Git and GitHub

The importance of learning version control cannot be exaggerated. These days, that generally means Git and GitHub.

Create a GitHub project: step-by-step instructions

First, create a GitHub account.

Also, if you are not using a development environment like Nitrous.IO, you will need to install git on your own machine. If you are not sure how to do this, you may want to set up a Nitrous account now. If you do use Nitrous, you will need to connect your newly-created box to your GitHub account.

We are going to start by creating a project. Once we have done this, please follow the videos and online tutorial below, in your own time.

• Go to the new page on GitHub.
• Select the Initialize this repository with a README option.
• Add .gitignore: Node, if you like
• Click on Create repository

When redirected to the new repo page, go to HTTPS clone URL on the right of the page. Where it says You can clone with HTTPS, SSH, or Subversion, select SSH. This allows you push changes to your repo without having to enter your username and password every time you do so. Then click on the Copy to Clipboard icon.

Next, return to the command line on your development server:

• Navigate to the directory where you want to put your repo.
• Type git clone and paste the URL copied from the GitHub repo page.

(The GitHub help pages are also worth a read)

If you have not set up your git identity on your dev box, you will need to do so.

git config --global user.name "your name"
git config --global user.email your-email-address

Check the status of the new repository

cd <name of cloned project>
git status

You should see:

# On branch master
nothing to commit, working directory clean 

Edit the README file

Use any code editor.

Check the status of the new repository:

git status

You should see:

# On branch master
# Changes not staged for commit:
#   (use "git add <file>..." to update what will be committed)
#   (use "git checkout -- <file>..." to discard changes in working directory)
#
#       modified:   README.md                    

Commit the changes:

git commit -am 'README edit'

-a automatically stages files that have been modified and deleted. -m adds a message.

Check the status again:

git status

Push the commited changes back to GitHub:

git push

The first time you do this on your dev box, you will be asked to enter your GitHub credentials

Create a new file:

touch new.txt

Add the new file to the repository:

git add new.txt

Check the status again, if you like:

git status

Commit the added files:

git commit -a -m "a new file"

And push them:

git push

Check the status again:

git status

Keep git adding files, git commiting them and git pushing the changes up to GitHub.

Questions

How do I add some existing files to a new repository?
Just move them in to the repository and git add them.

How do I add an existing git repo to a new GitHub project?
Assuming you have already created a project on GitHub, then:

git remote add origin <remote repository URL>
git remote -v
git push origin master

See Adding an existing project to GitHub using the command line.

Introductory videos

Having set up a GitHub project, now is a good time to learn more about both Git and GitHub.

• Git Basics
• GitHub & Git Foundations

Online tutorials

Start now with Getting Started and Basics in Git Immersion.

Complete the Introduction Sequence and Push & Pull -- Git Remotes! in learnGitBranching.

Both Git Immersion and LearnGitBranching cover similar ground. Try them both out. See which one you find most useful.