First-Time Git Setup
You can view all of your settings and where they are coming from using:
git config --list --show-origin
Your Identity
Set your user name and email address. This is important because every Git commit uses this information.
git config --global user.name "Mohamed Yehia"
git config --global user.email "[email protected]"
Your default branch name
By default Git will create a branch called master when you create a new repository with git init.
you can set a different name for the initial branch
git config --global init.defaultBranch main
Generating SSH Keys (Private & Public)
We will generate a private key and a public key:
• The private key stays on your machine.
• The public key will be added to your GitHub account.
Why use SSH keys instead of a password?
1. GitHub no longer supports password authentication. Now you must either:
• Use a Personal Access Token (if you're using HTTP)
• Or use SSH keys (if you're using SSH)
2. SSH Keys are:
• More secure
• Easier to use after setup (no need to enter password every time)
How to generate SSH keys?
1. Generate SSH keys (only once per machine):
ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "
[email protected]"
After generation, your keys will be stored in:
• Private key: ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
• Public key: ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub
2. Add the public key to GitHub:
1. Go to your GitHub account and navigate to: Settings → SSH and GPG Keys → New SSH key.
or open https://github.com/settings/keys
2. Copy the contents of the public key file:
cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub
3. Check if a key already exists under "SSH keys" (you'll see the name and creation date).
If there's no key, you need to add it manually
3. Test your connection:
ssh -T
[email protected]If you see the message like:
"Hi, Mohamed Yehia! You've successfully authenticated..."
Then you're all set!
Git Basics
Getting a Git Repository
You typically obtain a Git repository in one of two ways:
1. You can take a local directory that is currently not under version control, and turn it into a Git repository, or
2. You can clone an existing Git repository from elsewhere.
In either case, you end up with a Git repository on your local machine, ready for work
Initializing a Repository in an Existing Directory
If you have a project directory that is currently not under version control and you want to start controlling it with
Git, you first need to go to that project’s directory.
cd C:/Users/user/my_project
git init
This creates a new subdirectory named .git that contains all of your necessary repository files — a Git repository
skeleton. At this point, nothing in your project is tracked yet. See Git Internals for 26 more information about
exactly what files are contained in the .git directory you just created.
To add a remote connection:
git remote add origin https://github.com/Mo-yehia/gitBasics.git
nots:
To check if the remote connection was added correctly:
git remote -v
To remove the remote connection:
git remote remove origin
Cloning an Existing Repository
git clone https://github.com/Mo-yehia/gitBasics
Daily Workflow After Connecting the Repository (Git Workflow):
Stage the files:
git add .
Commit the changes:
git commit -m "Describe what you changed"
Push the changes to GitHub:
git push origin main
note!
If it's a new project and you're pushing for the first time, use: git push -u origin main
(This links the current local branch to origin/main so future pushes can be done with just git push)
Show the status of files in the project:
git status
(Shows which files have changed and which ones still need to be added to staging.)
View commit history:
git log
Restore the last version of a modified file (before committing):
git checkout -- filename.txt
Unstage a file (remove it from staging without deleting changes):
git reset filename.txt
Discard all changes before committing (resets project to the last commit and deletes all changes made after it):
git reset --hard
Create a new branch:
git branch new-branch-name
Switch to an existing branch:
git checkout branch-name
Create a new branch and switch to it immediately:
git checkout -b new-branch
Merge a branch into the current branch:
git merge branch-name
Working with Files and Folders
To create a file:
touch filename.txt
To create a folder:
mkdir foldername
To delete a file:
git rm filename.txt
To delete a folder:
git rm -r foldername
