Git for Teams

Appendix C. Configuring Git

Over time, you will find little shortcuts that help you use Git at the command line. Personally I’ve found those who are the most frustrated with it are the ones with the least amount of customization. There are two types of configuration settings you will be making when working with Git: global settings, which apply to all repositories that you work on; and local settings, which only apply to the current repository. An example of a global setting might be your name, whereas your email might be customized based on personal projects and work projects.

Global settings are stored in the file ~/.gitconfig, and local settings are stored in the file .git/config for the specific repository you are working in. You will always be able to go back and edit your settings if you want to.

You can check to see what value is set. For example, Example C-1 shows you how to check what your name is set to.

Example C-1. Display a configured value

$ git config --get user.name

You can also get list of all values currently set (Example C-2).

Example C-2. Display all configuration values currently set

$ git config --list

A list of all variables is available from the command page for config. This is also available by running the command:

$ git help config

Identifying Yourself

In order to get credit for your work, you will need to tell Git who you are. We will store your name (Example C-3) and email (Example C-4) globally. Because it’s a global setting, you don’t need to be ...