Configuring Git on the SFSU virtual machine

Git configures your computer. This page configures the account on jmbrewer after the VM login works. The laptop’s git config and GitHub key are not on that machine.

Everyday Git commands stay on the Git page.

1. Identity on that account

While logged in to the virtual machine:

git config --global user.name "YOUR_FIRSTNAME YOUR_LASTNAME"
git config --global user.email "YOUR_EMAIL_ADDRESS"
git config --global init.defaultBranch main
git config --global core.editor pico

pico is the editor the other VM steps use. Do not point core.editor at VS Code. That program is not installed on the VM.

2. A key that lives on the VM

This is a different computer from your laptop, so it gets its own key. Do not copy the laptop private key onto the server.

On the virtual machine:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "your_email@example.com"

Press Enter to accept ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 on the VM, and choose a passphrase.

Show the public key and add it in GitHub under Settings → SSH and GPG keys → New SSH key:

cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

From the VM, test the connection:

ssh -T git@github.com