How to Enable BitBucket Terminal Access on a Mac

Photo by Yancy Min on Unsplash

I always found the instructions on how to install an SSH key confusing and long-winded. Here’s how I did it:

Generate the SSH Key

Open a Terminal and type:

% ssh-keygen

Press Enter a few times to get through the prompts.

It should save the two files you need in a hidden folder in your home directory. Try to list out the files:

% ls ~/.ssh
id_rsa  id_rsa.pub

Add the Key to SSH-Agent

First, start the agent:

% eval `ssh-agent`
Agent pid xxxx

Next, add the key to the agent:

% ssh-add -K ~/.ssh/id_rsa

Remember After Restart

You need to make sure that your config file is set up so that macOS remembers to use it.

% touch ~/.ssh/config
% open ~/.ssh/config

This should open the config file in a text edit. Make sure that the config file has the following lines:

Host * 
UseKeychain yes

Add Public Key to BitBucket

First, we copy the key to the clipboard:

% pbcopy < ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub

Then, go this URL and click Add Key: https://bitbucket.org/account/settings/ssh-keys/

Simply paste it into the big textbox and add a label (e.g. “MacBook Key”)

Verify Everything Works

In a Terminal window, type:

% ssh -T git@bitbucket.org | grep logged
logged in as <YOUR USERNAME>