Git Bash: Could not open a connection to your authentication agent

It seems you need to run ssh-agent before using it:

eval `ssh-agent -s`

That question was answered in this topic: Could not open a connection to your authentication agent

I checked all the solutions on this post and the post that @kenorb referenced above, and I did not find any solution that worked for me.

I am using Git 1.9.5 Preview on Windows 7 with the following configuration: - Run Git from the Windows Command Prompt - Checkout Windows-style, commit Unix-style line endings

I used the 'Git Bash' console for everything... And all was well until I tried to install the SSH keys. GitHub's documentation says to do the following (don't run these commands until you finish reading the post):

Ensure ssh-agent is enabled:

If you are using Git Bash, turn on ssh-agent:

# start the ssh-agent in the background
ssh-agent -s
# Agent pid 59566

If you are using another terminal prompt, such as msysgit, turn on ssh-agent:

# start the ssh-agent in the background
eval $(ssh-agent -s)
# Agent pid 59566

Now of course I missed the fact that you were supposed to do one or the other. So, I ran these commands multiple times because the later ssh-add command was failing, so I returned to this step, and continued to retry over and over.

This results in 1 Windows 'ssh-agent' process being created every single time you run these commands (notice the new PID every time you enter those commands?)

So, Ctrl+Alt+Del and hit End Process to stop each 'ssh-agent.exe' process.

Now that all the messed up stuff from the failed attempts is cleaned up, I will tell you how to get it working...

In 'Git Bash':

Start the 'ssh-agent.exe' process

eval $(ssh-agent -s)

And install the SSH keys

ssh-add "C:\Users\MyName\.ssh\id_rsa"

* Adjust the path above with your username, and make sure that the location of the* /.ssh directory is in the correct place. I think you choose this location during the Git installation? Maybe not...

The part I was doing wrong before I figured this out was I was not using quotes around the 'ssh-add' location. The above is how it needs to be entered on Windows.

On Windows, you can use Run with one of the below commands.

For 32-Bit:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Git\cmd\start-ssh-agent.cmd"

For-64 Bit:

"C:\Program Files\Git\cmd\start-ssh-agent.cmd"