Software Development | Ruby on Rails
Installing Git on Windows

Git is the latest fashion in software configuration management. I found these sites useful when looking at git for windows:

msysgit

First get the windows Git package (msysgit) at http://code.google.com/p/msysgit/.

Run the EXE installer. Accept the default install directory. At the PATH setting screen Kyle Cordes recommends selecting “Use Git Bash only” to avoid any risk of PATH conflicts but I want to use Git from the command line so went for "Run Git from Windows Command Prompt".

Configure Git

Swicegood (2008) explains that Git needs two configuration settings to work (user.name and user.email). But he adds in a third (color.ui) that he thinks is useful. To set these and check (via --list) that it worked type these from a command prompt (substituting your name and email address): 

prompt> git config --global user.name "Steven Thomas"
prompt> git config --global user.email "steven@balagan.org.uk"
prompt> git config --global color.ui "auto"
prompt> git config --global --list

You can also do this from the Git Gui.

Join GitHub

Okay, it isn't Windows per se but there are lots of free goodies on github so it is worth joining. The most important thing is having a SSH key.  Kyle Cordes: Getting Started with Git and GitHub on Windows explains how to get an SSH key. Type this command from the command prompt (substituting your email address):

prompt> git ssh-keygen -C "steven@balagan.org.uk" -t rsa

I chose the default location and so the resulting file was:

C:\Documents and Settings\Steven Thomas\.ssh\id_rsa.pub

You'll need a text editor (notepad will do) to be able to copy and paste the SSH key.

Now you can go to github and sign up.

References

Kyle Cordes: Getting Started with Git and GitHub on Windows

Nathan J: An Illustrated Guide to Git on Windows

Swicegood, T. (2008). Pragmatic Version Control Using Git. The Pragmatic Bookshelf. Raleigh: NC.