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Git Basics — Your First Repository

The everyday Git commands: init, status, add, commit, log, and push.

⏱12 min read📚DevOps Fundamentals

Time to use Git for real. In this lesson you’ll create a repository, save snapshots of your work, and push it to GitHub.

🎯 Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson you will:

Create a Repository

bash
mkdir my-project && cd my-project
git init

git init creates a hidden .git folder — that’s where Git stores your entire history.

The status → add → commit Cycle

Create a file, then check what Git sees:

bash — 80×24
student@devops:~$echo '# My Project' > README.md && git status

Stage the change, then commit it as a snapshot:

bash
git add README.md          # stage one file
git add .                  # or stage everything
git commit -m "Add project README"

⚠ Write meaningful commit messages

git commit -m "stuff" helps no one. Describe what changed and why: "Fix login redirect on expired session". Your future self and your teammates read these constantly.

Read the History

bash
git log              # full history
git log --oneline    # compact, one line per commit
bash — 80×24
student@devops:~$git log --oneline

Push to GitHub

Create an empty repository on GitHub, then connect and push:

bash
git remote add origin https://github.com/your-user/my-project.git
git branch -M main
git push -u origin main

After the first push -u, future uploads are just git push.

💡 Use SSH to skip password prompts

Remember the SSH keys from the Linux section? Add your public key to GitHub (Settings → SSH keys) and use the SSH remote git@github.com:your-user/my-project.git to push without typing credentials.

🧪 Hands-on Lab

📝

Create and Commit a Repository

  1. Create a folder git-lab and run git init
  2. Create a README.md file
  3. Stage and commit it with a clear message
  4. View the history with git log --oneline

🧠 Knowledge Check

Knowledge Check

Which command turns a normal folder into a Git repository?

Knowledge Check

What is the correct order to save and share a change?

💼 Interview Preparation

Interview Q&A

What is the difference between the working directory, the staging area, and the repository?

Summary

You created a repo, staged and committed changes, read the log, and pushed to GitHub. These commands are the ones you’ll run dozens of times a day.

Up Next

Branching & Pull Requests

You've mastered this lesson. Continue your journey to becoming a DevOps Engineer.

Start Next Lesson→