Configuring Your Linux System

1. Install command line tools

You will need to install certain tools that will be used throughout the course.

1. Install a text editor

   Visual Studio Code can be found here and is available for all platforms, but you are free to use any code editor you choose. Popular choices include Atom and Sublime Text.

2. Install Git

   Git is a tool used to track the state of your code over time. GitHub is a company that has made a business on top of the Git technology. We will be using both Git and GitHub in this class to distribute code, submit assignments and offer feedback.

   Git can be installed by running the following command:

   sudo apt-get install build-essential git-core curl

3. Configure Git

   Copy and paste the following two commands (separately) into your terminal. Replace the name and email address values with your own.

   git config --global user.name "YOUR NAME"
   git config --global user.email "YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS"

   (source: GitHub)

   Next, copy and paste one of the following commands into your terminal, based on which text editor you'll be using:

   Visual Studio Code:

   git config --global core.editor "code -w"

   Sublime:

   git config --global core.editor "subl -n -w"

   Atom:

   git config --global core.editor "atom -w"

4. Install Node.js

   curl --silent --location https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_6.x | sudo -E bash -
   sudo apt-get install --yes nodejs
   apt-get install --yes build-essential

   When you’re done, raise your hand and ask a member of the instructional team to verify that the installation was successful. Then complete the instructions in the section 2. Setting up GitHub below.

2. Set Up GitHub Enterprise

We will be using the GitHub Enterprise service to share some of our code. We will learn about the underlying technology of GitHub known as git in the next lesson.

• Log into your account at https://git.generalassemb.ly
• Follow these instructions to create a new SSH Key (a special, very secure, key which allows your laptop access to your github account without having to remember your github password)
• Add your new SSH Key to GitHub Enterprise following these instructions
• Verify your key works by running the following:

ssh -T git@git.generalassemb.ly

You should see output similar to:

Hi <you>! You've successfully authenticated, but GitHub does not provide shell access. Connection to git.generalassemb.ly closed.

Helpful Debugging Tips

Error installing due to permissions

Permissions issues are common when installing programs on the terminal. In order to install command line utilities, you need to be signed into a user account on your computer with administrator-level rights. If you have trouble with this, please ask a member of the instructional team for help.

Google is your friend

Even experienced programmers occasionally need to look up error messages on Google. If you experience an error, it’s likely that someone else has experienced the error, as well. To find the fix, copy and paste the error message into Google, but remove content specific to your computer to ensure the accuracy of your search. You will most likely find a reference to your specific error. StackOverflow is a trustworthy reference.

Common Issues and Fixes:

We recommend the following remedies to issues that commonly arise during the installation of command line utilities:

• Mac users may run into the problem of an outdated version of Git installed with Xcode being given precedence in the terminal. If you experience this issue, you’ll need to adjust your shell path by following the instructions under "Trumping Xcode's Older Git" in this article.

• Mac users running OS 10.11 or later may need to disable the System Integrity Protection on their machine before installing certain command line utilities.

• Students experiencing an EACCES error should change directory permissions to install Node and npm without the need to use sudo: sudo chown -R $(whoami) /usr/local/lib/node_modules

• Students with Homebrew installed on their machines should run brew update in order to get the latest version of Homebrew.

• Students who need to update their installations of npm can run npm install -g npm.

• Students with an existing, outdated installation of Node can update their install by following the directions above (i.e., using the package installer).

• Students experiencing a Permission denied (publickey) error with GitHub Enterprise should following the troubleshooting steps at https://help.github.com/enterprise/2.14/user/articles/error-permission-denied-publickey/.

• Students with an existing GitHub account that uses SSH should edit the git config file as follows:

  • In your editor, open your home directory, navigate to the .ssh folder, then open the file named config (if this file doesn't exist, go to the terminal, run touch ~/.ssh/config, then open the file in your editor.)
  • Add a second entry to your file using the following as a template (note that everything after a # is a comment):

      # my GitHub account
      Host personal
        HostName github.com
        User git
        AddKeysToAgent yes
        UseKeychain yes
        IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa
    
      # GA GitHub Enterprise
      Host GA   
        HostName git.generalassemb.ly
        User git
        AddKeysToAgent yes
        UseKeychain yes
        IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa_ga # this should match the filename you used when saving your new key
    

  • Save your changes