Installing Git

Module 00 30 min

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Section Objectives

• Install Git on your operating system
• Verify the installation works correctly
• Understand the difference between Git CLI and Git GUI
• Install GitHub CLI for full GitHub management from the terminal

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Installation by Operating System

Windows

Windows Installation

Recommended Method: Official Git for Windows Installer

1. Go to git-scm.com/download/win
2. The download starts automatically (64-bit version)
3. Run the installer and follow these recommended options:

Installer Screen	Recommended Choice
Components	Keep defaults (Git Bash Here, Git GUI Here)
Default editor	VS Code (or your preferred editor)
Initial branch name	main
PATH environment	Git from command line and 3rd-party software
SSH executable	Use bundled OpenSSH
HTTPS transport	Use the OpenSSL library
Line endings	Checkout Windows-style, commit Unix-style
Terminal emulator	Use MinTTY (default)

Verify the installation:

git --version
# Expected output: git version 2.x.x.windows.x

Alternative: Installation via winget

winget install --id Git.Git -e --source winget

Alternative: Installation via Chocolatey

choco install git

macOS

macOS Installation

Recommended Method: Homebrew

# Install Homebrew if not already installed
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

# Install Git
brew install git

Alternative: Xcode Command Line Tools

xcode-select --install

A dialog box will appear asking you to install the tools. Click "Install".

Alternative: Official macOS Installer

Go to git-scm.com/download/mac and follow the instructions.

Verify the installation:

git --version
# Expected output: git version 2.x.x

Which Git on macOS?

macOS comes with an older version of Git pre-installed. Always use Homebrew to get the latest version.

Linux

Linux Installation

Ubuntu / Debian:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install git

Fedora / RHEL / CentOS:

# Fedora
sudo dnf install git

# RHEL/CentOS 8+
sudo dnf install git

# CentOS 7
sudo yum install git

Arch Linux:

sudo pacman -S git

openSUSE:

sudo zypper install git

From source (latest version):

sudo apt install make libssl-dev libghc-zlib-dev libcurl4-gnutls-dev \
  libexpat1-dev gettext unzip

wget https://github.com/git/git/archive/refs/tags/v2.44.0.tar.gz
tar -xvf v2.44.0.tar.gz
cd git-2.44.0
make prefix=/usr/local all
sudo make prefix=/usr/local install

Verify the installation:

git --version
# Expected output: git version 2.x.x

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Installing GitHub CLI

GitHub CLI (gh) lets you manage GitHub repositories, pull requests, and issues directly from your terminal.

Windows

# Via winget
winget install --id GitHub.cli

# Via Chocolatey
choco install gh

macOS

brew install gh

Linux

# Ubuntu/Debian
type -p curl >/dev/null || sudo apt install curl -y
curl -fsSL https://cli.github.com/packages/githubcli-archive-keyring.gpg | \
  sudo dd of=/usr/share/keyrings/githubcli-archive-keyring.gpg
echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/githubcli-archive-keyring.gpg] \
  https://cli.github.com/packages stable main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/github-cli.list > /dev/null
sudo apt update
sudo apt install gh

# Fedora/RHEL
sudo dnf install 'dnf-command(config-manager)'
sudo dnf config-manager --add-repo https://cli.github.com/packages/rpm/gh-cli.repo
sudo dnf install gh

Authenticate with GitHub:

gh auth login
# Follow the prompts to authenticate via browser or token

Verify:

gh --version
gh auth status

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Git GUI Interfaces (Optional)

While the command line is the recommended approach in this course, these tools can help visualize Git history:

Tool	Platform	Free?	Description
VS Code (built-in)	All	Yes	Basic Git UI in the editor
GitLens (VS Code extension)	All	Yes	Advanced Git visualizer in VS Code
GitHub Desktop	Win/Mac	Yes	Simple GUI for GitHub workflows
Sourcetree	Win/Mac	Yes	Feature-rich GUI by Atlassian
GitKraken	All	Partial	Professional GUI (free for public repos)
Fork	Win/Mac	Paid	Very fast and clean GUI

CLI First

This course focuses on the command line. Understanding Git commands is essential before using a GUI. A GUI can hide what's really happening and make debugging much harder.

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Verifying Your Complete Installation

Run these commands in your terminal and check the output:

# Check Git
git --version
# ✅ git version 2.x.x

# Check GitHub CLI
gh --version
# ✅ gh version 2.x.x

# Check Git is accessible everywhere (not just Git Bash on Windows)
# Open PowerShell or cmd.exe (Windows) or regular terminal (Mac/Linux)
git --version
# ✅ Should work from any terminal

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Troubleshooting

"git" is not recognized as a command (Windows)

This means Git is not in your PATH. Solutions:

1. Reinstall Git and choose "Git from command line and 3rd-party software" when asked about PATH
2. Manually add Git to PATH:
   • Open System Properties → Environment Variables
   • Add C:\Program Files\Git\cmd to the PATH variable
3. Use Git Bash instead of PowerShell (Git Bash is always configured)

Old version of Git on macOS

macOS includes a very old Apple-patched Git. Install via Homebrew and ensure /usr/local/bin comes before /usr/bin in your PATH:

# Add to ~/.zshrc or ~/.bash_profile
export PATH="/usr/local/bin:$PATH"

# Reload config
source ~/.zshrc

# Verify it's the Homebrew version
which git
# /usr/local/bin/git ✅  (not /usr/bin/git ❌)

Permission denied during Linux installation

You need root (sudo) privileges to install packages. If you don't have sudo access, contact your system administrator or compile Git from source in your home directory.

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Next Steps

• Initial Configuration — Configure your name, email, and preferences
• Your First Repository — Create your first Git repository