If you use git repos on a VM (or other remote server), you'll know the pain of entering your login details whenever you need to pull down new code.

To avoid this, you can use SSH agent forwarding to use your local SSH keys in a remote session. If you're already using SSH to log in to the server, you just need to add the -A option to your SSH command, like:

ssh -A username@host

With SSH forwarding:

• You don't have to enter your username/password repeatedly on the remote server.
• You don't have to copy SSH keys to the server, which might create security issues.

On the server, you need to use the SSH version of the repo's URL, e.g. git@github.com:USERNAME/REPOSITORY.git. If you're currently using the HTTPS version you can switch with:

git remote set-url git@github.com:USERNAME/REPOSITORY.git

If you're just starting out with SSH and git and don't understand the above, GitHub has good documentation on how to get set up with it.