Git on Windows

March 19th, 2008

If you want to use git with windows, here's what you need to do. This is assuming you'll be using the windows command prompt to enter commands.

  1. Go to http://code.google.com/p/msysgit/downloads/list and download the latest Windows build of Git (at the time of writing the latest one is Git-preview20080301.exe)
  2. Double click the install file - make sure the 'Run git from the windows command prompt' option is selected
  3. Finish the installation and open a command prompt
  4. To clone a remote repository, type git clone ssh://git_username@git_host/path/to/repos local_repos_dir
It's the last step that had me stumped for a while. There's no colon after the git_host and it seems to need ssh:// at the start.

2 Responses to “Git on Windows”

  1. edouard Says:
    hi, i've applied your tutorial, but my git remote repository works with ssh public/private keys. normally, i work with putty to access the server through ssh, but there is no standard putty console. In my windows command line, i can therefore not clone the git repository because i get a "wrong key" error when trying to loggin. any ideas? regards, edouard
  2. Senthil Nayagam Says:
    fetching repositories was never a problem. have you tried to create a repository? I am trying creating one at github and I am pretty much struck due to ssh key issues. until I can make my own repos, switching immediately does not give me any gains

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