Projects on Codeberg use [Git](https://git-scm.com/) as their [version control](https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Getting-Started-About-Version-Control) system. If you want to contribute sourcecode, it is a good idea to install Git at this point.
Git runs on every OS. You can download it directly from the [Git website](https://git-scm.com/downloads), or from your operating system’s package manager (if available).
For some Git clients (see [below](#git-clients)), e.g. [RStudio](https://rstudio.com/), it is recommended to install Git as administrator on your machine. It is also possible to install as regular user, but you might have to manually specify the path to the Git executable in the settings of your Git client.
If you want to install as regular user, just log in with your user account and run the installer.
To install with administrator rights, either log in as administrator, or run the installer as administrator. In the latter case, right-click on the installer, select `Run as administrator` and enter your credentials:
This makes sure that Git can be used by 3rd party software (Git clients). It is recommended (and the default) anyway.
> You may get the error message displayed below, that the release notes cannot be displayed. That error message can be safely ignored. You can find the release notes in `Start Menu > Git > Git Release Notes`.
Git can be used through the `Command Prompt` (the traditional Windows command line interpreter), the `Windows Powershell` (the "replacement" of the `Command Prompt`), the interface of your Git client, or `Git Bash`. The latter two options are recommended.
You now managed to get Git up and running. The first thing you must do, before you can use your fresh installation of Git, is to tell Git your name and email address. You only have to do this once. This is easily done with `Git Bash`:
The first time you push/pull (see [Clone & Commit via HTTP](/git/clone-commit-via-http)), it will ask for your Codeberg credentials. If you did not change this setting during installation, these credentials will be saved by Windows in its [Credential Manager](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4026814/windows-accessing-credential-manager). This is also where you have to go in order to change them.
To update Git, the easiest way is to download and run the latest version of the installer and follow the previous steps. Make sure that you run the new installer with the same rights (administrator or user) as for the original installation. If not, it will be installed twice and that will create a mess.
If you want to keep all your settings, simply tick the box `Only show new options` in the installation wizard (see screenshots above). Here, "new options" refer to the options that were not available in the previous version.
There are several possibilities to install Git on macOS. This guide will show you how to install Git using the Homebrew package manager. You will need to be on macOS High Sierra (10.13) or higher.
You will first need to install Homebrew. You can do this following the instructions on their [website](https://brew.sh/).
Once you've installed Homebrew, you can install Git from your terminal using the following command.
```bash
% brew install git
```
### Update
To update Git, run the following command.
```bash
% brew upgrade git
```
## Linux
On Linux, you can install Git directly from your package manager. Check out [Git's official documentation](https://git-scm.com/download/linux) for the right command for your distro.
