Manage SSH keys

What is an SSH key

An SSH key is an access credential in the SSH (secure shell) network protocol. Its function is similar to that of user names and passwords, but the keys are primarily used for for remote communication between machines on an open network.
For example, with the Platform, it is used to identify users who want to fetch a Project onto their computer for local development or to identify users with access to an Environment server.

We often talk about an SSH key pair, because it actually uses 2 keys: a public and a private key. The public key can be distributed (it's what you store in your managed keys) but the private key is stored on your machine and should never be shared.

How to generate an SSH key

Before you can add an SSH key pair, you first have to generate it. There are multiple SSH key types but RSA gives us the most compatibility, so that's the format we recommend at moment of writing.
Information on how to create an SSH key pair can be found here.

How to add an SSH key to the Platform

To add the public key to the Platform, navigate to your Settings page, via the dropdown menu under your user name, in the header.

There you will find a ‘Manage SSH keys’ tab. As mentioned before, you need to have generated a key on your machine, which you need to paste & save using this form. Some important information is provided on the page to make the process go smoother.