Install and Configure Git in Ubuntu

Overview

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.

Every Git clone is a full-fledged repository with complete history and full revision tracking capabilities, not dependent on network access or a central server. Branching and merging are fast and easy to do.

Typically, Git is used with hosting services such as GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, among others. They all offer distributed version control services. Unlike Git, which is strictly a commandline tool, GitHub, and the likes, provides a web-based graphical interface for 'version control'. This allows for collaboration and sharing of projects among people or groups of people.

Installation

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.

In this tutorial, I will recommend installing git from the Ubuntu Software repository. This tutorial is based on Ubuntu 20.04. Run the following commands in your terminal following the order below.

Step 1

# Update your system

$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt upgrade

It is important to always update and upgrage your APT. Since you are running as root, you will be asked to enter your password. Do so and the installation will continue.

Step 2

$ sudo apt install git

This downloads and installs git on your system.

Step 3

$ git --version

This command checks what version of git has been installed in your system.

Configuration

We will use the terminal to configure git. You will need to provide your username and email address.

Step 1

$ git config --global user.username "<put here your username>"

This will add your username to the git configurations.

Step 2

$ git config --global user.email "<put here your email@example.com>"

This will add your email to the git configurations.

Step 3

$ git config --list

This step confirms all the changes you just made in the git configuration file. If at any point you want to edit your changes, run:
$ git config

Read more on git in their documentation.