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Clone a Repository on a VPS

If you're going to deploy your app in a VPN and you're using GitHub or any other version control platform that supports tokens, you can follow this strategy to clone your repository.

Clone GitHub repository with ssh​

Token Strategy​

Creating a token for each project with the required permissions offers several benefits:

  • Improved Security: Each token has limited scope and can be revoked individually.
  • Granular Control: Permissions can be finely tuned for each project, minimizing risk.
  • Auditability: Easier to track which token was used for what action.

Useful Commands​

  • Create ssh key:
# you can use $HOME or ~/

ssh-keygen -C test -f "$HOME/.ssh/id_rsa_test"
cat $HOME/.ssh/id_rsa_test.pub
ls $HOME/.ssh
  • Get fingerprint:
ssh-keygen -lf $HOME/.ssh/id_rsa_test.pub
  • Strat ssh agent (bash):
eval `ssh-agent -s`
  • List added keys to ssh agent:
ssh-add -l
  • Add to ssh agent:
ssh-add $HOME/.ssh/id_rsa_test

SSH GitHub Configuration​

To configure SSH for GitHub, add the following to your SSH config file (~/.ssh/config):

# GitHub
Host github.com
  HostName github.com
  User git
  IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa_test

Steps to Clone Repository​

  1. Generate an SSH Key: Follow the commands above to generate an SSH key if you don't already have one.

  2. Add the SSH Key to GitHub:

  • Go to GitHub.
  • Navigate to Settings > SSH and GPG keys.
  • Click New SSH key, give it a title, and paste the contents of your id_rsa_test.pub file.

  1. Configure SSH: Ensure your SSH configuration (~/.ssh/config) includes the GitHub host settings.

  2. Clone the Repository:`

git clone git@github.com:your-username/your-repository.git

Additional Tips​

  1. SSH Key Management: Regularly rotate your SSH keys and remove any that are no longer in use.

  2. Permissions: Always ensure your SSH key permissions are set correctly (chmod 600 ~/.ssh/id_rsa_test).

  3. Testing Connectivity: Before cloning, you can test your SSH connection with ssh -T git@github.com.