Access your Bitbucket Git repository from your Windows PC

In order to work with your Git repository on your Windows PC, you will have to follow these steps:

1/ Install putty

Be careful to download the complete Windows installer, and not only putty.exe.
You can find it here.

2/ Generate SSH keys

Run puttygen.exe:

Make sure that SSH-2 RSA is selected, click [generate], and as specified, move your mouse over the blank area.
When the key is generated, you will be prompted to enter a passphrase. Then click [save public key] and [save private key], to save the public and private keys in the folder of your choice.
Take note that you will always be able to generate a public key from your private key.

3/ Run pageant

Run pageant.exe (it has been installed along with putty). It will run in your task bar. Right click on its icon and select "Add key".

Select the private key you saved in the previous step, and type your pass phrase.

4/ Add your public key to your Bitbucket account

Log in to your Bitbucket account.
Click on "manage account", then on "SSH keys", and "add key".

Run puttygen again, and load your private key:

Select everything in the "public key for pasting into Open SSH authorized_key file" box, and right click, select "copy".

4/ Run plink

This crucial step is often forgot, which causes git connection errors like this one:

Connection abandoned.
fatal: Could not read from remote repository.

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

Open a PowerShell console and type path\to\pageant.exe path/to/your/bitbucket/repository
For example: "C:\Program Files (x86)\PuTTY\plink.exe" git@bitbucket.org:john_doe/myproject.git

Now you should be able to work with your bitbucket repository !