How to Clone a Git Repository via Command Line with an Example

Another article related to Git function or utility which in this context it is a versioning control. The versioning control in this article is focused on how to clone a Git repository via command line by using an example on how to do it. So, in other words, duplicating or copying a repository which exist locally or remotely can be done by executing the following command provided by Git utility. In this article, the process itself is done by typing the command in a CLI (Command Line Interface) such as terminal, etc.

At first, before the actual duplicate or copy process can be done, there are several prerequisite which is needed :

1. Install Git utility

2. Check whether the ‘git’ command can be executed. Below is an output example showing the execution of git command :

user@hostname:~$ git
usage: git [--version] [--help] [-C ] [-c name=value]
           [--exec-path[=]] [--html-path] [--man-path] [--info-path]
           [-p | --paginate | --no-pager] [--no-replace-objects] [--bare]
           [--git-dir=] [--work-tree=] [--namespace=]
            []
These are common Git commands used in various situations:
start a working area (see also: git help tutorial)
   clone      Clone a repository into a new directory
   init       Create an empty Git repository or reinitialize an existing one
work on the current change (see also: git help everyday)
   add        Add file contents to the index
   mv         Move or rename a file, a directory, or a symlink
   reset      Reset current HEAD to the specified state
   rm         Remove files from the working tree and from the index
examine the history and state (see also: git help revisions)
   bisect     Use binary search to find the commit that introduced a bug
   grep       Print lines matching a pattern
   log        Show commit logs
   show       Show various types of objects
   status     Show the working tree status
grow, mark and tweak your common history
   branch     List, create, or delete branches
   checkout   Switch branches or restore working tree files
   commit     Record changes to the repository
   diff       Show changes between commits, commit and working tree, etc
   merge      Join two or more development histories together
   rebase     Forward-port local commits to the updated upstream head
   tag        Create, list, delete or verify a tag object signed with GPG
collaborate (see also: git help workflows)
   fetch      Download objects and refs from another repository
   pull       Fetch from and integrate with another repository or a local branch
   push       Update remote refs along with associated objects
'git help -a' and 'git help -g' list available subcommands and some
concept guides. See 'git help ' or 'git help '
to read about a specific subcommand or concept.
user@hostname:~$ 

3. Perform the actual command to duplicate or to clone the repository. The command pattern is shown below :

git clone repository_address
Description : 
git : the command used to call the git utility
clone : the parameter command used to duplicate or to clone the repository where it is located in the value specified after
repository_address : the repository address given to be cloned or duplicated. In this context of article, there are two type of addresses, it is using 'SSH' or 'HTTP' protocol.

For an example :

user@hostname:~$ git clone http://myapp.repository.com/gitlab/myuser/myapp.git
Cloning into 'myapp'...
Username for 'http://myapp.repository.com': myuser
Password for 'http://[email protected]': 
remote: Counting objects: 9385, done.
remote: Compressing objects: 100% (6643/6643), done.
remote: Total 9385 (delta 2319), reused 9291 (delta 2236)
Receiving objects: 100% (9385/9385), 24.68 MiB | 11.05 MiB/s, done.
Resolving deltas: 100% (2319/2319), done.
Checking connectivity... done.
user@hostname:~$ 

So, at the end, there will be a folder named myapp in the home folder of user, precisely at ‘/home/user/myapp’. It is the result of executing the above command.