How do I gain permission to generate ssh keys on my Mac?
sounds like you don't have eXecute permission on your .ssh folder: try running ls -ld ~/.ssh and verify that the permissions are drwx------, and that the directory is owned by you. If the permissions differ, run chmod -R u+rwX,go-rwx ~/.ssh; if you're not the owner, run chown -R &lt;your account name&gt; ~/.ssh (find out your account name by running whoami). 

If either the chmod or chown commands fail due to permission errors, run them again but prefic them with sudo.