This article assumes you're setting up your Git repository on your DreamHost server. View the SSH overview article for instructions on how to log into your server.

Git is installed on all DreamHost servers. Run the following commands to view the location and version.

[server]$ which git
/usr/bin/git
[server]$ git --version
git version 2.20.1

When you first set up you Git environment, you'll want to configure a few variables. View the following article for details:

• First time Git setup

You can also just proceed with the following steps for a basic setup.

The following two commands create your username and email address to be used with Git. View the SSH article for details on how to log into your server:

[server]$ git config --global user.name "John Doe"
[server]$ git config --global user.email [email protected]

This creates a file named .gitconfig in your user's directory with the following content:

[user]
  name = John Doe
  email = [email protected]

Check to confirm Git can find those settings by running the following:

[server]$ git config --list
user.name=John Doe
[email protected]

1. Navigate to the directory of your application (or website). This example sets up Git in your website's directory. Change username to your Shell user and example.com to your website.

   [server]$ cd /home/username/example.com
   

2. Run the following to initialize the new repository:

   [server]$ git init
   Initialized empty Git repository in /home/username/example.com/.git/
   

   This command creates the /.git directory and your git repository.
3. Add all files in your app to the Git repository. The following command shows how to add all files:

   [server]$ git add .
   

   You can also choose specific files if you wish.
4. Run the status command to confirm which files are in the staging area:

   [server]$ git status
   
   Initial commit
   
   Changes to be committed:
     (use "git rm --cached ..." to unstage)
   
           new file:   favicon.ico
           new file:   images/image1.jpg
           new file:   images/image2.jpg
           new file:   images/image3.jpg
           new file:   index.html
           new file:   mystyles.css
   

   In this example, you can see the following files and folder are being tracked and ready to be committed:

   • favicon.ico
   • images/image1.jpg
   • images/image2.jpg
   • images/image3.jpg
   • index.html
   • mystyles.css
5. If you're sure you're ready to commit (save) these versions of the files to your Git repository, run the following command:

   Make sure to add a short and clear message that explains what this commit was for. View the following article for details on how to create a good commit message.

   • Writing good commit messages

   [server]$ git commit -m "Committing website files for the first time"
   [master (root-commit) e11cdb7] Committing website files for the first time
    6 files changed, 34 insertions(+)
    create mode 100644 favicon.ico
    create mode 100644 images/image1.jpg
    create mode 100644 images/image2.jpg
    create mode 100644 images/image3.jpg
    create mode 100644 index.html
    create mode 100644 mystyles.css
   

   The -m flag allows you to add a message to this commit.

This creates your first commit. You can see your commit history by running the following:

[server]$ git log --oneline
e11cdb7 Committing website files for the first time

You don't need the --oneline flag, this just shortens the response so it's easier to read. View the following link for further examples and explanations:

• Recording changes to the repository

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