The guide walks a new CentOS 8 or RHEL 8 user through setting up Git by installing it from the default repositories with dnf and checking its version. It then covers configuring global identity settings, creating an ed25519 SSH key pair, adding that key to the ssh‑agent, and verifying access to a remote host such as GitHub. After authentication is confirmed, users can clone existing repositories or start fresh local projects with init, add, commit, and optionally set short aliases for common commands. Finally, it lists frequent mistakes—such as missing credentials, permission errors, or a broken git binary—and offers practical fixes so the system’s version‑control workflow stays smooth.

Configure Git (VCS) on CentOS 8 or RHEL 8 – Step‑by‑Step

If you’ve just spun up a fresh CentOS 8 or RHEL 8 box and need to start versioning code, the first thing you’ll likely do is get Git installed. Below are the exact commands and explanations that will have your repository ready in minutes—no fluff, no corporate jargon.

Prerequisites

• You’re logged in as a user with sudo privileges (or root).
• Your system has internet access to reach the CentOS/DNF repositories.

Install Git from the Default Repos

sudo dnf install -y git

The base CentOS 8 repos already ship a stable Git build, so you don’t need to pull in EPEL or other PPAs. If you see “No package git available,” your repo metadata may be out of date—run sudo dnf makecache first.

Verify the Installation

git --version

You should see something like git version 2.27.0. A missing command here usually means the install didn’t finish or you’re still in an old shell; restart your terminal if needed.

Configure Your Identity

Git tags every commit with an author name and email, so set those globally:

git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "you@example.com"

If you forget to do this, Git will prompt you at each commit or, worse, default to your system username and the machine’s hostname—bad for blame attribution later.

Generate an SSH Key Pair

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "you@example.com"

Press Enter to accept the default file location (~/.ssh/id_ed25519). Skip the passphrase if you want hands‑free pushes; otherwise, you’ll be prompted each time.

SSH keys are more secure than HTTP passwords and avoid having your credentials stored in plain text. Most services (GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket) require an SSH key for authenticated Git operations.

Add the Key to the SSH Agent

eval "$(ssh-agent -s)"
ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

If you see “Could not open a connection to your authentication agent,” make sure the ssh-agent is running or start it manually.

Without adding the key, Git will try password authentication and fail. The agent keeps your private key in memory so you don’t re-enter the passphrase (if you set one) every time.

Test SSH Authentication

ssh -T git@github.com

You should get a message like:

> Hi username! You've successfully authenticated, but GitHub does not provide shell access.

If it says “Permission denied (publickey),” double‑check that you copied the exact public key (~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub) to your Git hosting account and that the file permissions are 600 for the private key.

Clone a Repository or Start One Locally

To clone:

git clone git@github.com:username/repo.git

To start fresh:

mkdir myproject && cd myproject
git init
touch README.md
git add README.md
git commit -m "Initial commit"

git init creates a bare repository locally. Adding and committing right away sets up the first snapshot, which is useful for local backup or when you’re building a new project from scratch.

Optional: Handy Git Aliases

Add these to your global config so you can type less:

git config --global alias.co checkout
git config --global alias.br branch
git config --global alias.ci commit
git config --global alias.st status

Now git co is a quick way to switch branches, and so on.

Common Pitfalls

Symptom	Likely Cause	Fix
fatal: could not read Username for 'https://...': terminal prompts disabled	Using HTTPS without credentials.	Switch to SSH (git remote set-url origin git@github.com:user/repo.git) or cache your HTTPS creds with a credential helper.
“Permission denied (publickey)” when pushing	Wrong public key on the host, wrong private key permissions, or ssh-agent not loaded.	Re‑add the key to the agent (ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_ed25519) and double‑check you added the public key in your account settings.
git: command not found after install	PATH not refreshed in current shell.	Open a new terminal or source /etc/profile.

I’ve seen this happen when people upgrade their system with dnf upgrade and forget that Git can be removed if the package was explicitly purged. Running sudo dnf reinstall git usually fixes it.

That’s it—your CentOS 8 or RHEL 8 machine is now a fully‑functional version control hub. Time to commit, push, and maybe even set up CI later!