derhuerst / intro.md
Git is a free and open source distributed version control system designed to handle everything from small to very large projects with speed and efficiency.
Choose one of the following options.
Determine on which Linux distribution your system is based on. See List of Linux distributions – Wikipedia for a list. Most Linux systems – including Ubuntu – are Debian-based.
Debian-based linux systems
Open a terminal window. Copy & paste the following into the terminal window and hit Return . You may be prompted to enter your password.
sudo apt update sudo apt upgrade sudo apt install git
You can use Git now.
Red Hat-based linux systems
Open a terminal. Copy & paste the following into the terminal window and hit Return . You may be prompted to enter your password.
sudo yum upgrade sudo yum install git
You can use Git now.
Homebrew […] simplifies the installation of software on the Mac OS X operating system.
Copy & paste the following into the terminal window and hit Return .
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install.sh)" brew doctor You will be offered to install the Command Line Developer Tools from Apple. Confirm by clicking Install. After the installation finished, continue installing Homebrew by hitting Return again.
Copy & paste the following into the terminal window and hit Return .
You can use Git now.
Installing Git on Windows
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:git-core/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install git
Install git on Ubuntu
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:git-core/ppa --yes --update sudo apt-get install git --yes
$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:git-core/ppa --yes --update gpg: keyring `/tmp/tmpk8m4os6a/secring.gpg' created gpg: keyring `/tmp/tmpk8m4os6a/pubring.gpg' created gpg: requesting key E1DF1F24 from hkp server keyserver.ubuntu.com gpg: /tmp/tmpk8m4os6a/trustdb.gpg: trustdb created gpg: key E1DF1F24: public key "Launchpad PPA for Ubuntu Git Maintainers" imported gpg: Total number processed: 1 gpg: imported: 1 (RSA: 1) OK $ sudo apt-get install git --yes Reading package lists. Done Building dependency tree Reading state information. Done The following additional packages will be installed: git-man libpcre2-8-0 Suggested packages: git-daemon-run | git-daemon-sysvinit git-doc git-el git-email git-gui gitk gitweb git-cvs git-mediawiki git-svn The following NEW packages will be installed: libpcre2-8-0 The following packages will be upgraded: git git-man . Preparing to unpack . /git_1%3a2.21.0-0ppa1~ubuntu16.04.1_amd64.deb . Unpacking git (1:2.21.0-0ppa1~ubuntu16.04.1) over (1:2.7.4-0ubuntu1.6) . Preparing to unpack . /git-man_1%3a2.21.0-0ppa1~ubuntu16.04.1_all.deb . Unpacking git-man (1:2.21.0-0ppa1~ubuntu16.04.1) over (1:2.7.4-0ubuntu1.6) . Selecting previously unselected package libpcre2-8-0:amd64. Preparing to unpack . /libpcre2-8-0_10.21-1_amd64.deb . Unpacking libpcre2-8-0:amd64 (10.21-1) . Processing triggers for man-db (2.7.5-1) . Processing triggers for libc-bin (2.23-0ubuntu11) . Setting up libpcre2-8-0:amd64 (10.21-1) . Setting up git-man (1:2.21.0-0ppa1~ubuntu16.04.1) . Setting up git (1:2.21.0-0ppa1~ubuntu16.04.1) . Processing triggers for libc-bin (2.23-0ubuntu11) .
$ git --version git version 2.21.0 hub version 2.11.2
hub : use github from the command-line
hub is an extension to command-line git that helps you do everyday GitHub tasks without ever leaving the terminal
1.5 Getting Started — Installing Git
Before you start using Git, you have to make it available on your computer. Even if it’s already installed, it’s probably a good idea to update to the latest version. You can either install it as a package or via another installer, or download the source code and compile it yourself.
This book was written using Git version 2. Since Git is quite excellent at preserving backwards compatibility, any recent version should work just fine. Though most of the commands we use should work even in ancient versions of Git, some of them might not or might act slightly differently.
Installing on Linux
If you want to install the basic Git tools on Linux via a binary installer, you can generally do so through the package management tool that comes with your distribution. If you’re on Fedora (or any closely-related RPM-based distribution, such as RHEL or CentOS), you can use dnf :
If you’re on a Debian-based distribution, such as Ubuntu, try apt :
For more options, there are instructions for installing on several different Unix distributions on the Git website, at https://git-scm.com/download/linux.
Installing on macOS
There are several ways to install Git on macOS. The easiest is probably to install the Xcode Command Line Tools. On Mavericks (10.9) or above you can do this simply by trying to run git from the Terminal the very first time.
If you don’t have it installed already, it will prompt you to install it.
If you want a more up to date version, you can also install it via a binary installer. A macOS Git installer is maintained and available for download at the Git website, at https://git-scm.com/download/mac.
Installing on Windows
There are also a few ways to install Git on Windows. The most official build is available for download on the Git website. Just go to https://git-scm.com/download/win and the download will start automatically. Note that this is a project called Git for Windows, which is separate from Git itself; for more information on it, go to https://gitforwindows.org.
To get an automated installation you can use the Git Chocolatey package. Note that the Chocolatey package is community maintained.
Installing from Source
Some people may instead find it useful to install Git from source, because you’ll get the most recent version. The binary installers tend to be a bit behind, though as Git has matured in recent years, this has made less of a difference.
If you do want to install Git from source, you need to have the following libraries that Git depends on: autotools, curl, zlib, openssl, expat, and libiconv. For example, if you’re on a system that has dnf (such as Fedora) or apt-get (such as a Debian-based system), you can use one of these commands to install the minimal dependencies for compiling and installing the Git binaries:
$ sudo dnf install dh-autoreconf curl-devel expat-devel gettext-devel \ openssl-devel perl-devel zlib-devel $ sudo apt-get install dh-autoreconf libcurl4-gnutls-dev libexpat1-dev \ gettext libz-dev libssl-devIn order to be able to add the documentation in various formats (doc, html, info), these additional dependencies are required:
$ sudo dnf install asciidoc xmlto docbook2X $ sudo apt-get install asciidoc xmlto docbook2xUsers of RHEL and RHEL-derivatives like CentOS and Scientific Linux will have to enable the EPEL repository to download the docbook2X package.
If you’re using a Debian-based distribution (Debian/Ubuntu/Ubuntu-derivatives), you also need the install-info package:
$ sudo apt-get install install-infoIf you’re using a RPM-based distribution (Fedora/RHEL/RHEL-derivatives), you also need the getopt package (which is already installed on a Debian-based distro):
Additionally, if you’re using Fedora/RHEL/RHEL-derivatives, you need to do this:
$ sudo ln -s /usr/bin/db2x_docbook2texi /usr/bin/docbook2x-texidue to binary name differences.
When you have all the necessary dependencies, you can go ahead and grab the latest tagged release tarball from several places. You can get it via the kernel.org site, at https://www.kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git, or the mirror on the GitHub website, at https://github.com/git/git/tags. It’s generally a little clearer what the latest version is on the GitHub page, but the kernel.org page also has release signatures if you want to verify your download.
$ tar -zxf git-2.8.0.tar.gz $ cd git-2.8.0 $ make configure $ ./configure --prefix=/usr $ make all doc info $ sudo make install install-doc install-html install-infoAfter this is done, you can also get Git via Git itself for updates:
$ git clone https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/git/git.gitSaved searches
Use saved searches to filter your results more quickly
You signed in with another tab or window. Reload to refresh your session. You signed out in another tab or window. Reload to refresh your session. You switched accounts on another tab or window. Reload to refresh your session.
How to install Git on any OS
Git can be installed on the most common operating systems like Windows, Mac, and Linux. In fact, Git comes installed by default on most Mac and Linux machines!
To see if you already have Git installed, open up your terminal application.
- If you’re on a Mac, look for a command prompt application called «Terminal».
- If you’re on a Windows machine, open the windows command prompt or «Git Bash».
Once you’ve opened your terminal application, type git version . The output will either tell you which version of Git is installed, or it will alert you that git is an unknown command. If it’s an unknown command, read further and find out how to install Git.
Install Git Using GitHub Desktop
Installing GitHub Desktop will also install the latest version of Git if you don’t already have it. With GitHub Desktop, you get a command line version of Git with a robust GUI. Regardless of if you have Git installed or not, GitHub Desktop offers a simple collaboration tool for Git. You can learn more here.
- Navigate to the latest Git for Windows installer and download the latest version.
- Once the installer has started, follow the instructions as provided in the Git Setup wizard screen until the installation is complete.
- Open the windows command prompt (or Git Bash if you selected not to use the standard Git Windows Command Prompt during the Git installation).
- Type git version to verify Git was installed.
Note: git-scm is a popular and recommended resource for downloading Git for Windows. The advantage of downloading Git from git-scm is that your download automatically starts with the latest version of Git included with the recommended command prompt, Git Bash . The download source is the same Git for Windows installer as referenced in the steps above.
Most versions of MacOS will already have Git installed, and you can activate it through the terminal with git version . However, if you don’t have Git installed for whatever reason, you can install the latest version of Git using one of several popular methods as listed below:
Install Git From an Installer
- Navigate to the latest macOS Git Installer and download the latest version.
- Once the installer has started, follow the instructions as provided until the installation is complete.
- Open the command prompt «terminal» and type git version to verify Git was installed.
Note: git-scm is a popular and recommended resource for downloading Git on a Mac. The advantage of downloading Git from git-scm is that your download automatically starts with the latest version of Git. The download source is the same macOS Git Installer as referenced in the steps above.
Install Git from Homebrew
Homebrew is a popular package manager for macOS. If you already have Homwbrew installed, you can follow the below steps to install Git:
- Open up a terminal window and install Git using the following command: brew install git .
- Once the command output has completed, you can verify the installation by typing: git version .
Fun fact: Git was originally developed to version the Linux operating system! So, it only makes sense that it is easy to configure to run on Linux.
You can install Git on Linux through the package management tool that comes with your distribution.
- Git packages are available using apt .
- It’s a good idea to make sure you’re running the latest version. To do so, Navigate to your command prompt shell and run the following command to make sure everything is up-to-date: sudo apt-get update .
- To install Git, run the following command: sudo apt-get install git-all .
- Once the command output has completed, you can verify the installation by typing: git version .
- Git packages are available using dnf .
- To install Git, navigate to your command prompt shell and run the following command: sudo dnf install git-all .
- Once the command output has completed, you can verify the installation by typing: git version .
Note: You can download the proper Git versions and read more about how to install on specific Linux systems, like installing Git on Ubuntu or Fedora, in git-scm’s documentation.
Other Methods of Installing Git
Looking to install Git via the source code? Learn more here.
Get started with git and GitHub
Review code, manage projects, and build software alongside 40 million developers.
Subscribe to our newsletter
Get product updates, company news, and more.