Install Git and Create Your First Repository: Commits, Branches and Remotes

Why Git #

Git keeps the history of your files. For infrastructure as code this means every change to Terraform or Ansible is reviewed, versioned and reversible, and a pipeline such as GitHub Actions can run on every push.

Install and configure #

sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y git      # macOS: brew install git
git --version
git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "you@example.com"
git config --global init.defaultBranch main
git config --global pull.rebase true

First repository #

mkdir infra && cd infra
git init
echo "# infra" > README.md
git status
git add README.md
git commit -m "Add README"
git log --oneline

A commit is a snapshot of the files you added with git add (the staging area). Write messages that say what changed and why.

.gitignore: what must never be committed #

.terraform/
*.tfstate
*.tfstate.backup
*.tfvars
.env
*.pem

State files and credentials contain secrets. If one is committed, deleting it later does not remove it from the history: rotate the secret. See Terraform secrets management.

Branches #

git switch -c add-vpc          # create and move to a branch
# edit files...
git add -A && git commit -m "Add VPC module"
git switch main
git merge add-vpc              # or open a pull request instead
git branch -d add-vpc

The usual flow is a short branch per change, a pull request for review and a merge into main.

Connect to GitHub with SSH #

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "you@example.com"
cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub        # paste it in GitHub > Settings > SSH keys
ssh -T git@github.com
git remote add origin git@github.com:your-user/infra.git
git push -u origin main

This uses public key authentication. Keys can also sign commits; see GnuPG.

Everyday commands #

git pull                       # update
git diff                       # unstaged changes; --staged for staged ones
git restore file.tf            # discard changes in a file
git commit --amend             # fix the last commit (not after pushing)
git stash / git stash pop      # park changes
git log --graph --oneline --all
git revert <commit>            # undo a pushed commit with a new commit

Next steps #

Use Git as the source of truth for a cluster with Argo CD, or run Terraform from a pipeline with GitHub Actions and AWS OIDC.