Using Git with MarkUs

If you've taken CSC207, you've probably realized that Subversion sucks. Distributed version control systems like Git are better in almost every way, but unfortunately we're stuck with Subversion until MarkUs fully supports Git.

Don't lose hope though, because you can still use Git locally with a Subversion remote thanks to git-svn [reference]:

Clone your MarkUs repository

You can either clone your entire Subversion repository (e.g. https://markus.cdf.toronto.edu/svn/csc369-2014-09/group\_xxxx), or each subdirectory individually (e.g. https://markus.cdf.toronto.edu/svn/csc369-2014-09/group\_xxxx/a1). I prefer to clone each directory individually:

(Use your own CDF username and group ID in place of g3name and group_xxxx).

# Go to where you keep your CSC369 assignments
❯ cd path/to/csc369

# Use git-svn to clone the repository
❯ git svn clone --username=g3name https://markus.cdf.toronto.edu/svn/csc369-2014-09/group_xxxx/a1

You'll see output similar to the following. Just type p when prompted to accept the certificate, and enter your password when prompted.

Initialized empty Git repository in path/to/csc369/a1/.git/
Error validating server certificate for 'https://markus.cdf.toronto.edu:443':
 - The certificate is not issued by a trusted authority. Use the
   fingerprint to validate the certificate manually!
Certificate information:
 - Hostname: markus.cdf.toronto.edu
 - Valid: from Fri, 11 Apr 2014 00:00:00 GMT until Sat, 11 Apr 2015 23:59:59 GMT
 - Issuer: COMODO CA Limited, Salford, Greater Manchester, GB
 - Fingerprint: 3d:68:3e:94:9b:07:31:50:91:7a:3e:f9:9c:99:d8:82:22:6f:e7:4e
Certificate problem.
(R)eject, accept (t)emporarily or accept (p)ermanently? p
Authentication realm: <https://markus.cdf.toronto.edu:443> MarkUs Subversion Repository
Password for 'g3name':
r2 = 90f73ae3dc816ef55ab6b7becbb839f7c819529f (refs/remotes/git-svn)
	A	.gitignore
	A	list_driver.c
	A	list_sync.c
	A	list.c
	A	Makefile
	A	list.h
	A	list_handoff.c
Checked out HEAD:
  https://markus.cdf.toronto.edu/svn/csc369-2014-09/group_xxxx/a1 r2

That's all the setup necessary! Now you can enter your new Git repository and use Git normally:

❯ cd a1/
❯ git status
On branch master
nothing to commit, working directory clean

Interact with a Subversion server

It's well worth reading the official Git and Subversion article, but here's a quick primer on how to commit changes to and receive updates from the Subversion server:

Commit to Subversion

❯ git svn dcommit

This will take your new local Git commits, do a Subversion commit for each, then rewrite (i.e. rebase) your local Git commits to include a unique identifier.

Update with remote changes

❯ git svn rebase

This will fetch new changes from the Subversion server, place them into your local Git history, and replay your un-pushed, local Git commits on top of the new changes.