Error when push commits with Github: fatal: could not read Username

Question

Since few time, I use Github for my projects and I have an issue when I want to push commits.

To beginning, I have forked a repository. Then I have cloned the fork (with command line git clone https://github.com/ ...) and, after doing modifications, I have committed with success (git commit -a).

After this, I have tried to push commits with command line git push but I obtain the following error:

fatal: could not read Username for 'https://github.com': No such file or directory

Have you got an idea to resolve this issue?

See [this answer](http://stackoverflow.com/a/19012466/354577) on [Fatal: could not read Username for 'https://github.com': No such device or address](http://stackoverflow.com/q/18886729/354577). — ChrisGPT was on strike, Jan 01 '14 at 18:24

Rodrigo Medeiros · Accepted Answer · 2014-01-24T00:13:08.433

62

What I had to do was:

git remote rm origin
git remote add origin 'git@github.com:username/repo.git'

Then, I was able to push my changes.

edited Jan 24 '14 at 00:13

answered Jan 01 '14 at 18:38

Rodrigo Medeiros

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What is `the_git@link` ? – Mr_and_Mrs_D Jan 02 '14 at 05:22
Sorry @Mr_and_Mrs_D, I just saw your comment today. What I meant by `the_git@link` was the SSH clone URL, instead of the HTTPS clone URL. – Rodrigo Medeiros Jan 03 '14 at 18:06
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what about when you dont want to use ssh keys? – Ricardo Jan 12 '14 at 17:44
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you can also use git remote set-url origin 'git@github.com:username/repo.git' – Tobias Oberrauch Mar 01 '14 at 18:37
What causes the origin to get messed up? This fixed things for me but I didn't understand what broke it. – Chris Abrams Jun 05 '14 at 15:27
@CrisAbrams It's caused by a bug in git 1.8.5 (take a look at [this answer](http://stackoverflow.com/a/20884273/2241993)). Updating to a newer version seems to solve the problem too. – Rodrigo Medeiros Jun 05 '14 at 15:31
I think when you say "username/repo.git" in fact you mean "organization/repo.git." Correct? – macetw Dec 07 '20 at 23:26

Pulkit · Answer 2 · 2014-05-07T14:26:26.807

23

I tried following command and it worked for me

git push https://<username>:<password>@github.com/<username>/<repository-name>

edited May 07 '14 at 14:26

answered Jan 20 '14 at 18:21

Pulkit

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This is a bad idea, exposing your password like that. – alxgb Jan 21 '14 at 14:12

Mr_and_Mrs_D · Answer 3 · 2014-02-15T16:07:10.403

Well I had the same problem - what annoys me to no end is that I don't have a clue why (edit: bug). I was pushing with https. Manually editing the config did not work for me (or doing a chkdsk as suggested in another answer). I ended up pushing with ssh - as in, replace:

https://github.com/USER/REPO.git

with

git@github.com:USER/REPO.git

after generating your keys

EDIT as to why : it is a bug in 1.8.5. See the report and a discussion with a way to workaround

Ricardo · Answer 4 · 2014-07-24T13:22:02.070

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Since it's a bug from 1.8.5 version, if you don't want use SSH Key you can downgrade to 1.84 from here, or upgrade to higher version, 1.9.x, for example.

edited Jul 24 '14 at 13:22

answered Jan 12 '14 at 17:57

Ricardo

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AndyL · Answer 5 · 2014-01-23T14:04:17.027

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This seems to be a known bug in Git 1.8.5 on Windows. As described and reported by @Mr_and_Mrs_D:

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/msysgit/s4dB8Nv9V4c/55-cGPdPYmAJ

Downgrading to 1.8.4 works for me. Please note you have to explicitly uninstall 1.8.5 first by running C:\Program Files (x86)\Git\unins000.exe as described here:

https://github.com/swcarpentry/bc/issues/234#issuecomment-33055444

I downloaded 1.8.4 here: https://msysgit.googlecode.com/files/Git-1.8.4-preview20130916.exe

edited Jan 23 '14 at 14:04

answered Jan 23 '14 at 13:56

AndyL

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I've created an [unofficial fix release (1.8.5.4)](https://github.com/nevik/git/releases/tag/v1.8.5.4.msysgit.nevik.0) for people who want to or need to use a Git version newer than 1.8.4. This should serve as an intermediate solution until a new official release is made. – Nevik Rehnel Feb 09 '14 at 18:47
Quite disappointing, if the notoriously most basic use case: git clone... + git add... + git commit + git push does not work. None of the hints in the answers above worked for me, but the final workaround was to use git gui, which did the work immediately. It asked for username and password, and performed push as expected. What a wasted time with this terrible tool! – Palo Apr 03 '16 at 13:13

score 3 · Answer 6 · answered Feb 20 '14 at 17:23

3

In my case, I update Git to version 1.9 and this issue is fixed.

During push/commit, the Git Bash will ask for Github's account & password.

answered Feb 20 '14 at 17:23

Dio Phung

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score 0 · Answer 7 · answered Jan 15 '14 at 17:03

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I used git-credential-winstore before. When I reinstalled my Windows, that error popep up. I resolve the issue by downloading git-credential-winstore again in my PATH.

answered Jan 15 '14 at 17:03

Kevin Tong

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score 0 · Answer 8 · answered May 12 '22 at 19:29

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I had this issue also using GitHub from Visual Studio. I went to Team Explorer->Manage Connections->Connect a Project then Select Github which re-authenticated me in the web browser. I was then able to push my changes.

answered May 12 '22 at 19:29

Mustafa

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Error when push commits with Github: fatal: could not read Username

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