefer
Stephen P. Schaefer

Reputation: 147

Check that the (GMT) time is reasonably close on both systems: some, if not all, ssh implementations insist on coordinated time.

Upvotes: 0

KostaZ
KostaZ

Reputation: 798

Another possibility - if the git server is moved seamlessly to another Linux machine (keeping the same IP). In this case this new git server will have new ssh key.

Upvotes: 0

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