Day 8 Task: Basic Git & GitHub for DevOps Engineers: Part-1

What is Git?

Git is a version control system that allows you to track changes to files and coordinate work on those files among multiple people. It is commonly used for software development, but it can be used to track changes to any set of files.

With Git, you can keep a record of who made changes to what part of a file, and you can revert back to earlier versions of the file if needed. Git also makes it easy to collaborate with others, as you can share changes and merge the changes made by different people into a single version of a file.

What is GitHub?

GitHub is a web-based platform that provides hosting for version control using Git. It is a subsidiary of Microsoft, and it offers all of the distributed version control and source code management (SCM) functionality of Git as well as adding its own features. GitHub is a very popular platform for developers to share and collaborate on projects, and it is also used for hosting open-source projects.

What is Version Control? How many types of version controls do we have?

Version control is a system that tracks changes to a file or set of files over time so that you can recall specific versions later. It allows you to revert files back to a previous state, revert the entire project back to a previous state, compare changes over time, see who last modified something that might be causing a problem, who introduced an issue and when, and more.

There are two main types of version control systems: centralized version control systems and distributed version control systems.

1. A?centralized version control system?(CVCS): ?Uses a central server to store all the versions of a project's files. Developers "check out" files from the central server, make changes, and then "check in" the updated files. Examples of CVCS include Subversion and Perforce.
2. A?distributed version control system (DVCS): ?Allows developers to "clone" an entire repository, including the entire version history of the project. This means that they have a complete local copy of the repository, including all branches and past versions. Developers can work independently and then later merge their changes back into the main repository. Examples of DVCS include Git, Mercurial, and Darcs.

Why do we use distributed version control over centralized version control?

1. Better collaboration: In a DVCS, every developer has a full copy of the repository, including the entire history of all changes. This makes it easier for developers to work together, as they don't have to constantly communicate with a central server to commit their changes or to see the changes made by others.
2. Improved speed: Because developers have a local copy of the repository, they can commit their changes and perform other version control actions faster, as they don't have to communicate with a central server.
3. Greater flexibility: With a DVCS, developers can work offline and commit their changes later when they do have an internet connection. They can also choose to share their changes with only a subset of the team, rather than pushing all of their changes to a central server.
4. Enhanced security: In a DVCS, the repository history is stored on multiple servers and computers, which makes it more resistant to data loss. If the central server in a CVCS goes down or the repository becomes corrupted, it can be difficult to recover the lost data.

Overall, the decentralized nature of a DVCS allows for greater collaboration, flexibility, and security, making it a popular choice for many teams.

Task:

Install Git on your computer:

(if it is not already installed). You can download it from the official website at download git and follow the steps

Here we will install git in Ubuntu (Linux os)

1. Update the system: sudo apt-get update
2. Install git: sudo apt-get install git
3. Check git install or not git --version or git -v

Create a new repository on GitHub and clone it to your local machine:

To create a new repository on GitHub:

1. Go to github.com and log in to your account.
2. Create a free account on GitHub (if you don't already have one). You can click on the link and create a GitHub account here
3. Once the account is created click on "new" on the right side and it will redirect you to the main repository creation page
4. Enter a name for your repository.
5. Choose whether you want the repository to be public or private.
6. Add a README file.
7. Click the “Create repository” button.

To clone the repository to your local machine, and follow these steps:

1. Once the repository is created go to the repository page
2. Above the list of files, click??Code.
3. Copy the URL for the repository by clicking on the copy button

5. Now go to the terminal and create the directory to clone the repository and go inside that newly created dir

6. Now clone the GitHub repository into your local machine(newly created directory)

To clone the GitHub repo use the below clone command

git clone https://github.com/YOUR-URL/YOUR-REPOSITORY

Which we have earlier copied use that URL

7. Now you can see your GitHub repository is successfully cloned in your local directory

Make some changes to a file in the repository and commit them to the repository using Git.

1. Go into the local repository which we have cloned and create the file and add some content using ant editor (vi/nano)
2. The use check the current status of your git repository using the below command

git status - Shows the current status of your git repository

3. Now we have to move the changes from the working area to the staging area using the below command

git add <file-name> or git add . (. add all the updated changes )

-?Moves changes from the working directory to the staging area.

4. Now we have to commit the changes(staged) file to git using the below command

git commit -m "your_commit_message"

Push the changes back to the repository on GitHub

You can request a list of all remote repositories that are currently connected to your local repository:

Syntax:? git remote -v

5. Now we have to push/upload local repository content to a remote repository. Pushing is how you transfer commits from your local repository to a remote repo using the below command

git?push?<remote>?<branch>

6. It will ask you to enter GitHub username and then enter your username and password (git-hub token) to verify the identity

8. And now finally we can see the changes reflected in the Git-Hub repository also with the latest commits

Thank you for reading the article

Happy Learning!