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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-06-08T05:46:17+00:00

k, so I was setting up Git and followed this tutorial to set up

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k, so I was setting up Git and followed this tutorial to set up an SSH key. The fingerprint was 16:27:...:a6:48. I installed the GitHub client for Windows which set up a new SSH key automatically called github_rsa in the %user%/.ssh/ folder.

I deleted the “old” SSH key (don’t ask me why) and set up a new one with the fingerprint a6:17:ed:4a:1d:9a:c7:63:6a:a1:38:8b:96:e3:91:bf I had simply deleted the previous id_rsa keys and the known_hosts file and then used ssh-keygen to make another – I didn’t mess with the GitHub key).

Now, whenever I try to ssh into git@github, it says:

The authentication of host ‘github.com (207.97.227.239)’ can’t be estabilished
RSA key fingerprint is 16:27:…:a6:48
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)?

which is NOT what I want. It’s showing the old SSH key which I’d deleted (along with known_hosts). What do I do?

[Edit]: I was (wrongly) assuming that the fingerprint from the output of the terminal would match the fingerprint of my Public RSA key. I still have an issue with the SSH, but it’s not related to this (the question has already been asked, read: Git push requires username and password). I’d delete this question, but it doesn’t allow me to, saying “It has 1 or more answers. Please flag it for moderator attention.” _even though its mine. Read more at: https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/140646/what-should-i-do-if-i-realize-the-premise-of-a-question-was-faulty-but-i-alread/140676#140676

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    I think you should edit your <USER>/.ssh/config file (or create it) with

    Host github.com
User <USER>
IdentityFile ~/.ssh/github_rsa

Host *
User <USER>
IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa

    and that would do the trick if what happens is what you’re saying.

    But maybe it is not a problem, as Step 5: Test everything out of your link says that you may see this warning:

    # The authenticity of host 'github.com (207.97.227.239)' can't be established.
# RSA key fingerprint is 16:27:ac:a5:76:28:2d:36:63:1b:56:4d:eb:df:a6:48.
# Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)?

    and you shouldn’t worry, this is supposed to happen. Just verify that the fingerprint matches the one here and type “yes”.

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