Git Credential Helper: Cache Your Credentials with Examples
Git is a popular version control system widely used by developers to manage their source code. When using Git with remote repositories, you may need to enter your credentials (username and password) every time you perform a Git operation that requires authentication. This can become tedious and time-consuming, especially when you are working with Git frequently.
The Git credential helper is a tool that helps you manage your Git credentials securely. By using the Git credential helper, you can cache your credentials in memory, so that you don't have to enter them every time you perform a Git operation.
In this blog, we will explore how to use the Git credential helper to cache your credentials and provide examples of how to use it.
Setting up the Git Credential Helper
To set up the Git credential helper, you can use the following command:
$ git config --global credential.helper cache
The --global option sets the configuration for all Git repositories on your system. If you don't use this option, the configuration will only be set for the current repository.
By setting the credential helper to cache, your Git credentials will be stored in memory for a specified period of time (by default, 15 minutes). After this time, you will have to enter your credentials again. This is useful for avoiding the need to enter your credentials for every Git operation but be aware that if your system is restarted or if the cache is cleared, you will have to enter your credentials again.
Setting the Cache Time for Git Credentials
You can set the cache time for Git credentials in minutes using the credential.helper configuration. For example, to keep the password cached for 30 minutes, you can run the following command:
$ git config --global credential.helper "cache --timeout=1800"
This sets the global credential.helper configuration to cache, with a timeout of 1800 seconds (30 minutes). After 30 minutes, Git will prompt you to enter your credentials again.
If you want to set the cache time for a specific repository only, you can run the command inside the repository directory, without the --global option:
$ cd /path/to/repo
$ git config credential.helper "cache --timeout=1800"
This sets the credential.helper configuration for the specific repository only, and will not affect other repositories on your system.
Examples of Using the Git Credential Helper
Here are some examples of using the Git credential helper to cache your credentials:
First run this command it will store the credential
git config credential.helper "cache --timeout=1800"
- Cloning a Git repository:
$ git clone https://github.com/username/repo.git
Username for 'https://github.com': myusername
Password for 'https://myusername@github.com':
After entering your credentials, they will be cached and stored in memory for the specified time. You won't have to enter your credentials again for subsequent Git operations in this repository.
2. Pulling changes from a remote repository:
$ git pull origin master
Updating 789abcde..f012g3h4
Fast-forward
file1.txt | 2 +-
1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)
In this example, the Git credentials are retrieved from the cache, so you don't have to enter them again.