Setting Up Git, GitHub, and SSH

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Resources

• HowToForge | Installing and using Git and GitHub on Ubuntu Linux
• TOP | Setting up Git

Install Git

Installing on Windows

• Install Git for Windows, which provides Git Bash (terminal emulator for running Git commands)
• Or, install using Windows Powershell

winget install --id Git.Git -e --source winget

• You can also install Linux for Windows via WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux)
  • Once setup, Git can be installed using the Linux package manager

Installing on Linux

https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Getting-Started-Installing-Git

• Install Git

  sudo apt install git

Configure GitHub

• Configure GitHub, replacing "Your name" and "your.email@example.com" with your info (including the quotes) to link your local Git profile with GitHub

  git config --global user.name "Your Name"
  git config --global user.email "your.email@example.com"

• Verify configuration

  git config --get user.name
  git config --get user.email
  # List all settings
  git config --list

Basic Git Workflow Example

Creating a local repository

• Create a local repository myTest and change the current working directory to myTest:

  mkdir myTest && cd myTest

• Initialize a .git subdirectory in the current working directory

  • Contains a hidden .git folder with subdirectories for objects, refs, and template files
  • A HEAD file is also created which will point to the currently checked out commit

  git init

  • If successful, you’ll see a message like:

  Initialized empty Git repository in /home/user/Mytest/.git/
  

• Check the current state of the working directory and the staging area.

  • Shows which changes have been staged, which haven’t, and which files aren’t being tracked by Git.

  git status

• Create a README file to describe the repository:

  • We will use nano (sudo apt install nano), a simple, user-friendly text editor for the command line

  nano README.md
  # Add some text, example:
  This is a git repo
  # Save the file by pressing CTRL + X, then Y, then press Enter

• Optional: Create a sample.c file:

  #include<stdio.h>
  int main()
  {
      printf("hello world");
      return 0;
  }

Staging Files in the Git Index

• Create and add files to the index.

  git add README.md
  git add sample.c

Committing changes made to the index

• Commit the changes with a message:

  git commit -m "Initial commit"

Creating a repository on GitHub

• Create a repository on GitHub with the same name as your local repository (e.g., “Mytest”).

  • Then, connect your local repository to the GitHub repository (Replace 'user_name' with your GitHub username):

  git remote add origin https://github.com/user_name/Mytest.git

Pushing files from a local repository to a GitHub repository

• Push the local repository contents to GitHub
  • The first time running this command, you need to link the local master branch to the master branch on remote repository (origin)

git push -u origin master
# Can also use `git push --set-upstream origin master`
 
# Note: Some repositories may use 'main' as the default branch instead of 'master'.
# In that case, use the following command:
# git push --set-upstream origin main

• For subsequent pushes

git push origin master
 
# Or if your default branch is 'main':
# git push origin main

• You may get a permission denied error when pushing to GitHub if SSH keys aren’t set properly (See Connecting to GitHub with SSH)

• Enable colorful output with git

  git config --global color.ui auto