Creating a Repository
Overview
Teaching: 10 min
Exercises: 0 minQuestions
Where does Git store information?
Objectives
Create a local Git repository.
Once Git is configured, we can start using it.
We will continue with the story of Wolfman and Dracula who are investigating if it is possible to send a planetary lander to Mars.
Werewolf vs dracula
by b-maze / Deviant Art.
Planets /
CC0 1.0.
Mummy
© Gilad Fried / The Noun Project /
CC BY 3.0.
Moon
© Luc Viatour / https://lucnix.be /
CC BY-SA 3.0.
First, let’s create a directory in Desktop folder for our work and then move into that directory:
$ cd ~/Desktop
$ mkdir planets
$ cd planets
Then we tell Git to make planets a repository—a place where Git can store versions of our files:
$ git init
It is important to note that git init will create a repository that
includes subdirectories and their files—there is no need to create
separate repositories nested within the planets repository, whether
subdirectories are present from the beginning or added later. Also, note
that the creation of the planets directory and its initialization as a
repository are completely separate processes.
If we use ls to show the directory’s contents,
it appears that nothing has changed:
$ ls
But if we add the -a flag to show everything,
we can see that Git has created a hidden directory within planets called .git:
$ ls -a
. .. .git
Git uses this special sub-directory to store all the information about the project,
including all files and sub-directories located within the project’s directory.
If we ever delete the .git sub-directory,
we will lose the project’s history.
We can check that everything is set up correctly by asking Git to tell us the status of our project:
$ git status
# On branch master
#
# Initial commit
#
nothing to commit (create/copy files and use "git add" to track)
If you are using a different version of git, the exact
wording of the output might be slightly different.
Key Points
git initinitializes a repository.Git stores all of its repository data in the
.gitdirectory.