Solved error "Bitbucket Cloud recently stopped supporting account passwords for Git authentication" in bitbucket.

Introduction:

Bitbucket is a popular Git repository hosting service that is used by software developers and teams to collaborate on code projects. Recently, Bitbucket made a change to no longer support account passwords for Git authentication, which has caused some confusion and frustration among users.

If you are attempting to use your account password for Git authentication and are seeing the error message "Bitbucket Cloud recently stopped supporting account passwords for Git authentication," don't worry! There are simple solutions to this problem. In this article, we will explain the error message in more detail and provide step-by-step instructions for how to solve it.

Error Message:

The error message "Bitbucket Cloud recently stopped supporting account passwords for Git authentication" appears when you try to use your account password to access your Bitbucket repository through Git. This error message is displayed because Bitbucket has stopped allowing users to authenticate with their account passwords. Instead, Bitbucket now requires users to use either an SSH key or a personal access token for Git authentication.

The reason for this change is to improve the security of user accounts. Using an SSH key or personal access token for Git authentication is more secure than using an account password because it adds an extra layer of protection. An SSH key is a unique, cryptographically-secure string of characters that is used to authenticate a user. A personal access token is also a unique, secure string of characters that can be used to access a user's Bitbucket account.

Solutions to the problem:

So, how do you solve the error "Bitbucket Cloud recently stopped supporting account passwords for Git authentication"? Here are the steps you need to follow:

1. Generate an SSH key:

• If you don't already have an SSH key, you will need to generate one.

• To generate an SSH key on a Windows computer, follow these steps:

1. Open Git Bash.
2. At the command prompt, type ssh-keygen and press Enter.
3. Follow the prompts to specify the location to save the key and enter a passphrase (optional).
4. After the key is generated, type cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub to display the public key.

• To generate an SSH key on a Mac or Linux computer, follow these steps:

1. Open Terminal.
2. At the command prompt, type ssh-keygen and press Enter.
3. Follow the prompts to specify the location to save the key and enter a passphrase (optional).
4. After the key is generated, type cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub to display the public key.    

    2. Add the SSH key to your Bitbucket account:

• Once you have generated an SSH key, you will need to add it to your Bitbucket account.
• To do this, follow these steps:

1. Log in to your Bitbucket account.
2. Click on your avatar in the top right corner and select "Bitbucket settings."
3. In the left menu, click "SSH keys."
4. Click the "Add key" button.
5. Enter a label for the key (e.g., "My laptop") and paste the public key into the "Key" field.
6. Click the "Add key" button to save the key.

    3. Use the SSH key for Git authentication:            

• Now that you have added your SSH key to your Bitbucket account, you can use it for Git authentication.
• To do this, follow these steps:

1. Open Git Bash (on Windows) or Terminal (on Mac or Linux).
2. Navigate to the local repository where you want to clone your Bitbucket repository. 
3. Use the following command to clone the repository using the SSH key for authentication: git clone git@bitbucket.org:USERNAME/REPO_NAME.git
4. Replace "USERNAME" with your Bitbucket username and "REPO_NAME" with the name of your repository.

    4. Use the Personal Access Token for Git authentication: 

If you prefer not to use an SSH key, you can also use a personal access token for Git authentication. To create a personal access token, follow these steps: 

1. Log in to your Bitbucket account. 
2. Click on your avatar in the top right corner and select "Bitbucket settings."
3. In the left menu, click "Access management." 
4. Click the "Personal access tokens" tab. 
5. Click the "Create a token" button. 
6. Enter a label for the token (e.g., "Git authentication") and select the expiration date. 
7. Select the "Read" and "Write" permissions for the token. 
8. Click the "Create" button to generate the token.

 

 

Once you have created a personal access token, you can use it for Git authentication by specifying it as the password when prompted. For example:

git clone https://USERNAME:TOKEN@bitbucket.org/USERNAME/REPO_NAME.git

Replace "USERNAME" with your Bitbucket username, "TOKEN" with the personal access token, and "REPO_NAME" with the name of your repository.

Trouble Shooting:

If you are having trouble setting up an SSH key or personal access token, there are a few troubleshooting tips you can try:

• Make sure that you have correctly copied and pasted the entire SSH key or personal access token.
• Check the permissions on your local .ssh directory and authorized_keys file. They should be set to 700 and 600, respectively.
• Check your SSH configuration files (e.g., ~/.ssh/config) for any conflicting settings.
• Make sure that you are using the correct syntax for the Git clone command.

It is important to keep your SSH key and personal access token safe and secure. Do not share them with anyone else, and consider revoking them if you suspect that they may have been compromised.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, the error "Bitbucket Cloud recently stopped supporting account passwords for Git authentication" can be solved by using an SSH key or personal access token for Git authentication. By following the steps outlined in this article, you can easily set up and use these authentication methods to continue accessing and using your Bitbucket repository. 

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Cheers :) 

Happy Coding...