How to fix Warning: Identity file /path/to/key not accessible: No such file or directory. in SSH

Check if the key file exists at the path SSH is looking for. List your SSH keys:

ls -la ~/.ssh/

This shows all files in the .ssh directory. Look for standard SSH key names like:
- id_rsa / id_rsa.pub (RSA keys)
- id_ed25519 / id_ed25519.pub (ED25519 keys)
- id_dsa / id_dsa.pub (older DSA keys)
- Custom names if you created keys with custom filenames

If the file doesn't exist, you'll need to generate a new key (see step 3).

If the file does exist, verify the path is correct in your SSH config:

cat ~/.ssh/config

Look for IdentityFile entries. The path should be:
- Absolute path: ~/.ssh/id_rsa or /home/username/.ssh/id_rsa
- Tilde expansion: ~ expands to your home directory

If you're using SSH in a script or tool, check the path specification there too. On Windows with WSL, ensure you use Unix-style paths like /mnt/c/Users/YourName/.ssh/id_rsa instead of Windows paths.

If the identity file doesn't exist and you don't have an SSH key yet, generate one:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "[email protected]"

Or for RSA keys (if your server doesn't support ED25519):

ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -C "[email protected]"

Press Enter when asked for file location to save in the default ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 or ~/.ssh/id_rsa. Press Enter again for an empty passphrase, or enter a passphrase for security. The key will be created in the standard location that SSH expects.

SSH is strict about file permissions for security. Set the correct permissions:

chmod 700 ~/.ssh
chmod 600 ~/.ssh/id_rsa
chmod 644 ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub

Permissions must be:
- Directory ~/.ssh: 700 (rwx------)
- Private key: 600 (rw-------)
- Public key: 644 (rw-r--r--)

SSH will refuse to use a private key if it's readable by other users (permissions must not be 644 or 777).

If you have multiple SSH keys or a custom filename, explicitly specify which key to use:

ssh -i ~/.ssh/custom_key_name user@host

Or for other tools:

scp -i ~/.ssh/custom_key file user@host:/path

For Git operations, configure it per repository or globally:

git config core.sshCommand "ssh -i ~/.ssh/custom_key"

For better organization, set up identity files in your SSH config file ~/.ssh/config:

Host myserver
    HostName server.example.com
    User username
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/backup_key

Host github.com
    User git
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/github_key

SSH will try each IdentityFile in order until one succeeds. Make sure the paths are correct and files exist.

Once you have a working identity file, copy the public key to the remote server:

ssh-copy-id -i ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 user@host

Or manually:

cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub | ssh user@host "mkdir -p ~/.ssh && cat >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys"

Then verify you can connect without a warning:

ssh -i ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 user@host