Git setup with shared repository

For a small number of people working on the same project, we've found Git works well with a central repository. This central repository holds the canonical version, which automatically updates the development server.

Preliminary notes

Steps One and Six of this walkthrough are aimed at setting Drupal. Everything else is more widely applicable. Most comes directly from this post - it's reproduced here primarily as a reminder checklist.

Coding standards are there to help. If one developer uses tabs while another uses spaces, it can make diffs unusable.

The following words in the instructions depend on your particular set up and preferences:
    drupal-version     - 6.20, 7.1, atrium, pressflow etc,
    mysite             - the name you choose for your site
    /home/git          - a directory for bare repositories on your server
    /var/www           - path to web server
    origin, bare, dev  - git remote repositories can be called what you like
    master             - the name of the git branch. In this setup, only the 'master' branch gets reflected on the web server.

Step One

  Unpack local version.   

cd /var/www/
tar -zxf ~/Desktop/drupal-version.tar.gz
mv drupal-version/ mysite/

Step Two

  Set up local git repository.

 
cd mysite
git init
git add .
git commit -m 'Initial commit'

Step Three

  SSH to the server, create the central and working repositories there.

 
// Make a bare repository in the 'git' home directory.
cd /home/git
mkdir mysite.git && cd mysite.git
git --bare init
// Make a working copy in the web server directory, adding the 'bare' repo as a remote.
cd /var/www/
mkdir mysite && cd mysite
git init
git remote add bare /home/git/mysite.git
// Return to the bare repo and add a post-update hook.
cd /home/git/mysite.git/hooks
vim post-update 
  // Write this to the post-update file
  cd /var/www/html/mysite
  unset GIT_DIR
  git pull bare master

  exec git-update-server-info
// Enable the hook.
chmod +x post-update

Step Four

  Return to your local machine and add the remote repository.

 git remote add origin git@xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:intranet.git
git remote add dev ssh://root@xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx/home/git/intranet.git
git remote -v

(The root remote - 'dev' - is necessary for pushes. The 'origin' remote is usable for pulls. Setting this up once here means I can do my pulls without being prompted for the root password. If you're sometimes in the same network as the central server and sometimes out of the office, you can add further remotes for this.)

Step Five

  Ignore some files.
    The update-index --assume-unchanged is especially good for 'settings.php', and is why we haven't set up the database yet.
    http://zendoodles.wordpress.com/2010/11/24/ignore-files-in-git/
    Don't forget the .gitignore file too, which is copied around with the git repo. For project-wide exclusions, add the filename or pattern to .gitignore and that will passed to anyone who clones the project.
   

Step Six

  Install local site.

 cd /var/www/mysite
cp sites/default/default.settings.php sites/default/settings.php
chmod a+w sites/default/settings.php
chmod a+w sites/default
http://localhost/mysite/install.php

Step Seven

  First push.

 git push dev master 

This should set up the git repository, from which any of your colleagues can push and pull, and at the same time update the central development server, which will always reflect the latest changes.

  Combine this with Features, Strongarm, and keep all Views and Panels in code, and you should never have to touch the development server.