"First-Time Git Setup" docs about .gitconfig are incorrect as of Git For Windows v2.24
Nobody has claimed this yet.
Assessment
- Difficulty
- 2/5
- Estimated time
- 1-3 hours
- Newbie friendliness
- 68/100
- Issue type
- Documentation
- Clarity
- Clearly specified
- Activity status
- Stale
- Tech stack
- git
- Domain
- documentation
Research direction
Open the Getting Started—First-Time Git Setup page and locate the paragraph describing Windows .gitconfig paths; then find the matching text in the Pro Git source. Update it to reflect the current Git for Windows system config location, or clearly scope the older-version path, and verify the generated page no longer gives outdated guidance.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Description
There's no existing/similar bug report.
- I have searched the existing issues
This report is about a single actionable bug.
- I'm reporting a single actionable bug
This report is about the ProGit book, version 2, English language.
- This bug is not about a translation or old version
Bug covers book website/pdf
- I confirm the bug is about the book as found on the website/pdf
Problem is present in the Pro Git book on the website?
- This bug also affects the Pro Git book as published on the website.
Which version of the book is affected?
Source files
Describe the bug:
On this page, there is the following paragraph (emphasis mine):
On Windows systems, Git looks for the
.gitconfigfile in the$HOMEdirectory (C:\Users\$USERfor most people). It also still looks for[path]/etc/gitconfig, although it’s relative to the MSys root, which is wherever you decide to install Git on your Windows system when you run the installer. If you are using version 2.x or later of Git for Windows, there is also a system-level config file atC:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Git\configon Windows XP, and inC:\ProgramData\Git\configon Windows Vista and newer. This config file can only be changed bygit config -f <file>as an admin.
As of git-for-windows/git#2358, this is incorrect. As described in the release notes:
Note! As a consequence of making
git config --systemwork as expected, the location of the system config is nowC:\Program Files\Git\etc\gitconfig(no longer split betweenC:\Program Files\Git\mingw64\etc\gitconfigandC:\ProgramData\Git\config), and likewise the location of the system gitattributes is nowC:\Program Files\Git\etc\gitattributes(no longerC:\Program Files\Git\mingw64\etc\gitattributes). Any manual modifications toC:\ProgramData\Git\configneed to be ported manually.
Steps to reproduce:
- Go to https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Getting-Started-First-Time-Git-Setup
- Read text :)
Expected behavior:
I think we could change this to say something like:
On Windows systems, Git looks for the global
.gitconfigfile in the%USERPROFILE%directory (C:\Users\%USERNAME%for most people). It also looks for the system config file at[path]/etc/gitconfig, where[path]is wherever Git was installed on your system. If you are using Git for Windows version between v2.0.0 and v2.23.0, there is also a secondary system-level config file at%PROGRAMDATA%\Git\config(C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Git\configon Windows XP, orC:\ProgramData\Git\configon Windows Vista and newer). This config file can only be changed bygit config -f <file>as an admin.
Or we could simply ignore versions of GFW that are 2+ years old:
On Windows systems, Git looks for the global
.gitconfigfile in the%USERPROFILE%directory (C:\Users\%USERNAME%for most people). It also looks for the system config file at[path]/etc/gitconfig, where[path]is wherever Git was installed on your system.
Screenshots:
No response
Additional context:
No response
Device
No response
Operating system
No response
Browser/application + version
No response
- Dominant language
- CSS
- Stars
- 6.6k
- Forks
- 2.1k
- PR merge metrics
- No merged PRs in 30d
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
More from progit/progit2
-
bug
Difficulty 2/5 1-3 hours Newbie friendliness 72/100
-
bug
Difficulty 2/5 1-3 hours Newbie friendliness 68/100
-
enhancement
Difficulty 1/5 Under an hour Newbie friendliness 82/100
-
enhancement
Difficulty 1/5 1-3 hours Newbie friendliness 65/100
-
enhancement
Difficulty 1/5 Under an hour Newbie friendliness 62/100
Similar issues
-
user-reported
Difficulty 2/5 1-3 hours Newbie friendliness 85/100
Kong/developer.konghq.com#7316 ·
-
Difficulty 2/5 1-3 hours Newbie friendliness 88/100
HarperFast/skills#96 ·
-
Difficulty 2/5 1-3 hours Newbie friendliness 82/100
infinispan/infinispan#18150 ·
-
bug triage:deciding
Difficulty 1/5 Under an hour Newbie friendliness 88/100
open-telemetry/otel-arrow#4132 ·
-
Ecosystem: ClawMetry — the Qwen Code reader is now free and open source (follow-up to #9294 / #9338) Opencategory/integration priority/P3 scope/documentation status/ready-for-human type/feature-request
Difficulty 1/5 Under an hour Newbie friendliness 84/100