UPDATE: See Paul’s comment below - sounds like the latest cygwin upgrade process isn’t as easy as it used to be.

If you install GitExtensions, up through the current 2.24 version (which comes bundled with the latest msysgit version 1.7.6-preview20110708), and use OpenSSH for your authentication (as opposed to Plink), you’ll likely notice some painfully slow cloning speeds. Like 1MB/sec on a 100Mb network kinda slow.

Thankfully, it’s a pretty easy fix. Apparently msysgit still comes bundled with an ancient version of OpenSSH:

$ ssh -V OpenSSH_4.6p1, OpenSSL 0.9.8e 23 Feb 2007

Until they get it updated, it’s easy to do yourself. Simply install the latest version of Cygwin, and make sure to search for and install OpenSSH on the package screen. Then go into the /bin directory of where you installed Cygwin, and copy the following files into C:\Program Files\Git\bin (or Program Files (x86) if you’re on 64-bit):

  • cygcrypto-0.9.8.dll
  • cyggcc_s-1.dll
  • cygssp-0.dll
  • cygwin1.dll
  • cygz.dll
  • ssh.exe
  • ssh-add.exe
  • ssh-agent.exe
  • ssh-keygen.exe
  • ssh-keyscan.exe

Checking the OpenSSH version should yield something a bit higher now:

$ ssh -V OpenSSH_5.8p1, OpenSSL 0.9.8r 8 Feb 2011

Your clone speeds should be faster too. This upgrade bumped ours from literally around 1MB/sec to a bit over 10MB/sec. Nice.