Getting Started With GIT on Codeplex

I thought I would document my findings on using the codeplex implementation of GIT.  I'm not going to go into detail about GIT, as I will assume you know that its a distributed SCM (Source Control Management) system, if you are looking for more detail on GIT i suggest you check out the excellent eBook here.

The first thing you will need is a Git Client, you can if you want to use the various windows command line  git clients, or if like me you prefer a shell integration then i can recommend Tortoise GIT which is a port of the popular Subversion shell integration Tortoise SVN to git. As well as Tortoise GIT you will also need a copy of msysgit.  Once you have downloaded and installed both of those bits of software you are just about ready to start pushing and pulling to codeplex.  Before you start however i recommend that you install the git-credential-winstore project from codeplex which saves you from having to type your username and password in every time you want to interact with codeplex by securely storing your credentials in the Windows Credential Store.

Alternatively you can use the Github windows client, however i have found the client to be prone to issues when you have a repository tracking more than 3000 files, which leads to excessive memory consumption (over 600mb) and time outs, however once the issues with large repositories have been ironed out it will probably become the de-facto GIT client for windows, and for smaller projects it works wonderfully.

I recommend that you read the documentation on codeplex about Using GIT with Codeplex before you clone the repository.  Now to clone the repository of your choice using Tortoise GIT just browse to a suitable location on your  hard drive and create and open a new folder.  Next right click and choose Git Clone

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Then enter the URL of the repository you want to clone and click ‘Ok’.  Finally enter your Codeplex username and password (if you installed git-credential-winstore then this is the only time you will have to do this for the repository you are checking out, otherwise each time you connect to the codeplex servers you will be prompted for your credentials).

Once the cloning has completed you will have a local copy of the repository to do what you will with.  From their on in you can work with local version control, and when you are ready you can push your changes back to the codeplex repository (assuming you have suitable permissions for that project).

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Tags: GIT, Codeplex, Version Control

©Tim Chubb 2024