Install Git

To contribute to GitLab projects, you must download, install, and configure the Git client on your local machine. GitLab uses the SSH protocol to securely communicate with Git. With SSH, you can authenticate to the GitLab remote server without entering your username and password each time.

For information on downloading and installing Git on other operating systems, see the official Git website.

After you install and configure Git, generate and add an SSH key pair to your GitLab account.

Install and update Git

Though a version of Git is supplied by Ubuntu, you should install the latest version of Git. The latest version is available using a Personal Package Archive (PPA).

To install the latest version of Git on Ubuntu Linux with a PPA:

In a terminal, configure the required PPA, update the list of Ubuntu packages, and install git:
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```
sudo apt-add-repository ppa:git-core/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install git
```
Verify that Git works on your local machine:
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```
git --version
```

Keep Git up to date by periodically running the following command:

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sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install git

Configure Git

To start using Git from your local machine, you must enter your credentials to identify yourself as the author of your work.

You can configure your Git identity locally or globally:

Locally: Use for the current project only.
Globally: Use for all current and future projects.

Configure your Git identity locally to use it for the current project only.

The full name and email address should match the ones you use in GitLab.

In your terminal, add your full name. For example:
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```
git config --local user.name "Alex Smith"
```

Add your email address. For example:

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git config --local user.email "your_email_address@example.com"

To check the configuration, run:
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```
git config --local --list
```

Check Git configuration settings

To check your configured Git settings, run:

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git config user.name && git config user.email

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