Install Git and Create a Repository on Linux (Real-World DevOps Task)

If you're learning DevOps or tackling hands-on tasks , you will need to know how to install Git and set up a repository on a Linux server. Here's how to do it without the fluff.

This guide walks you through a real-world task: installing Git using yum and initializing a non-bare repository inside /opt/media.git.

---

🛠 Step 1: Install Git Using YUM

First, connect to your Linux server. This could be a VM, cloud instance, or lab environment.

Now, install Git using the yum package manager:

sudo yum install git -y

The -yflag automatically confirms the install prompt, so the process runs without interruption.

Once installed, confirm the version:

git --version

If you see a version like git version 2.x.x, you're good to go.

📁 Step 2: Create a Non-Bare Git Repository
Now you need to initialize a Git repository at /opt/media.git. But careful—this should not be a bare repository.

Here’s how you do it:

sudo mkdir /opt/media.git
cd /opt/media.git
git init

✅ What Just Happened?
mkdir creates the target directory.

cd moves into it.

git init sets up a standard Git repository (with a working directory).

You did not use git init --bare—because a non-bare repo is what you need here. Non-bare repos are what you use for active development: you can see, edit, and commit files.

🔄 Summary
You just completed a foundational DevOps task:

Installed Git using yum

Created a directory for your repo

Initialized it using git init (non-bare)

You're now ready to start tracking files, committing changes, and building something real.

To confirm it worked, run:

ls -a

You should see a .git folder—that’s your repository metadata.

🚀 What's Next?
If you're doing DevOps tasks or preparing for interviews, you'll likely need to:

Clone remote repos

Push changes

Work with git branch and git log

Stick around. More real-world Git and DevOps walkthroughs coming soon.

✍️ Written by Anusha Kuppili
🎥 Also on YouTube: Data Enthusiast Era