Issue 1740: Linked github SSH tutorial is partially irrelevant and confusing
Status:  Submitted
Owner: ----
Closed:  Jan 2013
Reported by dnschn...@chromium.org, Dec 27, 2012
Whenever gerrit has an SSH entry box, it links to the github SSH tutorial.  However, the second half of the steps there are irrelevant, and having helped onboard several new people to our team, the irrelevant steps are a black hole of confusion that people new to SSH get trapped in (precisely the people who would be reading the tutorial in the first place).

Instead, how about a couple lines of instructions that pop open and closed when the link is clicked?

For example, we have the following notes in our onboarding guide:

1. From the terminal, run ssh-keygen
2. Hit enter to choose the default path (should be .ssh/id_rsa)
3. Either choose a passphrase (recommended) or leave it blank.  Remember this passphrase, as you will need it to unlock the key whenever you use it.
4. Open up ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub and copy the contents to the clipboard. You can use "gedit ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub" for this. Note that id_rsa.pub is your public key and can be shared, while id_rsa (no .pub) is your private key and should be kept secret.
5. Paste it into the gerrit SSH public key box and hit "add".

Something like the above is succinct, no "black magic" commands like xclip, and can easily fit in a little expanding box.

Of course, this is complicated by the need to have instructions for multiple platforms, but there could be a selector box akin to Github's.
Dec 28, 2012
Project Member #1 edwin.ke...@gmail.com
I've pushed a change that addresses this for review [1].

[1] https://gerrit-review.googlesource.com/40645
Status: ChangeUnderReview
Jan 1, 2013
#2 sop@google.com
(No comment was entered for this change.)
Status: Submitted
Labels: FixedIn-2.6