Essential Git Commands and Workflow Guide

Git stores configuration settings at different levels. System-wide settings for all users are located in /etc/gitconfig, while user-specific settings reside in ~/.gitconfig.

To display all current configurations:

git config --list

Setting user information globally (affects ~/.gitconfig):

git config --global user.name "John Doe"
git config --global user.email "john@example.com"

For system-wide changes (modifies /etc/gitconfig):

git config --system user.name "John Doe"

Core Git Operations

Cloning Repositories

Create a local copy of an existing repository:

git clone https://github.com/user/project.git

Git supports multiple protocols including SSH, HTTP, and HTTPS.

File Lifecycle States

Untracked: Files not yet tracked by Git
Modified: Tracked files with pending changes
Staged: Changes marked for inclusion in the next commit
Committed: Files stored in the local Git database

Repository Initialization and Status

Initialize a new repository in the current directory:

git init

Check the current status of all files:

git status

Staging and Committing Files

Add a file to the staging area:

git add src/main.c

To unstage a file without discarding changes:

git restore --staged src/main.c

Commit staged changes:

git commit -m "Add main module"

Modifying Tracked Files

After editing a tracked file, stage the modifications:

git add src/main.c

Unstage modifications:

git restore --staged src/main.c

Discard all local changes and revert to the last committed version:

git restore src/main.c

Removing Files

Delete a file from both the working directory and the repository:

git rm src/old_module.c
git commit -m "Remove deprecated module"

To remove a file from the repository but keep it locally:

git rm --cached config/local_settings.json
git commit -m "Stop tracking local config"

Recover a mistakenly deleted file before committing:

git restore --staged src/old_module.c
git restore src/old_module.c

To recover a file after a committed deletion, use the reflog or checkout from a previous commit:

git log --oneline
git checkout <commit-hash> -- src/old_module.c

Remote Repository Management

Viewing Remote Connections

List all remote repositories:

git remote

Display remote names with their URLs:

git remote -v

Show detailed information about a specific remote:

git remote show origin

Managing Remote References

Add a new remote repository:

git remote add upstream git://server.example.com/project.git

Rename a remote:

git remote rename old_name new_name

Remove a remote reference:

git remote remove upstream

Data Synchronization

Fetch updates without merging:

git fetch origin

Fetch and automatically merge into the current branch:

git pull origin main

Push local commits to a remote repository:

git push origin main

Working with Tags

Listing Tags

git tag
git show v1.0.0

Creating Tags

Create a lightweight tag:

git tag v1.0.0

Create an annotated tag with a message:

git tag -a v1.0.0 -m "Release version 1.0.0"

Tag a specific historical commit:

git tag -a v0.9.0 a1b2c3d

Deleting and Pushing Tags

Remove a local tag:

git tag -d v1.0.0

Push all tags to a remote repository:

git push origin --tags

Branch Operations

Viewing and Switching Branches

git branch          # List all branches
git branch -v       # Show branches with last commit
git branch --merged # Show merged branches
git branch --no-merged # Show unmerged branches
git checkout dev    # Switch to dev branch

Creating New Branches

git branch feature-x        # Create branch
git checkout -b feature-y   # Create and switch

Merging Branches

git checkout main
git merge feature-x

If conflicts occur, manually resolve them in the affected files, then complete the merge:

git add resolved_file.c
git commit -m "Merge feature-x into main"

Deleting Branches

git branch -d feature-x       # Safe delete
git branch -D feature-y       # Force delete unmerged branch

Remote Branch Operations

Push a local branch to a remote:

git push origin feature-x

Delete a remote branch:

git push origin --delete feature-x

Setting Up a Bare Repository Server

On the server, create a dedicated user and initialize a bare repository:

groupadd gitusers
useradd -m -g gitusers gituser
su - gituser
mkdir -p ~/repos/project.git
cd ~/repos/project.git
git init --bare

On the client machine, initialize and push to the server:

mkdir ~/workspace/project
cd ~/workspace/project
git init
touch README.md
git add README.md
git commit -m "Initial commit"
git remote add origin gituser@server.example.com:~/repos/project.git
git push -u origin main

Troubleshooting Common Isues

Resolving Merge Conflicts During Pull

When git pull results in conflicts, edit the conflicting files. Conflict markers appear as:

<<<<<<< HEAD
local changes
=======
remote changes
>>>>>>> origin/main

Manually resolve the conflict by keeping the correct code and removing the markers, then commit the resolution:

git add .
git commit -m "Resolve merge conflicts"

Stashing Local Changes Before Pull

If uncommitted local changes conflict with incoming updates:

git stash
git pull
git stash pop

Branch Merge Conflicts

Conflicts during branch merging follow the same resolution process. After resolving, complete the merge with a commit.

Advanced Operations

Generating Patches

git format-patch -1                    # Patch for last commit
git format-patch -2                    # Patches for last 2 commits
git format-patch a1b2c3d..e4f5g6h      # Patches between commits
git format-patch v1.0.0..v2.0.0       # Patches between tags

Exporting Specific Versions

Create a tarball of a specific tag or commit:

git archive --format=tar --prefix="project-v1.0/" v1.0.0 > ../project-v1.0.tar

Tags: Git Version Control Git Branch Git Remote Merge Conflict

Posted on Mon, 08 Jun 2026 16:32:57 +0000 by Timsoft

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