How to Install Git and GitHub on Ubuntu: A Step-by-Step Guide

Setting up a GitHub Account

First, let’s set up your GitHub account if you don’t have one already. Follow these steps:

1. Go to GitHub’s website and click on the Sign up button.
2. Fill in the required details and create your account. Make sure to verify your email address.
3. Once your account is ready, you can sign in to GitHub.

Installing Git on Ubuntu

Before you start, ensure you have a terminal window open (You can open one by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T, for example).

Update package lists with sudo apt update. Then, install Git using sudo apt install git. To check if it worked, run git --version. This command will show you the installed version of Git. (Optional) Configure Git with your username and email by running these two commands, replacing “user_name” with your GitHub username and “youremail@example.com” with the email you used for your account: git config --global user.name "user_name" and git config --global user.email "youremail@example.com".

sudo apt update  

Install Git:

sudo apt install git  

Verify the installation:

git --version  

This command will show you the installed version of Git.

Configure Git (optional):

Run the two commands by replacing “user_name” with your GitHub username and “youremail@example.com” with the email you used to create your GitHub account.

git config --global user.name "user_name"
git config --global user.email "youremail@example.com"

Generating SSH Keys

To connect securely to GitHub from your computer, it’s best to set up SSH keys.

In your terminal, generate a new SSH key (replacing the email with the one you used for GitHub):

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "youremail@example.com"  

Press Enter to accept the default file location.

Set a secure passphrase when prompted.

Start the ssh-agent in the background and add your SSH private key:

eval "$(ssh-agent -s)" ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_ed25519  

Now, add the SSH key to your GitHub account:

Copy the SSH public key to your clipboard:

cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub | xclip -selection clipboard  

If xclip isn’t installed, you can install it using sudo apt install xclip.

Go to GitHub, click on your profile picture in the top-right corner, and go to Settings.

Go to SSH and GPG keys in the side menu and click New SSH key.

Paste your SSH key into the field and save.

Creating a Repository on GitHub

1. Log into your GitHub account.
2. Click the plus sign (+) in the top right corner and select New repository.
3. Give your repository a name, choose whether it should be public or private, and click Create repository.

Creating a local repository

Create a folder on your system. This will serve as a local repository and later be pushed onto the GitHub website.

Use the following command:

git init Myrepo

If the repository is created successfully, then you will get the following line:

“Initialized empty Git repository in /home/ricahrd/Myrepo/.git/”

Add Files to the Repository

After cloning a repository or if you have an existing directory that you want to track with git:

cd Myrepo
touch README.md
git add README.md

Commit Changes

To save your changes locally:

git commit -m "Add README"

Use a meaningful message that describes the changes you’ve made.

Push Changes

To send your committed changes to GitHub:

git push origin main

If you’re pushing to a different branch, be sure to replace main with that branch name.

Pull Changes

To update your local repository with the latest changes from GitHub:

git pull origin main

Again, replace main with the appropriate branch name if necessary.

Clone a Repository

To create a copy of a repository on your local machine:

git clone <repository URL>

Replace <repository URL> with the URL of the repository you want to clone (which can be found on the repository’s GitHub page).

And that’s it!

Conclusion:

• The guide provides a comprehensive overview of 💿 installing Git and setting up a GitHub account on Ubuntu, allowing for efficient code management and collaboration.
• Following this article’s steps, users can create a local repository, add files, commit changes, and push them to GitHub, streamlining their development process.
• Additionally, the guide covers essential commands such as generating SSH keys, creating a repository on GitHub, pulling changes, and cloning a repository, ensuring a well-rounded understanding of using Git and GitHub.