How do I set up a Git repository?

Git is installed on all DreamHost servers. As of May 2019, the following version is installed:

[server]$ which git
/usr/bin/git
[server]$ git --version
git version 2.7.3

When you first set up you Git environment, you'll want to configure a few variables. View the following article for details:

• First time Git setup

You can also just proceed with the following steps for a basic setup.

The following two commands create your username and email address to be used with Git. View the SSH article for details on how to log into your server:

[server]$ git config --global user.name "John Doe"
[server]$ git config --global user.email johndoe@example.com

This creates a file named .gitconfig in your user's directory with the following content:

[user]
        name = John Doe
        email = johndoe@example.com

Check to confirm Git can find those settings by running the following:

[server]$ git config --list
user.name=John Doe
user.email=johndoe@example.com

1. Navigate to the directory of your application (or website). This example sets up Git in your website's directory.

   [server]$ cd /home/username/example.com
   

2. Run the following to initialize the new repository:

   [server]$ git init
   Initialized empty Git repository in /home/username/example.com/.git/
   

   This command creates the /.git directory and your git repository.

3. Add all files in your app to the Git repository. The following command shows how to add all files:

   [server]$ git add .
   

   You can also choose specific files if you wish.

4. Run the status command to confirm which files are in the staging area:

   [server]$ git status
   
   Initial commit
   
   Changes to be committed:
     (use "git rm --cached ..." to unstage)
   
           new file:   favicon.ico
           new file:   images/image1.jpg
           new file:   images/image2.jpg
           new file:   images/image3.jpg
           new file:   index.html
           new file:   mystyles.css
   

   

   In this example, you can see the following files and folder are being tracked and ready to be committed:

   • favicon.ico
   • images/image1.jpg
   • images/image2.jpg
   • images/image3.jpg
   • index.html
   • mystyles.css
5. If you're sure you're ready to commit (save) these versions of the files to your Git repository, run the following command:
   

   Make sure to add a short and clear message that explains what this commit was for. View the following article for details on how to create a good commit message.

   • Writing good commit messages

   [server]$ git commit -m "Committing website files for the first time"
   [master (root-commit) e11cdb7] Committing website files for the first time
    6 files changed, 34 insertions(+)
    create mode 100644 favicon.ico
    create mode 100644 images/image1.jpg
    create mode 100644 images/image2.jpg
    create mode 100644 images/image3.jpg
    create mode 100644 index.html
    create mode 100644 mystyles.css
   

   The -m flag allows you to add a message to this commit.

This creates your first commit. You can see your commit history by running the following:

[server]$ git log --oneline
e11cdb7 Committing website files for the first time

You don't need the --oneline flag, this just shortens the response so it's easier to read. View the following link for further examples and explanations:

• Recording changes to the repository