SSH and Git on iPhone with iSH

The goal: real SSH and git from your pocket

Once you have running a Linux shell on iPhone with iSH working, the most useful thing you can do with it is talk to other machines. This guide sets up SSH and git on iPhone using iSH: a proper key pair, a tidy ~/.ssh/config, and a repository you can clone, commit to and push back to GitHub or your own server.

Install the tools

Both come from Alpine’s repositories. If you haven’t used apk yet, read installing packages in iSH with apk first.

apk update
apk add openssh-client git

Set your git identity once:

git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "you@example.com"
git config --global init.defaultBranch main

Generate an SSH key

Ed25519 keys are short, fast and supported by GitHub, GitLab and any modern OpenSSH server:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "iphone-ish"

Accept the default path (~/.ssh/id_ed25519) and set a passphrase. Your phone gets lost more often than your desktop does, so a passphrase matters here. Then print the public key:

cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

Long-press to copy it and add it to GitHub under Settings > SSH and GPG keys, or append it to ~/.ssh/authorized_keys on your server. Give this key its own name so you can revoke just the phone if you need to.

Write an ssh config

Typing full hostnames and usernames on a phone keyboard gets old quickly. Create ~/.ssh/config:

Host github.com
    User git
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

Host homelab
    HostName 192.168.1.20
    User jonathan
    Port 22
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
    ServerAliveInterval 30

Lock down the permissions, because OpenSSH refuses keys and configs that other users can read:

chmod 700 ~/.ssh
chmod 600 ~/.ssh/config ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

Now ssh homelab is all you need. ServerAliveInterval helps keep the connection alive over mobile data. Test GitHub with:

ssh -T git@github.com

Clone, commit and push

With the key in place, git works much as it does anywhere else:

git clone git@github.com:yourname/notes.git
cd notes
vim todo.md
git add todo.md
git commit -m "Update todo from phone"
git push

For quick edits to notes, dotfiles or a static site, this is genuinely handy. If you want to edit the files in a nicer iOS editor, clone into a folder you’ve mounted from the Files app, which I cover in accessing iOS files in iSH.

Avoid retyping your passphrase

Start an agent for the session and add your key once:

eval "$(ssh-agent -s)"
ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

The agent lives only as long as the iSH session, so you’ll do this again after iOS kills the app.

Limitations and troubleshooting

• Backgrounding: iOS suspends apps you switch away from, so SSH sessions drop. The iSH wiki documents a workaround that keeps the app alive by reading /dev/location, which turns on location tracking. Decide whether that trade-off suits you; tmux on the remote server is the cleaner fix.
• Slow clones: git runs under x86 emulation, so big repositories with long histories are slow. Use git clone --depth 1 when you only need the latest files.
• Permission denied (publickey): check the permissions above, then run ssh -v to see which key is offered.
• Running an SSH server in iSH: it works, but the wiki notes SFTP clients may not connect. Treat iSH as a client.
• No mosh roaming luxuries: mosh is listed as working, but if you live in SSH sessions all day, a dedicated client is better. See iSH vs a-Shell vs Blink Shell.

Wrapping up

SSH and git on iPhone with iSH gives you a real OpenSSH client and real git, not a cut-down imitation. Use a passphrase-protected key that’s unique to the phone, keep your config tidy, and use shallow clones for anything large. It won’t replace your laptop, but it will get you out of a hole when a server needs attention and you’re away from your desk.

iSH: Linux on your iPhone series. Start with the original guide to running a Linux shell on iPhone with iSH, then:

1. Installing packages in iSH with apk
2. SSH and git on iPhone with iSH
3. Python and Node in iSH
4. iSH vs a-Shell vs Blink Shell
5. Accessing iOS files in iSH