DoC Computing Support Group


Version control with Git and Gitlab

What is GIT?

Git is a distributed version control system originally designed for development of the Linux kernel. It is mature and robust, and possesses some advanced features that other version-control systems are lacking, such as full distributed operation and strong guarantees of content integrity through the use of cryptographic checksums.

The git tools are installed as standard on all CSG Linux workstations and servers, and are used internally by CSG for code and content management and distribution functions.

What is GitLab?

GitLab is a GitHub-like flexible collaboration tool (based on Git, naturally) for projects with arbitrary members. Anyone in DoC can use GitLab, create projects, add other DoC members to their project (with particular levels of privilege), then push and pull changes to it. An easy way to add external collaborators to the system will be implemented in a few weeks. Find the gitlab server at:

Five minute guide to getting started with GitLab

Introduction:

This is a "5 minute guide to gitlab" for users within Imperial College London's Department of Computing. This guide covers the use of gitlab to share code or a project with one or more collaborators.

Part One: Logging in to gitlab.

To log into gitlab simply point a web browser to https://gitlab.doc.ic.ac.uk. A login screen will appear. Use the LDAP option to login using your username and your college password. You will arrive to your user homepage, called the "Dashboard". Clicking on the cat-raccoon icon in the upper right-hand side of the web page will allow you to return to your "Dashboard" from any location in the gitlab web interface.

Part Two: Adding SSH keys to gitlab.

In order to pull and push code to the repository you need to add an ssh key to your gitlab account. To do this, first create a ssh key (if you don't already have one):

1. create a RSA ssh key here at DoC, in your home directory. On any DoC linux machine do the following:

ssh-keygen -t rsa -C "$USER@imperial.ac.uk"

Choose a ssh pass word or phrase, different from (often longer than!) your ordinary password. Accept most of the keygen defaults and enter your fresh passphrase when asked. This creates ~/.ssh/id_rsa, a private key and ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub, a public key. Never give the private key to anyone, treat it like a password.

2. Next, output the key to the terminal screen so that you can cut and paste it into your browser:

cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub

Copy this key to your profile. Navigate to your profile by clicking on the person icon (a head and shoulders, a bust, whatever) in the upper right-hand corner of the Gitlab web page. In your profile page, click on the "Add Public Key" button. Cut and paste your ssh key from the terminal to the "Key" text field. Then press the button "Add key".

3. In order to push and pull code from gitlab, you will need to enter the password of the private key for each interaction unless you use an ssh-agent. To use an ssh-agent you need to initialise it on the "client end" (your local pc or laptop). Assuming you're a tcsh user on your local machine: Check for the existence of an ssh-agent, and to see if your private key has been loaded:

ssh-add -l  [lists out the keys loaded into the agent]

If the output reports that no ssh-agent is currently running, then:

eval `ssh-agent -c`       [start the ssh-agent]  
ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_rsa     [enter your passphrase when you are prompted for it]  
ssh-add -l                [lists out what keys are loaded in the agent]

4. Now the DoC gitlab should let you use git commands with no password or phrase required, for the lifetime of that ssh-agent process. Logging out at the client end, or rebooting the client machine, will obviously terminate that ssh-agent and it's loaded key. If, for instance, that ssh-agent resides on your laptop, and you suspend your laptop rather than shut it down, this could mean that your ssh-agent process with it's loaded key survives for months! It is not necessary to be continuously on the Internet in the meantime. Note the downside: if someone else has possession of your laptop they can now impersonate you via password-less ssh indefinitely, send horrid emails, delete all your files etc. If that sounds too worrying, you can destroy the agent and it's loaded keys via:

ssh-agent -k

If you run into problems, tell us precisely what you've done - and on which machine - and what files each step has created EXCEPT, please DO NOT send details of the private key. If you want to demonstrate that two files are the same, send us the ls -l and cksum output for both files.

Part Three: Creating a project in gitlab.

Any DoC user can create projects and groups and add other users to these. The creation of a project is achieved by clicking on the "+ New Project" button on the project tab located on the right of your screen. Follow the instructions on the screen, fill in the project name, and then give a short description. Once you create the new project, gitlab will give you some usefull instructions to follow. Here is an example: Say that DoC user Julius Caesar (DoC login jc82, email julius.caesar@imperial.ac.uk ) would like to share his gitlab documentation project. The project name is gitlab_documentation, and it is in a directory of the same name. The first thing that Julius needs to do is perform some git configuration. Git global setup:

git config --global user.name "Julius Caesar"
git config --global user.email "julius.caesar@imperial.ac.uk"

Create a repository inside the project's directory:

cd gitlab_documentation
git init
touch README
echo "Some interesting README notes" > README 
git add README git commit -m 'first commit'  
git remote add origin git@gitlab.doc.ic.ac.uk:jc82/gitlab_documentation.git  
git push -u origin master

Or, if the project exists inside a directory that is already under git control:

cd existing_git_repo
git remote add origin git@gitlab.doc.ic.ac.uk:jc82/gitlab_documentation.git 
git  push -u origin master

And that is all that Julius has to do to start a DoC gitlab project.

Part Four: Sharing your code with someone.

To share your new project/code with someone go to the project page, and click on the "Settings" tab located on the second row of buttons on the top of the Gitlab page. This takes you to the Edit Project page. Click the Members button in the control bar on the upper left of the web page. You will now see two buttons in the upper right hand corner of the web page. With these buttons you can either include a single user to your project, or import members from another project to your own.

In order to share your project with another member of DoC, that person needs to:

  • Log onto the GitLab site. Go to their profile page (the icon in the upper right-hand corner of a head and shoulders).

  • Click on "Add Public Key". Find their public key (in ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub or ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub), or create one as per the instructions given above.

  • Print the public key to the terminal (cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub).

  • Then cut and paste the public key into the field titled "Key".
  • Add a title to the field referred to as "Title".
  • Then (assuming that you have already added the member to your project), they can clone the project repository to their local working directory using:

git clone git@gitlab.doc.ic.ac.uk:<project owner>/<new-project>.git

where project owner is the username of the owner of the project, and new-project is the project name.

This information can also be found at the top of the project's web page. You can reach the project's web page by clicking on the project link found in the "Projects" tab on the right of your dashboard (click on the raccoon/cat icon on the top right-hand corner of the gitlab home page).

Part Five: Someone contributing to your code/project.

Once your collaborator has followed the instructions above and cloned your project into a directory on their local computer, they can then make changes, and add that to your project. Assume that the project is the gitlab_documentation project, and your collaborator has cloned that project to a directory called by the same name: "gitlab_documentation". In order to make changes, your collaborator will:

cd gitlab_documentation
vim gitlab_documentation.txt # Make changes to an existing file.   
vim gitlab_merge_notes.txt # Add a new file. 
git add gitlab_merger_notes.txt # to add the new file. 
git commit # Add notes of the changes made. git push # To push changes back to gitlab.

Then you can check your gitlab dashboard and see the update to the project. Other users can now:

git pull

From within their repository directories and start to work on the latest version of the code or project. The commands given are only the smallest subset of git. You must consult git documentation to better understand how to manage a git repository.

Part Six: Other users and groups.

At the moment, a DoC user does not have the ability to create new, non-DoC users. However, every member of DoC is a user with an account in the DoC Gitlab service. If you need to include an external member, please contact CSG.

You can create a project, or several linked projects can be organised as a group. A group is created by clicking on the create new project button found in the upper right-hand corner of the Gitlab web page (The icon is in the shape of a plus sign, and is next to the head and shoulders icon we met earlier). The "New Project" page contains a button in the lower left-hand corner called "Create a group". Group members can have different levels of access to the code in the group based on Gitlab's permissions model. The model can be viewed at https://gitlab.doc.ic.ac.uk/help/permissions.

Conclusion:

If you have any more queries or questions about the use of the DoC Gitlab service, please contact CSG at help@doc.ic.ac.uk .

 
 

guides/version-control/gitlab (last edited 2016-10-27 08:45:49 by ldk)