Problem using git on Windows 7 with msysgit and .ssh keys

Question

I'm using git on my Ubuntu machine with my existing ssh keys.

Now I have to use Git on Windows 7, and need to use the same keypairs.
I have set up msysgit and created an .ssh folder in Users\username\.ssh.
I have copied my keypair from Ubuntu's .ssh folder to this folder.

But when I try to clone the Git repo, it stops and asks for the password.
According to some tutorials, I should have some options during the msysgit installation regarding ssh, but I saw none.
Do you have any suggestions to solve this?

Answer 1

You need to set your HOME environment variable to whatever directory you selected for creating the .ssh folder (it doesn't have to be necessarily Users\username\).

%HOME% isn't a native environment variable (%HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH% or %USERPROFILE% is), and the mingw Unix-like session of msysgit is entirely based on the $HOME value.