🧰 Git Basics for DevOps Engineers

🔧 1. Core Git Concepts

Concept Description

Repository A project's history and code base tracked by Git.

Working Directory The files in your local checkout.

Staging Area Where you prepare changes before committing.

Commit A snapshot of your changes with a message.

Branch A separate line of development.

Remote A version of your repo on another server (e.g., GitHub, GitLab).

🚀 2. Common Git Commands

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# Clone a repository

git clone https://github.com/user/repo.git

# Check repo status

git status

# Add changes to staging area

git add .

# Commit staged changes

git commit -m "Your commit message"

# Push changes to remote

git push origin main

# Pull changes from remote

git pull origin main

🌿 3. Branching for DevOps

Branching allows safe parallel work, useful in CI/CD pipelines or infrastructure-as-code (IaC) development.

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# Create and switch to new branch

git checkout -b feature/terraform-aws

# Push branch to remote

git push -u origin feature/terraform-aws

✅ Use meaningful branch names like feature/, bugfix/, hotfix/, or infra/.

🧩 4. Merge and Rebase

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# Merge a feature branch into main

git checkout main

git merge feature/terraform-aws

# Rebase a feature branch onto main

git checkout feature/terraform-aws

git rebase main

💡 Use merge for collaboration, rebase for a cleaner history before final merges.

🔄 5. Working with Remotes

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# Add a new remote (e.g., for GitHub)

git remote add origin https://github.com/user/repo.git

# See current remotes

git remote -v

💥 6. Undoing Things

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# Undo changes in working directory

git checkout -- filename

# Unstage a file

git reset HEAD filename

# Amend last commit

git commit --amend -m "Updated commit message"

📦 7. .gitignore

Prevent sensitive or unnecessary files (like secrets or terraform.tfstate) from being committed:

.gitignore

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*.tfstate

*.log

.env

secrets/

node_modules/

⚙️ 8. Git in CI/CD Pipelines

Trigger builds from specific branches or tags.

Automate deployments from main, dev, or release/*.

Use Git hooks or CI/CD tools (e.g., GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Jenkins).

✅ 9. Best Practices for DevOps

✅ Keep commits atomic and meaningful

✅ Regularly pull to stay up to date

✅ Use Pull Requests/Merge Requests for reviews

✅ Never commit secrets or credentials

✅ Automate testing/deployment via pipelines

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June 16, 2025

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