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Install Git

neured edited this page Jan 5, 2019 · 2 revisions

What is Git?

Git is a free and open source distributed version control system (VCS). VCS is a subset of software configuration management (SCM). Think of Git as a way to track everything that's ever been done to a file. This isn't strictly true but it provides data assurances. Git can handle projects of any size.

For our purposes, it provides easy access to some neuroimaging software.

Linux

You can check to see if you have git installed already on your system:

$ git --version
git version 1.7.1
  • If you need to install:

Fedora/Red Hat/CentOS

# sudo dnf install git-all

Debian/Ubuntu

# sudo apt install git

Mac

There are several ways to install Git on a Mac. The easiest is probably to install the Xcode Command Line Tools. On Mavericks (10.9) or above you can do this simply by trying to run git from the Terminal the very first time.

$ git --version

If you don’t have it installed already, it will prompt you to install it.

If you want a more up to date version, you can also install it via a binary installer. A macOS Git installer is maintained and available for download at the Git website.

Windows

There are also a few ways to install Git on Windows. The most official build is available for download on the Git website. Just go to http://git-scm.com/download/win and the download will start automatically. Note that this is a project called Git for Windows, which is separate from Git itself.

To get an automated installation you can use the Git Chocolatey package. Note that the Chocolatey package is community maintained.

Another easy way to get Git installed is by installing GitHub Desktop. The installer includes a command line version of Git as well as the GUI. It also works well with Powershell, and sets up solid credential caching and sane CRLF settings. If you need more information, refer to the Git website. You can download this from the GitHub Desktop website.