Build Your Own Git Hosting Service

Yes, you read that right! We can create our remote repository service by setting up and hosting it on our own server. It works just like popular services such as GitHub or Bitbucket but with the added benefit of complete control over access and hosting.

The remote repository is often referred to as a bare repository.

What exactly is a bare repository? How does it differ from a local one? Can we use the same Git commands to interact with it? 🤔

Let’s first explore the key differences between local and bare repositories.

Local Vs Bare Repositories

We’ve cleared up the basic concepts, Now you might feel “Talk is cheap. Show me the code.”

So, let’s dive into the practicals.

Experiment 1️⃣: Local bare repository & workspace connection

In your project directory,

1. Create two folders with the following names

Recommended: It’s a good practice to name your bare repository with a .git suffix, (like remote.git).

When you see any GitHub repository clonable link (whether in HTTP or SSH URL) that always ends with .git, it indicates that on the server, the bare repository is created in a folder named exactly as repository_name.git.

2. Set up the bare repository

Now, go into the remote folder and create the bare repository.

# Navigate to remote.git directory
cd remote.git

# Create a bare repository here
git init --bare

3. Clone the bare repository

Go back to your project directory and navigate to the local folder. Clone the bare repository here.

# Navigate to your working directory where you want to clone
cd local

# clone the bare repository
git clone <path-to-bare-repo>
# Replace <path-to-bare-repo> with the actual file path or URL of your bare repository.
# For an example: C:\User\DELL\Experiment\remote.git\

You should now see a folder named remote inside your local folder, as our bare repository was named remote.git.

Note: This is not the bare repository’s directory. It’s now your local repository, created by cloning the bare repository.

4. Make some changes in the local (cloned) Repository

Now, inside your local repository, navigate to the remote folder and do the following:

# Navigate to remote
cd remote

# Create README.md file
echo "README" > README.md

# Add to the staging area
git add .

# Commit the changes
git commit -m "Add: README.md"

5. Check the remote origin

To see where your remote repository is set up, run:

git remote -vv

You should see the remote URL listed under “origin” :

For an example:

origin path\to\repo\Experiment\remote.git\ (fetch)
origin path\to\repo\Experiment\remote.git\ (push)

If the remote isn’t set up yet, you can add it by running this command:

git remote add origin "<path-to-bare-repo>"
# Replace <path-to-bare-repo> with the actual file path or URL of your bare repository.
# For an example: C:\User\DELL\Experiment\remote.git\

6. Push changes to the bare repository

Now that the remote repository URL is set up, push your changes to the bare repository:

git push

7. Verify the bare repository by cloning it elsewhere

Finally, to make sure everything works, let’s try cloning the bare repository in a different folder (e.g., bare_local). You should able to see changes.

This is how you can create a local Git repository, connect it to a bare repository, and push changes.

Experiment 2️⃣: Hosting a bare git repository on a remote server

1. Set up a remote server

Ensure you have a server with Ubuntu (or any OS) and SSH access, using any cloud provider or self-hosted server.

2. Connect to your server via SSH

To access your server, open a terminal (PowerShell or CMD) and access the server using ssh commands:

ssh -i "<path_to_private_key>" ubuntu@<server_ip_or_domain>

Once executed, you’ll be logged into your server and will see the terminal.

3. Set up a bare git repository

# Create a new directory for the bare repo and name it with .git suffix
mkdir remotesync.git

# Navigate to the Bare Repository Directory:
cd remotesync.git

# Create a bare repository
git init --bare

Now, your bare repository is ready for use. To allow cloning and pushing changes, you’ll need to set up SSH key access.

4. Set up SSH key for git access

# Navigate to the .ssh directory:
cd .ssh

# List the files:
ls

You should see a file named authorized_keys. If you’ve just set up your server, it will contain the default public key used for server access from anywhere.

To enable Git access, add your public SSH key (from GitHub, GitLab, or another Git service) to the authorized_keys file:

# Edit the authorized_keys file:
nano authorized_keys

This will open the file in an editor. Paste your GitHub SSH Public Key into the file and Save it.

Note: If you want to allow multiple users to access this repository, add each user’s public key to this file.

5. Clone the remote (bare) repository

git clone ubuntu@<server_ip_or_domain>:<path_to_bare_repo>

# For an Example:
git clone ubuntu@ec2-04-043-0-003.compute-1.amazonaws.com:/home/ubuntu/remotesync.git

Now you’re all set to collaborate with your team! 🚀 Happy coding! 👨‍💻👩‍💻