Is git connected to github?

Questions

Can you connect git and a remote git server such as github?

You need to confirm that you can clone a repository from GitHub and establish two-way communications between the local git and the github - This is called pull and push.

When communicating with a remote server, git has two available protocols - HTTPS and SSH - each of which requires different credentials.

We will discuss how you can setup your credentials for the HTTPs protocol.

Personal access token for HTTPS

Personal access token (PAT) is required by a remote git server such as github to confirm a users credentials.

Please note that from 2021-08-13 GitHub is no longer accepting account passwords when authenticating Git operations. You need to add a PAT (Personal Access Token) instead, and you can follow the below method to add a PAT on your system.

Create Personal Access Token on GitHub

Step 1 - Open GitHub and log in with your credentials.

Step 2 - Click on the Setting menu.

Step 3 - From the Setting menu click on Developer Settings

Step 4 - From the Developer Settings menu, click on Personal access token. For this class, select “Tokens (Classic)”, not “Fine-grained tokens”.

Step 5 - From the Personal access token, click on the Generate new Token button.

Step 6 - Now fill up required details (select “repo”, “user”, and “workflow”). And then click on the Generate Token button.

Step 7 - After that, a new token has been generated. Copy that generated token and use this token to access Git with username and token. It will be something like ghp_sFhFsSHhTzMDreGRLjmks4Tzuzgthdvfsrta.

You will need it the next time when a git operation asks for your password.

Now follow the below method based on your machine:

WindowsOS

Open Control Panel → User Accounts → Manage your credentials → Windows Credentials.

It will show all generic credentials. Find your GitHub URL and click on that. Now click on the edit button. And then add the personal access token generated from GitHub into the password field. And click on the Save button.

If you don’t find git:https://github.com → Click on Add a generic credential → Internet address will be git:https://github.com and you need to type in your username and password will be your GitHub Personal Access Token → Click Ok

MacOS

Click on the Spotlight icon (magnifying glass) on the right side of the menu bar. Type Keychain access then press the Enter key to launch the app → In Keychain Access, search for github.com → Find the internet password entry for github.com → Edit or delete the entry accordingly

Linux-based OS

For Linux, you need to configure the local GIT client with a username and email address:

$ git config --global user.name "your_github_username" 
$ git config --global user.email "your_github_email" 
$ git config -l

Key points

If you’re a new GitHub user and using HTTPS, you might be asked for your username and password.
Note Use your PAT and not your login password.

All materials copyright Sydney Informatics Hub, University of Sydney