Version Control with Git

Version Control with Git

Git is the foundation of modern DevOps workflows. Every change to code and infrastructure is tracked, enabling collaboration, rollback, and auditability.

Git Workflow for DevOps

  Feature Branch Workflow:
  main ─────●─────●──────────●───────●──────── (production)
              \             / \     /
  feature-A    ●───●───●───●   ●───●
                        \         /
  feature-B              ●───●───●

  Steps:
  1. Create feature branch from main
  2. Make changes, commit frequently
  3. Push branch and open Pull Request
  4. Code review + automated CI tests
  5. Merge to main after approval
  6. CD pipeline deploys to production

Essential Git Commands

  # Create and switch to a new branch
  git checkout -b feature/new-api

  # Stage and commit changes
  git add .
  git commit -m "Add new API endpoint"

  # Push to remote
  git push origin feature/new-api

  # Merge with conflict resolution
  git checkout main
  git merge feature/new-api

  # View history and blame
  git log --oneline --graph
  git blame config/nginx.conf

Git Hooks for DevOps

Git hooks enable automated checks before code enters the pipeline:

  # .git/hooks/pre-commit
  #!/bin/sh
  echo "Running linter..."
  npm run lint
  if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
    echo "Lint failed. Fix errors before committing."
    exit 1
  fi

  # Common hooks:
  # pre-commit  — Run linting, formatting checks
  # commit-msg  — Validate commit message format
  # pre-push   — Run tests before pushing

Git Best Practices for DevOps

• Small, focused commits — Easy to review and rollback
• Conventional commits — feat:, fix:, chore: prefixes
• Protected branches — Require PR reviews and passing CI
• Monorepo vs polyrepo — Choose based on team size and coupling
• GitOps — Use Git as the single source of truth for infrastructure