d6704d052a
jefferai pointed out that some of the links about this were broken, and a quick look showed that it was described in multiple places too. Brought it all together...
464 lines
20 KiB
Markdown
464 lines
20 KiB
Markdown
# ssh troubleshooting
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In this document:
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* <a href="#the_most_common_problems_that_an_admin_will_see">the most common problems that an admin will see</a>
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* <a href="#basic_ssh_troubleshooting">basic ssh troubleshooting</a>
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* <a href="#passphrases_versus_passwords">passphrases versus passwords</a>
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* <a href="#ssh_agent_problems">ssh-agent problems</a>
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* <a href="#basic_ssh_troubleshooting_for_the_main_admin">basic ssh troubleshooting for the main admin</a>
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* <a href="#basic_ssh_troubleshooting_for_a_normal_user">basic ssh troubleshooting for a normal user</a>
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* <a href="#windows_issues">windows issues</a>
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* <a href="#details">details</a>
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* <a href="#files_on_the_server">files on the server</a>
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* <a href="#files_on_client">files on client</a>
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* <a href="#why_two_keys_on_client">why two keys on client</a>
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* <a href="#some_other_tips_and_tricks">some other tips and tricks</a>
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* <a href="#giving_shell_access_to_gitolite_users">giving shell access to gitolite users</a>
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* <a href="#losing_your_admin_key">losing your admin key</a>
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* <a href="#simulating_ssh_copy_id">simulating ssh-copy-id</a>
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----
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This document should help you troubleshoot ssh-related problems in accessing
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gitolite *after* the install has completed successfully.
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In addition, I **strongly** recommend reading
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[doc/9-gitolite-and-ssh.mkd][doc9gas], which is a very detailed look at how
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gitolite uses ssh's features on the server side. Most people don't know ssh
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as well as they *think* they do; even if you don't have any problems right
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now, it's worth skimming over.
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In addition to both these documents, there's now a program called
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`sshkeys-lint` that you can run on your client. Run it without arguments to
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get help on how to run it and what inputs it needs.
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**IMPORTANT NOTE: A lot of this document applies only if you installed using
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the [from-client method][fc] . If you used one of the [other 3 methods][o3] ,
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some of it may or may not apply. At the very least, any mention of `ssh
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gitolite` below will change to `ssh git@server`; see [this][urls] for why.**
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<a name="the_most_common_problems_that_an_admin_will_see"></a>
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### the most common problems that an admin will see
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Ironically, these problems **only** happen to the person who installed
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gitolite using easy-install (the "from-client" method in
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[doc/0-INSTALL.mkd][doc0]), and has **utterly failed** to read/heed the
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message that shows up at the end of running that command. This is because
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only the admin has *two* ssh keys to the server (see "basic ssh
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troubleshooting for the main admin" section below for more on this).
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Both these problems are caused by using the wrong key, thus **bypassing gitolite
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completely**:
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* you get `fatal: 'reponame' does not appear to be a git repository`, and
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yet you are sure 'reponame' exists, you haven't mis-spelled it, etc.
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* you are able to clone repositories but are unable to push changes back
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(the error complains about the `GL_RC` environment variable not being set,
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and the `hooks/update` failing in some way).
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Let us recap the message that appears on a successful run of the "easy-install"
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program; it looks something like this (with suitable values substituted for
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`<user>`, `<server>`, and `<port>`):
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IMPORTANT NOTE -- PLEASE READ!!!
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*Your* URL for cloning any repo on this server will be
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gitolite:reponame.git
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*Other* users you set up will have to use
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<user>@<server>:reponame.git
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However, if your server uses a non-standard ssh port, they should use
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ssh://<user>@<server>:<port>/reponame.git
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If this is your first time installing gitolite, please also:
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tail -31 src/gl-easy-install
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for next steps.
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The first error above happens if you use `git@server:reponame` instead of
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`gitolite:reponame`. All your repos are actually in a subdirectory pointed to
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by `$REPO_BASE` in the rc file (default: `repositories`). Gitolite internally
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prefixes this before calling the actual git command you invoked, but since
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you're bypassing gitolite completely, this prefixing does not happen, and so
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the repo is not found.
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The second error happens if you use `git@server:repositories/reponame.git`
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(assuming default `$REPO_BASE` setting) -- that is, you used the full unix
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path. Since the "prefixing" mentioned above is not required, the shell finds
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the repo and clones ok. But when you push, gitolite's **update hook** kicks
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in, and fails to run because you some of the environment variables it is
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expecting are not present.
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<a name="basic_ssh_troubleshooting"></a>
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### basic ssh troubleshooting
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[glb]: http://sitaramc.github.com/0-installing/9-gitolite-basics.html#IMPORTANT_overview_of_ssh
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I assume the gitolite server is called "server" and the user hosting all the
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gitolite repos is "git". I will also be using "sitaram" as the *gitolite
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username* of the admin.
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Unless specifically mentioned, all these commands are run on the user's or
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admin's workstation, not on the server.
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<a name="passphrases_versus_passwords"></a>
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#### passphrases versus passwords
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When you create an ssh keypair, you have the option of protecting it with a
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passphrase. When you subsequently use that keypair to access a remote host,
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your *local* ssh client needs to unlock the corresponding private key, and ssh
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will probably ask for the passphrase you set when you created the keypair.
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Do not confuse or mistake this prompt (`Enter passphrase for key
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'/home/sitaram/.ssh/id_rsa':`) for a password prompt from the remote server!
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You have two choices to avoid this prompt every time you try to access the
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remote. The first is to create keypairs *without* a passphrase (just hit
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enter when prompted for one). **Be sure to add a passphrase later, once
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everything is working, using `ssh-keygen -p`**.
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The second is to use `ssh-agent` (or `keychain`, which in turn uses
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`ssh-agent`) or something like that to manage your keys. Other than the next
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section, further discussion of this is out of scope of this document.
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<a name="ssh_agent_problems"></a>
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#### ssh-agent problems
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1. Run `ssh-add -l`. If this responds with either "The agent has no
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identities." or "Could not open a connection to your authentication
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agent.", skip this section.
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2. However, if it lists some keys, like this:
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2048 fc:c1:48:1e:06:31:97:a4:8b:fc:37:b2:76:14:c7:53 /home/sitaram/.ssh/id_rsa (RSA)
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2048 d2:e0:7f:fa:1a:89:22:41:bb:06:d9:ff:a7:27:36:5c /home/sitaram/.ssh/sitaram (RSA)
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then run `ls ~/.ssh` and make sure that all the keypairs you have there
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are represented in the `ssh-add -l` output.
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3. If you find any keypairs in `~/.ssh` that are not represented in the
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`ssh-add -l` output, add them. For instance, if `ssh-add -l` showed me
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only the `id_rsa` key, but I also had a `sitaram` (and `sitaram.pub`)
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keypair, I'd run `ssh-add ~/.ssh/sitaram` to add it.
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This is because ssh-agent has a quirk: if `ssh-add -l` shows *any* keys at
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all, ssh will only use those keys. Even if you explicitly specify an unlisted
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key using `ssh -i` or an `identityfile` directive in the config file, it won't
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use it.
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<a name="basic_ssh_troubleshooting_for_the_main_admin"></a>
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#### basic ssh troubleshooting for the main admin
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You're the "main admin" if you're trying to access gitolite from the same
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workstation and user account where you ran the "easy install" command. You
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should have two keypairs in your `~/.ssh` directory. The pair called `id_rsa`
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(and `id_rsa.pub`) was probably the first one you created, and you used this
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to get passwordless (pubkey based) access to the server (which was a
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pre-requisite for running the easy install command).
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The second keypair has the same name as the last argument in the easy install
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command you ran (in my case, `sitaram` and `sitaram.pub`). It was probably
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created by the easy install script, and is the key used for gitolite access.
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In addition, you should have a "gitolite" paragraph in your `~/.ssh/config`,
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looking something like this:
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host gitolite
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user git
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hostname server
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identityfile ~/.ssh/sitaram
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If any of these are not true, you did something funky in your install; email
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me or hop onto #git and hope for the best ;-)
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Otherwise, run these checks:
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1. `ssh git@server` should get you a command line.
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If it asks you for a password, then your `id_rsa` keypair changed after
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you ran the easy install, or someone fiddled with the
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`~/.ssh/authorized_keys` file on the server.
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If it prints the gitolite version and access info (see
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[doc/report-output.mkd][repout]), you managed to overwrite the `id_rsa`
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keypair with the `sitaram` keypair, or something equally weird.
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2. `ssh gitolite info` should print some gitolite version and access info.
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If you get the output of the GNU info command instead, you probably reused
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your `id_rsa` keypair as your `sitaram` keypair, or overwrote the
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`sitaram` keypair with the `id_rsa` keypair.
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There are many ways to fix this, depending on where and what the damage is.
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The most generic way (and therefore time-taking) is to re-install gitolite
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from scratch:
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* make a backup of your gitolite-admin repo clone somewhere (basically your
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"keydir/*.pub" and your "conf/gitolite.conf"). If necessary get these
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files from the server's `~/.gitolite` directory.
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* log on to the server somehow (using some other account, using a password,
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su-ing in, etc) and delete `~/.ssh/authorized_keys`. Rename or move aside
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`~/.gitolite` so that also looks like it is missing.
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* back on your workstation, make sure you have 2 keypairs (`id_rsa` and
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`sitaram`, along with corresponding `.pub` files). Create them if needed.
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Also make sure they are *different* and not a copy of each other :-)
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* install gitolite normally:
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* run `ssh-copy-id -i ~/.ssh/id_rsa git@server` to get passwordless
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access to the server. (Mac users may have to do this step manually)
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* make sure `ssh git@server pwd` prints the `$HOME` of `git@server`
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**without** asking for a password. Do not proceed till this works.
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* run easy install again, (in my case: `cd gitolite-source;
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src/gl-easy-install -q git server sitaram`)
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* go to your gitolite-admin repo clone, and copy `conf/gitolite.conf` and
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`keydir/*.pub` from your backup to this directory
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* copy (be sure to overwrite!) `~/.ssh/sitaram.pub` also to keydir
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* now `git add keydir; git commit; git push -f`
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That's a long sequence but it should work.
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<a name="basic_ssh_troubleshooting_for_a_normal_user"></a>
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#### basic ssh troubleshooting for a normal user
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For a normal user, life is much simpler. They should have only one pubkey,
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which was previously sent to the gitolite admin to add into the admin repo's
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`keydir` as "user.pub", and then "user" given permissions to some repo.
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`ssh git@server info` should get you [gitolite version and access
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info][repout]. If it asks you for a password, your pubkey was not sent to the
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server properly. Check with your admin.
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If it gets you the GNU info command output, you have shell access. This means
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you had command line access to the server *before* you were added as a
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gitolite user. If you send that same key to your gitolite admin to include in
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the admin repo, it won't work. For reasons why, see below.
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<a name="windows_issues"></a>
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### windows issues
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On windows, I have only used msysgit, and the openssh that comes with it.
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Over time, I have grown to distrust putty/plink due to the number of people
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who seem to have trouble when those beasts are involved (I myself have never
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used them for any kind of git access). If you have unusual ssh problems that
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just don't seem to have any explanation, try removing all traces of
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putty/plink, including environment variables, etc., and then try again.
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If you can offer an *authoritative* account of the complications involved, and
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how to resolve them and get things working, I'd be happy to credit you and
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include it, either directly here if it is short enough or just an external
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link, or in contrib/ if it's a longer piece of text.
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<a name="details"></a>
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### details
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Here's how it all hangs together.
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<a name="files_on_the_server"></a>
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#### files on the server
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* the authkeys file; this contains one line containing the pubkey of each
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user who is permitted to login without a password.
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Pubkey lines that give shell access look like this:
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ssh-rsa AAAAB3NzaC[snip]uPjrUiAUew== /home/sitaram/.ssh/id_rsa
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On a typical server there will be only one or two of these lines.
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Note that the last bit (`/home/sitaram/.ssh/id_rsa`) is purely a *comment*
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field and can be anything. Also, the actual lines are much longer, about
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400 characters; I snipped 'em in the middle, as you can see.
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In contrast, pubkey lines that give access to git repos hosted by gitolite
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look like this:
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command="[some path]src/gl-auth-command sitaram",[some restrictions] ssh-rsa AAAAB3NzaC[snip]s18OnB42oQ== sitaram@sita-lt
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You will have many more of these lines -- one for every pubkey file in
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`keydir/` of your gitolite-admin repo, with the corresponding username in
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place of "sitaram" in the example above.
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The "command=" at the beginning ensures that when someone with the
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corresponding private key logs in, they don't get a shell. Instead, the
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`gl-auth-command` program is run, and (in this example) is given the
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argument `sitaram`. This is how gitolite is invoked, (and is told the
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user logging in is "sitaram").
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<a name="files_on_client"></a>
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#### files on client
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* default keypair; used to get shell access to servers. You would have
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copied this pubkey to the gitolite server in order to log in without a
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password. (On Linux systems you may have used `ssh-copy-id` to do that).
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You would have done this *before* you ran the easy install script, because
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otherwise easy install won't run!
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~/.ssh/id_rsa
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~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
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* gitolite keypair; the "sitaram" in this is the 3rd argument to the
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`src/gl-easy-install` command you ran; the easy install script does the
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rest
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~/.ssh/sitaram
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~/.ssh/sitaram.pub
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* config file; this file has an entry for gitolite access:
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~/.ssh/config
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To understand why we need that, let's step back a bit. Normally, you
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might expect to access gitolite repos like this:
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ssh://git@server/reponame.git
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But this won't work, because this ends up using the *default* keypair
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(normally), which gives you a command line. Which means it won't invoke
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the `gl-auth-command` program at all, and so none of gitolite's access
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control will work.
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<a name="altkey"></a>
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You need to force ssh to use the *other* keypair when performing a git
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operation. With normal ssh, that would be
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ssh -i ~/.ssh/sitaram git@server
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but git does not support putting an alternate keypair in the URL.
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Luckily, ssh has a very convenient way of capturing all the connection
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information (username, hostname, port number (if it's not the default 22),
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and keypair to be used) in one "paragraph" of `~/.ssh/config`. This is
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what the para looks like for us (the easy install script puts it there the
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first time):
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host gitolite
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user git
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hostname server
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identityfile ~/.ssh/sitaram
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(The "gitolite" can be anything you want of course; it's like a group name
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for all the stuff below it). This ensures that typing
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ssh gitolite
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is equivalent to
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ssh -i ~/.ssh/sitaram git@server
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and therefore this:
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git clone gitolite:reponame.git
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now works as expected, invoking the special keypair instead of the default
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one.
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<a name="why_two_keys_on_client"></a>
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#### why two keys on client
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[This section is only applicable to installs done using the "from-client"
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method; see [doc/0-INSTALL.mkd][doc0] for details].
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Why do I (the admin) need two **different** keypairs?
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There are two types of access the admin will make to the server: a normal
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login, to get a shell prompt, and gitolite access (clone/fetch/push etc). The
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first access needs an authkeys line *without* any "command=" restrictions,
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while the second requires a line *with* such a restriction.
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And we can't use the same key for both because there is no way to disambiguate
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them; the ssh server will always (*always*) pick the first one in sequence
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when the key is offered by the ssh client.
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So the next question is usually "I have other ways to get a shell on that
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account (like `su - git` from some other account), so why do I need a key for
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shell access at all?"
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The answer to this is that the "easy install" script, being written for the
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most general case, needs shell access via ssh to do its stuff. If you have
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access otherwise, you really should use one of the other 3 install methods to
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install gitolite. Please see the [install doc][install] for details.
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<a name="some_other_tips_and_tricks"></a>
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### some other tips and tricks
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<a name="giving_shell_access_to_gitolite_users"></a>
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#### giving shell access to gitolite users
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We've managed (thanks to an idea from Jesse Keating) to make it possible for a
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single key to allow both gitolite access *and* shell access.
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This is done by copying the pubkey (to which you want to give shell access) to
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the server and running either
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cd $HOME/.gitolite # assuming default $GL_ADMINDIR in ~/.gitolite.rc
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src/gl-tool shell-add ~/foo.pub
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or
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gl-tool shell-add ~/foo.pub
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The first method is to be used if you used the **user-install** mode, while
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the second method is for the **system-install followed by user-setup** mode
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(see doc/0-INSTALL.mkd, section on "install methods", for more on this)
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**IMPORTANT UPGRADE NOTE**: previous implementations of this feature were
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crap. There was no easy/elegant way to ensure that someone who had repo admin
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access would not manage to get himself shell access.
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Giving someone shell access requires that you should have shell access in the
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first place, so the simplest way is to enable it from the server side only.
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<a name="losing_your_admin_key"></a>
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#### losing your admin key
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If you lost the admin key, and need to re-establish ownership of the
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gitolite-admin repository with a fresh key, take a look at the
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`src/gl-dont-panic` program. You will need shell access to the server of
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course. Run it without arguments to get instructions.
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<a name="simulating_ssh_copy_id"></a>
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#### simulating ssh-copy-id
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don't have `ssh-copy-id`? This is broadly what that command does, if you want
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to replicate it manually. The input is your pubkey, typically
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`~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub` from your client/workstation.
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* it copies it to the server as some file
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* it appends that file to `~/.ssh/authorized_keys` on the server
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(creating it if it doesn't already exist)
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* it then makes sure that all these files/directories have go-w perms
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set (assuming user is "git"):
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/home/git/.ssh/authorized_keys
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/home/git/.ssh
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/home/git
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[Actually, `sshd` requires that even directories *above* `~` (`/`, `/home`,
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typically) also must be `go-w`, but that needs root. And typically
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they're already set that way anyway. (Or if they're not, you've got
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bigger problems than gitolite install not working!)]
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[doc0]: http://github.com/sitaramc/gitolite/blob/pu/doc/0-INSTALL.mkd
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[doc9gas]: http://github.com/sitaramc/gitolite/blob/pu/doc/9-gitolite-and-ssh.mkd
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[install]: http://github.com/sitaramc/gitolite/blob/pu/doc/0-INSTALL.mkd
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[o3]: http://github.com/sitaramc/gitolite/blob/pu/doc/0-INSTALL.mkd#installation_and_setup
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[fc]: http://github.com/sitaramc/gitolite/blob/pu/doc/0-INSTALL.mkd#from_client_method_install_from_the_client_to_the_server
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[urls]: http://github.com/sitaramc/gitolite/blob/pu/doc/0-INSTALL.mkd#URLs_for_gitolite_managed_repos
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[repout]: http://github.com/sitaramc/gitolite/blob/pu/doc/report-output.mkd
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