linuxexpert-practice-labs/labs/ex294/5-1-cloning/README.md

EX294 5.1: Cloning a repository

Make a bare Git repository on a managed node, clone it on the control node over SSH, set your Git identity and push a first commit, and clone it a second time.

Before you start

This VM is the control node. The lab creates the user greg (password Lab-Pass-1) with an SSH key, and installs ansible-core and git. Work as greg. His Ansible project is /home/greg/ansible: its ansible.cfg reads the inventory inventory, logs in as devops and becomes root.

The managed nodes node1 (10.99.1.11) and node2 (10.99.1.12) are AlmaLinux 10 containers reached over SSH by name, with git installed. On each, devops has greg's key and passwordless sudo, so ssh devops@node1 works without a password. For a root shell on a node, sudo podman exec -it node1 bash. Everything stays on this VM: the repository lives on a node, not on a hosting service.

Tasks

1. Make a bare repository /srv/git/playbooks.git with the branch main on node1 (git init --bare -b main /srv/git/playbooks.git, with Ansible or in a shell there). Then, as greg, set init.defaultBranch to main and clone it over SSH into /home/greg/playbooks, so that git remote -v there shows the URL for fetch and push, and git status says "On branch main".
2. Set greg's Git name and email globally, then commit a README.md in the clone and push it, so that git log shows them as the author.
3. Clone the same repository again, into a directory of your choosing in greg's home, so that it has the same git log --oneline as the first clone.

Hints

• ansible node1 -a 'git init --bare -b main /srv/git/playbooks.git' makes it as root; for devops to push to it, give it to devops with ansible.builtin.file and recurse: true.
• git clone devops@node1:/srv/git/playbooks.git; the first SSH connection asks you to trust node1's host key.
• An empty repository clones with a warning. Over SSH, its clone starts on Git's own default branch, master, unless git config --global init.defaultBranch main comes first; in a clone that's already on master, git switch -c main before the first commit.
• The first push of a new branch: git push -u origin main.
• git config --global user.name ..., user.email, --list; git log --format='%an <%ae>' shows the author.