You need to create an RSA ssh key pair on the machine from which you want to interact with a GitLab repo. Concretely,

1. Enter the .ssh subdirectory under your $HOME: cd $HOME/.ssh. (Note that .ssh is a hidden directory and will not be visible under your $HOME by default.)
2. Run ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 after reading the following sub bullets:
   • The set of output, including prompts and responses from you, from running ssh-keygen... should look something like the following:
     

     [janeh@izgw3:.ssh]$ ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096
     Generating public/private rsa key pair. 
     Enter file in which to save the key (/home/janeh/.ssh/id_rsa): 
     Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase): 
     Enter same passphrase again: 
     Your identification has been saved ...

   • Note that you will first be asked for a filename. The default should be something like $HOME/.ssh/id_rsa. Accept this default by hitting Enter.
   • Note that you will next be asked for a passphrase. Do NOT enter a passphrase. Skip this step by hitting Enter. Hit Enter a second time when asked to confirm your passphrase.
   • The names of the files created and a bit of keyart will then be printed to standard out. You don’t need to do anything with the keyart.
3. After running ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 and responding to the ensuing prompts, check that id_rsa and id_rsa.pub exist in your $HOME/.ssh directory.