Navigating the world of Version control is significant especially when collaborating with other developers. It makes it super easy to keep track of changes on files. This way, project management is efficient and workflow is enhanced.
For this to be possible, you need a version control system such as Git. There are other systems such as mercurial but Git is the most popular because it is free, open source, super fast and scalable.
In this article, you will get a comprehensive guide on how to install Git on Windows 11 and Git command cheat sheet to help you get started with version control.
Git Installation
Download Git
To download Git, head over to the official Git website. https://git-scm.com/. The site will automatically detect the appropriate version for your operating system.
Click on Download for Windows and choose the Standalone Installer. Most PC's these days use the 64-bit architecture but choose the installer depending on your PC's specifications.
This will download the executable to your machine.
Install Git
Head to the directory where downloaded executable was saved and run the installer. This will open the setup wizard.
The installation is straight forward. The setup wizard will guide you all through. Below are all the screenshots of the installation process using the wizard.
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Start by accepting the User Account control.
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Red through the GNU General Public License the click next.
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Unless you really need to change the installation folder, leave it to the default location then Press Next
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On the Select Components window, check the boxes on the options you need to add. Don't remove the default options that are selected then Press Next.
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The next window will prompt you for the Start menu folder. This is the folder where the program's shortcut will be created. Leave it to default and press Next.
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On the next window, select the default editor to be use by Git. This is all about preference, so choose the editor you like and press Next.
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You can change the name of the initial branch name for new repositories. Leave it to default the Click on Next.
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The next step sets the PATH environment variables. Leave this option as default so that you can use git using different shells. Press Next.
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The next windows asks you to choose the Shell client program to use with Git. Leave it to Use bundled OpenSSH then press Next.
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Next select SSL library that Git will use for HTTPS connections. The default one works fine so press Next.
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The following window as you to choose how Git should treat line endings intext files. Don't change anything here and press Next.
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On the next window, leave MinTTY as the default terminal emulator then press Next.
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On the default behavior for Git pull, leave the Default and press Next.
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Use the Git credential manager then press Next.
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On the next window, select the feature you would like to enable then press Next.
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The next windows ask you to try the experimental features. Select the ones you would like to try the press Install to finish the installation process.
After the wizard configurations, Git will be installed on to your machine. Click on the finish button to finish quit the setup wizard.
Confirm the installation was successful using the command below.
git --version
Configure Git
With Git successfully installed, you should configure it to ensure it work seamlessly with Github. To do so, open you terminal or Git bash then use the command below.
git config --global user.name "Your Name"
Replace Your Name with your actual name. Then do the same with your email using the command below.
git config --global user.email "Your email"
Replace Your email with your actual email.
That is it. You can also check your configurations using the command below.
git config --list
Git commands Cheat sheet
Captain Salem
Summary
This article shows you a step-by-step process to install Git on your Windows machine and also gives you a cheat sheet to get started with version control. If you found the article helpful, share it with interested parties.
Thank you for reading : )
