Git 2.49.0 on Windows11 configured to use external/system-provided OpenSSH 9.8p2 fails to load any and all .ppk keys from within git-bash

[dsidirop]

( Forward warning: I guesstimated that the issue is related to the external OpenSSH but maybe I'm wrong and the problem is inherent on git itself - below I'm laying out the steps I used to reproduce the issue on my machine YMMV)

Steps to reproduce on Windows11 (10.0.26100 Build 26100 - fully updated up to 21-April-2025):

1. Install git for windows version 2.49.0 and make sure to specify "use external OpenSSH" during the installation

2. Remove the default OpenSSH that comes with Windows11 just to be sure it doesn't get in the way. From an admin powershell console type (you might need to restart the machine after this):

Remove-WindowsCapability -Online -Name OpenSSH.Client~~~~0.0.1.0
Remove-WindowsCapability -Online -Name OpenSSH.Server~~~~0.0.1.0

3. Install OpenSSH 9.8p2 system-wide and make sure that services.msc does display two OpenSSH services that the 32bit .msi installer is supposed to install:

https://github.com/PowerShell/Win32-OpenSSH/releases/tag/v9.8.3.0p2-Preview

(I used the 32bit flavor but I guess the 64bit flavor will do just as well)

4. Now open a git-bash terminal and type:

eval $(ssh-agent -s)
ssh-add <path to your .ppk>
ssh-add -L

Expected behavior:

The ppk you just added should be listed just fine in the terminal.

Actual behaviour:

Getting an error about "improper format" on the .ppk specified or something to that effect

Notes:

This doesn't happen if we downgrade to git version 2.48.1 - everything works just fine with that version in this regard.

[DinoChiesa]

Same experience, except I am not using git-bash.

git v2.49.0 does not succeed in cloning repos from github.

PS C:\Users\MYUSER> git --version --build-options
git version 2.49.0.windows.1
cpu: x86_64
built from commit: cca1f38702730b35f52c29efd62864b85e85ddcc
sizeof-long: 4
sizeof-size_t: 8
shell-path: D:/git-sdk-64-build-installers/usr/bin/sh
feature: fsmonitor--daemon
libcurl: 8.12.1
OpenSSL: OpenSSL 3.2.4 11 Feb 2025
zlib: 1.3.1

PS C:\Users\MYUSER\dev> git clone git@github.com:belav/csharpier.git
Cloning into 'csharpier'...
The authenticity of host 'github.com (140.82.116.4)' can't be established.
ED25519 key fingerprint is SHA256:+DiY3wvvV6TuJJhbpZisF/zLDA0zPMSvHdkr4UvCOqU.
This key is not known by any other names.
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no/[fingerprint])? yes
Could not create directory '/home/MYUSER/.ssh' (No such file or directory).
Failed to add the host to the list of known hosts (/home/MYUSER/.ssh/known_hosts).
git@github.com: Permission denied (publickey).
fatal: Could not read from remote repository.

Please make sure you have the correct access rights
and the repository exists.

If I downgrade to git 2.48.1, it works:

PS C:\>  git --version --build-options
git version 2.48.1.windows.1
cpu: x86_64
built from commit: 2bd190bcd280bc95f537c2d532880a5e539b5132
sizeof-long: 4
sizeof-size_t: 8
shell-path: D:/git-sdk-64-build-installers/usr/bin/sh
feature: fsmonitor--daemon
libcurl: 8.12.1
OpenSSL: OpenSSL 3.2.4 11 Feb 2025
zlib: 1.3.1

PS C:\Users\USER\dev> git clone git@github.com:belav/csharpier.git
Cloning into 'csharpier'...
remote: Enumerating objects: 26175, done.
remote: Counting objects: 100% (721/721), done.
remote: Compressing objects: 100% (442/442), done.
remote: Total 26175 (delta 479), reused 287 (delta 278), pack-reused 25454 (from 3)
Receiving objects: 100% (26175/26175), 7.67 MiB | 10.16 MiB/s, done.
Resolving deltas: 100% (19610/19610), done.
PS C:\Users\USER\dev>

Running from

OS Name:                       Microsoft Windows 11 Home
OS Version:                    10.0.26100 N/A Build 26100
PowerShell v7.5.0
git version 2.48.1.windows.1

I installed git via choco:

gsudo choco install git --version 2.49.0
(git starts failing)
gsudo choco uninstall git 
gsudo choco install git --version 2.48.1
(git starts working again)

I don't know why it's looking for /home/USER/.ssh . My home directory (%USERPROFILE%) is c:\Users\MYNAME like everyone else in the world. I created a junction at /home to point to /Users, but that did not resolve the problem with git 2.49.0 .

My known_hosts file exists in the usual location, c:\Users\MYNAME\.ssh\known_hosts. I use git all the time. It's always worked.

ps: With 2.49.0, I was able to clone a github repo using the https url.

[DinoChiesa]

What's strange is, after re-upgrading to git 2.49.0.... it started working again.

I cannot explain this.
I had uninstalled 2.48.1, and re-installed 2.49.0, in order to collect more diagnostic info for this issue. And when I tried cloning again, ... it worked.