Git basic workflow
This post describes a basic git workflow. This is what I follow to keep track of changes in this blog.
I will cover, how to create a bare repository, a local repository, and the workflow to make changes.
All examples will be based on a Pelican blog, but you can follow the same principles for any type of git repository.
Bare Repository
The bare repository is a non working repository. It's impossible to edit files and commit changes in it. The whole idea of a bare repository is to pull and push into it, but never directly commit into it. A bare repository is just used for storage, as opposed to a development repository.
git init --bare gonzalosaenz.com.git
Local repository
A local repository can be created with
git init gonzalosaenz.com
This will create an empty local repository. You can create and edit files in the local repository with your favorite text editor. Once you create files, they can be added your git repository within
git add .
Once you finish working on your files. you can perform a:
git status
This will list any pending changes. Then you might:
git add . # too add any pending changes
git commit -m "commit message."
This will commit your changes to your local repository. However we haven't linked yet the local and remote (bare) repositories. in order to do so,
git remote add gonzalosaenz.com [email protected]:~/gonzalosaenz.com.git
git push --set-upstream gonzalosaenz.com master
In case it needs to be clarified, "[email protected]:~/gonzalosaenz.com.git" is a fake repository. You can use github, gitlab, bitbucket, hosted a repository in your own (cloud) server, etc.
Next step is to push your local copy of the repository to the remote repository. This will make your local changes available in the remote repository.
git push gonzalosaenz.com
In the local repository you can query your remote repository with:
git remote -v
origin [email protected]:~/gonzalosaenz.com.git (fetch)
origin [email protected]:~/gonzalosaenz.com.git (push)
Workflow
So far we covered the steps that are required to create a bare repository and a local working repository. You only need to perform these steps once.
Now we will cover the git workflow to work on your content. The steps I follow every time I write a new post, I would:
1) clone a local copy of the repository:
git clone [email protected]:~/gonzalosaenz.com.git
cd gonzalosaenz.com
2) Create my working environment
virtualenv . # create a virtualenv for Pelican
source bin/activate # activate the environment
pip install -r requirements.txt # install dependencies
make devserver # launch a local Pelican devserver
3) Work on your post. Don't forget to save your changes!
4) Commit your changes
git add .
git commit -m "new post about git"
5) and push your changes to the central repository
git push gonzalosaenz.com
Final thoughts
You can get help for each git command by running for example:
git add --help # this will list help for git add
In the references section you will find links to git resources.
There are a few things that I didn't cover in this entry. Like how to create a pelican blog. I might or might not cover this in a future post.
References
Bellow you will find some git resources
- Setting up a repository - bitbucket
- How to set up a git repository locally and on a remote server
- Git ignore generator
That's all folks!
Gonzalo Sáenz