AI Agent Engineer

AI Agent Engineer

Git Cheat Sheet: Install Git Locally

4 min read

Install Git Locally

This lesson installs Git locally on Windows and confirms that PowerShell can invoke git directly. Later lessons assume installation and basic configuration are complete.

winget install --id Git.Git -e --source winget

Purpose: install Git for Windows through the Windows package manager. After installation, it normally provides git.exe, Git Bash, and common credential-management components.

This changes local machine state

Installation, upgrades, and --global configuration affect the current Windows user or the whole machine; they are not isolated-repository exercises. Confirm device-management policy first. On a corporate device, do not bypass administrator restrictions.

Appropriate when:

  • Windows already has App Installer / winget.
  • You want command-line installation and convenient later upgrades.
  • You do not want to download an .exe installer manually.

If winget sources have not refreshed recently, run:

winget source update

Notes:

  • After installation, close and reopen PowerShell so the new PATH takes effect.
  • If a corporate computer restricts winget or Store sources, use the official installer below.
  • If the system requests elevation, rerun in an administrator PowerShell only in accordance with the actual security policy.

Alternative: download the installer

Open the official Git for Windows installation page:

https://git-scm.com/install/windows

Download and run the Git for Windows installer. With no special requirement, the installer’s default options are normally suitable.

Options worth checking:

  • PATH environment variable: choose an option that makes Git available in PowerShell / CMD, rather than Git Bash only.
  • Default editor: if you do not know Vim, choose VS Code, Notepad, or another familiar editor.
  • Line-ending handling: default choices are normally fine for a Windows-only learning environment; use project policy for cross-platform work.
  • Terminal emulator and credential management: normally leave defaults.

Verify installation

After reopening PowerShell, run:

git --version
Get-Command git

Normally, git --version prints the installed Git version and Get-Command git shows the actual path to git.exe.

If PowerShell cannot find the command:

  • close and reopen PowerShell first;
  • check that Git actually finished installing;
  • check whether the installer added Git to PATH;
  • if it still fails, rerun the installer and repair the PATH-related option.

First-use configuration

Git commits require a user name and email. After first installation, configure them:

git config set --global user.name "Your Name"
git config set --global user.email "you@example.com"

View only the fields configured for this lesson:

git config get --global user.name
git config get --global user.email

Notes:

  • user.name and user.email become commit-author information; they need not match the operating-system login.
  • An email address may be personal information. Confirm platform privacy-email options or team identity policy before public commits.
  • If corporate and personal projects require different identities, set repository-level configuration in the particular repository; see Git Configuration and Key Files.
  • To connect GitHub, GitLab, or another remote repository, choose HTTPS sign-in, a credential manager, or an SSH key according to the platform.
  • Do not put tokens in a remote URL or paste full git config --list / credential-manager output into notes, logs, or support requests.

Lesson completion check

git --version
Get-Command git
git config get --global user.name
git config get --global user.email

If you can explain that the four outputs come respectively from the Git program, PowerShell command resolution, and user-level configuration, move on. If identity fields are empty, set them now or set repository-only identity later in an isolated experimental repository.

Legacy forms

git config --global user.name "Your Name" and git config --global --get user.name remain compatible, but the Git 2.55 documentation marks the no-subcommand form as deprecated. This course uses set, get, and list subcommands in its primary examples.

Further reading

After installation, continue with Getting Started and Creating a Repository to initialize a local repository or clone a remote one.

Backlinks