Git-Mastery: Lessons

Windows

Download the Git installer from the official Git website.
Run the installer and make sure to select the option to install Git Bash when prompted.

The screenshots below provide some guidance on the dialogs you might encounter when installing Git. In other cases, go with the default option.

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When running Git commands, Windows users should use the Git Bash terminal that comes with Git. To open the Git Bash terminal, hit the key and type git-bash. Some commands might not work in other terminals such as PowerShell.

The installation might not have added a shortcut to the Start Menu. You can navigate to the directory where git-bash.exe is (most likely C:\Program Files\Git\git-bash.exe), and double-click git-bash.exe to open Git Bash.
You can also right-click it and choose Pin to Start or Pin to taskbar.

SIDEBAR: Git Bash Terminal

Git Bash is a terminal application that lets you use Git from the command line on Windows. Since Git was originally developed for Unix-like systems (like Linux and macOS), Windows does not come with a native shell that supports all the commands and utilities commonly used with Git.

Git Bash provides a Unix-like command-line environment on Windows. It includes:

• A Bash shell (Bash stands for Bourne Again SHell), which is a widely used command-line interpreter on Linux and macOS.
• Common Unix tools and commands (like ls, cat, ssh, etc.) that are useful when working with Git and scripting.

When pasting text into a Git Bash terminal, you will not be able to use the familiar Ctrl+V key combo to paste. Instead, use Shift+Insert, or right-click on the terminal and use the Paste menu option.

On Windows, you might need to close and open the terminal again for it to recognize changes made elsewhere on the computer (e.g., newly installed software, changes to system variables, etc.).

macOS

Install Homebrew if you don't already have it, and then run brew install git.

Linux

Use your Linux distribution's package manager to install Git. Examples:

• Debian/Ubuntu: run sudo apt-get update and then sudo apt-get install git.
• Fedora: run sudo dnf update and then sudo dnf install git.

Verify Git is installed by running the following command in a terminal.

git --version

    

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git version 2._._

    

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To set the two config settings, run the following commands in your terminal window:

git config --global user.name "<your-name>"
git config --global user.email "<your-email@example.com>"

    

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Example:

git config --global user.name "John Doe"
git config --global user.email "john.doe@example.com"

    

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To check whether they are set as intended, you can use the following two commands:

git config --global user.name
git config --global user.email

    

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To set the init.defaultBranch config property to main, run the following command in your terminal window:

git config --global init.defaultBranch main

    

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To verify, run the following command:

git config --global init.defaultBranch

    

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main

    

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If you want to set this property back to master later, use git config --global init.defaultBranch master.

Optionally, you can install a Git GUI client, such as Sourcetree (installation instructions).

Our Git lessons show how to perform Git operations using Git CLI and Sourcetree; Sourcetree is included only to illustrate how Git GUIs work. It is perfectly fine for you to learn the CLI only.

_{[image credit: https://www.sourcetreeapp.com]}