Install Git
sudo apt install -y git
git --version
git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "your.email@example.com"
SSH key setup for Git
Generate an SSH key pair on the VPS (if you don’t already have one):
ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "your.email@example.com"
# Press Enter to accept default location (~/.ssh/id_ed25519)
# Press Enter twice for no passphrase (or set one for security)
Ed25519 is more secure and faster than RSA. If your Git provider doesn’t support it, use -t rsa -b 4096 instead.
Add SSH key to Git provider
Display your public key:
cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub
- GitHub: Settings → SSH and GPG keys → New SSH key
- GitLab: Preferences → SSH Keys
- Gitea: Settings → SSH / GPG Keys
Test SSH connection
ssh -T git@github.com
# Should return: Hi username! You've successfully authenticated...
github.com with your Git provider’s hostname if different.)
Clone repositories over SSH
Once the SSH key is added, clone repos using the SSH URL (not HTTPS):
cd ~/apps
git clone git@github.com:yourorg/j-optic-backend.git
git clone git@github.com:yourorg/jethings.git
Do NOT commit or share your private key (~/.ssh/id_ed25519). It lives on the VPS only. If you need to share access, create a deploy user on the VPS and give them their own SSH keypair, or use a shared deploy key on the Git provider.
Useful Git commands
git status
git log --oneline
git pull
git checkout -b feature-branch
