Setup git over HTTP server

Setup git over HTTP server

To setup git over HTTP server use following steps:

1. Install package git
2. Choose a base folder for all git repositories, for example, '/var/www/git'
3. Configure '/etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf' virtual host for git using:

   SetEnv GIT_PROJECT_ROOT /var/www/git
   SetEnv GIT_HTTP_EXPORT_ALL
   ScriptAlias /git/ /usr/libexec/git-core/git-http-backend/

4. Use following steps to create a test repository

   cd var/www
   mkdir git
   cd git
   mkdir test
   cd test
   git init --bare
   cd /var/www
   chown -R apache:apache git

5. Now users can clone test repository using:

   git clone http://<server_ip_or_name>/git/test

6. One changes are done locally they can be pushed to server using:

   git push origin master

Configuring HTTP authentication for repository on server

To configure HTTP authentication for repository on server use steps mentioned at Configuring LDAP based authentication for apache. Note that for git repository the authentication configuration should be done with LocationMatch for URLs starting with "/git/<repository_name>". For example to enable authentication for test repository created above use:

  <LocationMatch "^/git/test.*$">
            Options all
            Order deny,allow 
            Deny from All 
            AuthType Basic
            AuthName "Test1 git repository"
            AuthBasicProvider ldap
            AuthzLDAPAuthoritative on
            AuthLDAPURL ldap://ldap.virtual-labs.ac.in:389/ou=people,dc=virtual-labs,dc=ac,dc=in?uid 
            AuthLDAPGroupAttribute memberUid
            AuthLDAPGroupAttributeIsDN off
            Require ldap-group cn=admin,ou=groups,dc=virtual-labs,dc=ac,dc=in
            Require ldap-attribute gidNumber=501
            Satisfy any
   </LocationMatch>

This information is provided here for fast access. For detailed information on configuring LDAP authentication for apache refer to Configuring LDAP based authentication for apache

Configuring HTTP authentication on client

To configure HTTP authentication for git on client create a file '.netrc' in users home folder with following details:

machine <server_name_or_ip>
login <http_username>
password <http_password>

After this use 'git clone' or 'git push' as usual for configured server and git will automatically use above configured authentication.