---
title: "Creating a SSH Public Key on OSX"
manual: "TYPO3 Core Contribution Guide"
version: "main"
permalink: "https://docs.typo3.org/permalink/t3contribute:ssh-key-osx"
source: "Appendix/OSX/SSHKeyOSX.rst"
rendered: "2026-10-05T15:34:44+00:00"
---

...  highlight:: bash

# Creating a SSH Public Key on OSX {#ssh-key-osx}

You generate an SSH key through Mac OS X by using the Terminal application.
Once you upload a valid public SSH key, [Gerrit](https://review.typo3.org) can authenticate you based on
this key.

**Finding the Terminal App**

The terminal provides you with a text-based command line interface to the Unix shell of Mac OS X.

To open the Mac OS X Terminal, follow these steps:

In Finder, choose Utilities from the Go menu.
Find the Terminal application in the Utilities window.
Double-click the Terminal application.
The Terminal window opens with the command line prompt displaying the name
of your machine and your username.

An SSH key consists of a pair of files. One is the private key, which you
should **never** give to anyone. No one will ever
ask you for it and if so, ignore them - they are trying to steal it.
The other is the public key. When you generate your keys, you will
use `ssh-keygen` to store the keys in a safe location so you can
authenticate with [Gerrit](https://review.typo3.org).

To generate SSH keys in Mac OS X, follow these steps:

1.  Enter the following command in the Terminal window:

    ```
    ssh-keygen -t ed25519

    ```

    This starts the key generation process. When you execute this command, the
    ssh-keygen utility prompts you to indicate where to store the key.
1.  Press the `ENTER` key to accept the default location. The ssh-keygen utility prompts you for a passphrase.
1.  Type in a passphrase. You can also hit the `ENTER` key to accept the
    default (no passphrase). However, this is not recommended.

> [!WARNING]
> You will need to enter the passphrase a second time to continue.

After you confirm the passphrase, the system generates the key pair and you will see output like this:

```text
Your identification has been saved in /Users/yourmacusername/.ssh/id_ed25519.
Your public key has been saved in /Users/yourmacusername/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub.
The key fingerprint is:
ae:89:72:0b:85:da:5a:f4:7c:1f:c2:43:fd:c6:44:38 yourmacusername@yourmac.local
The key's randomart image is:
+--[ RSA 2048]----+
|                 |
|         .       |
|        E .      |
|   .   . o       |
|  o . . S .      |
| + + o . +       |
|. + o = o +      |
| o...o * o       |
|.  oo.o .        |
+-----------------+
```

Your private key is saved to the `id_rsa` file in the `.ssh` subdirectory
of your home directory and is used to verify the public key you use belongs to
your [Gerrit](https://review.typo3.org) account.

> [!WARNING]
> Never share your private key with anyone! Ever! **We mean it!**

Your public key is saved to a file called `id_rsa.pub` in the `.ssh`
subdirectory of your home directory. You can copy it to your clipboard using
the following command:

```
pbcopy < ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

```

Now you can head over to Gerrit\_, go to settings and paste your public key
as described [here](https://docs.typo3.org/permalink/t3contribute:gerritaccount).

Gerrit is using the special port `29418` instead of the default SSH port `22`
which has to be configured accordingly. This can be done in your local
`~/.ssh/config` file which would contain the following sections then:

**/.ssh/config**

```text
Host review.typo3.org
Port 29418
```

Testing your connection:

**shell command**

```bash
ssh -T <YOUR_TYPO3_USERNAME>@review.typo3.org
```