There is an updated version of this post for OS X 10.9. While the steps below should still work, I recommend checking out the new guide if you are running 10.9!

There are already plenty of guides that explain the particular steps of getting Git and Github going on your mac in detail. However, I had difficulty finding one that explained every step required in order with simple enough instructions for Terminal novices to follow along with autonomously.

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So I decided to write one myself.

Background

I enjoy helping people become more efficient and productive, particularly when it comes to their computers and mobile devices. At a recent job, the staff design team was beginning a period of close collaboration with the front-end development team in the interest of achieving the best possible product in the shortest period of time.

However, there was a slight “problem.” The project’s codebase was exclusively managed via Git repositories on Github. Most of the designers had never worked with Git, let alone ever configured it on their workstations.

Most of the designers had some knowledge of the technologies that went into the codebase, particularly presentation layer tech like HTML and CSS. Some even knew programming languages like Javascript, PHP, and Ruby.

In an effort to unleash this previously untapped resource for a round of intense polishing and bug-fixing, I took it upon myself to write a step-by-step guide that any member of our studio could follow and be up and running with developer tools, Git, connected to Github, and ready to work on the project codebase.

This then is a slightly abbreviated¹ version of the guide I distributed out to the team. Ultimately just a few days after releasing it, nearly everyone in the office — including design, production, management, and even a few devs setting up new machines — was able to at least view the latest code on their workstations.

Aside from the fact that my guide helped others quickly get through the arduous process of installation and configuration, I was happy to have it as a quick reference for myself when setting up new machines of my own. Enjoy!

Getting started

This tutorial assumes you’re using a Mac running at least OS X 10.7. If you are unsure of what OS you have, go up to the top left of your screen, click the Apple menu, and select “About This Mac.”

You’ll also need to ensure that your user account on your computer has admin privileges and that you know your account’s password.

Install the Command Line Tools for OS X

Xcode is a nearly 4GB developer suite Apple offers for free from the Mac App Store. However, for the purposes of getting Git and Github setup, you’ll only need a specific set of command line tools² which fortunately take up much less space.

If you don’t mind the 4GB, by all means go for Xcode. Otherwise, you’ll have to go to connect.apple.com and register an Apple Developer account in order to download these tools.

Once you’ve registered, they can be found at developer.apple.com/xcode by clicking on “View downloads” and finding the appropriate command line tools for your version of OS X in the list.

If you are on OS X 10.7.x, download The 10.7 Command Line Tools. If you are on OS X 10.8.x, download The 10.8 Command Line Tools.
When your download finishes, go ahead and open the DMG.
Run the Command Line Tools installer.

A note about the Terminal

The Terminal application comes pre-installed with OS X, and can be found in the Applications -> Utilities folder. You can also quickly access it using Spotlight.

The terminal has a variety of uses, but for the purposes of this tutorial we’ll be using a syntax/command set called Bash. Terminal is already configured to use this syntax.

When you enter a command and press return/enter, often times the terminal will execute it and complete the task immediately.

Sometimes it will log information in the window while it’s working, but other times you might feel like it isn’t doing anything at all.

Some of the commands later in this tutorial can take a few seconds (or minutes) to complete, so don’t type anything into the terminal window or close the terminal window until you see it present you with a fresh prompt ending in yourusername$.

For the purposes of this tutorial, commands that I intend for you to type will be preceded with $, but don’t include that symbol when you enter the commands. It’s purely meant as an indicator and reference to the $ that appears in your terminal prompt.

Lines that contain comments/notes from me to will be preceded with # and will be dimmed. Don’t type these either.

Make sure to press return after typing a command before you enter the next one.

Installing Git

“Git is a free and open source distributed version control system designed to handle everything from small to very large projects with speed and efficiency.”

We need to install Git onto your computer. It won’t have an icon in your dock, but it can be used by the Terminal (and other applications, more on that later).

OS X comes with a fairly old version of Git pre-installed, so we’ll want to make sure that your terminal is using a more updated version.

One specific reason you’ll want to have a newer version of Git than the one that ships with OS X is to take advantage of a nice authentication feature that allows you to seamlessly interact with Github.

Download the latest stable release of Git. It should start downloading a DMG which for some reason will include the words “Snow Leopard” in the file name…don’t worry, it works with Lion and Mountain Lion just fine.
When it’s done downloading, open the DMG and run the package installer.
Note: If you are using OS X 10.8 and haven’t already modified your security settings to allow the installation of third-party applications, you’ll need to make that adjustment³ before OS X lets you install these tools.
Once the installer has finished, open the Terminal app and type git --version followed by the return key. Note that there are two dashes, not one.
The terminal should report back with your currently installed Git version.
If it reports a Git version that matches the version number marked on the DMG you downloaded (as of writing, this would be 1.8.1.3) proceed to Configuring Git identification, otherwise you’ll need to execute the following:

Configuring Git identification

Now let’s configure your Git installation so other folks who might be working on projects with you know who’s doing all of the great work coming from your computer.

Setup Github

“GitHub is a web-based hosting service for software development projects that use the Git revision control system.”

Go to Github.com and create a free account if you haven’t already.

Github Keychain Helper

To save time in the future, we’ll install a utility that will allow your computer to authenticate with Github automatically instead of having to enter your username/password during each session.

First, check if the helper is installed by typing git credential-osxkeychain into the terminal.

If the helper is installed, the terminal will give you instructions on how to use it:

If see the above message, you are now able to access Git repositories using the HTTPS method. There’s a very good chance that this is the only method you will need to access repositories and you can move on to my final notes.

If you don’t have the keychain helper already installed, you’ll see this instead:

To install the keychain helper, execute the following commands:

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