using git

[William Thompson]

I have just started using git.
I have created a repository.
Then, as I was instructed, I made a “git clone” command which consisted of “git clone” followed by a path.
I expected this to get the contents of the path and put it into my repository – meaning the directory I made. This did not happen. What do I do?
How do I get a local copy of a remote work space for me to work on?

[Jimmy Seddon]

Hello @William Thompson,

Welcome to the Community!

Just to make sure I understand what you have done so far, where did you create your repository?  Github? Bitbucket? somewhere else?

The 'git clone' command will make a copy of the repository (remote) on your local machine.

If you already have a directory locally with files in it, that won't work.  You will need to either run 'git init' to create the repository locally, or execute the 'git clone' command on an empty directory and then copy the files in after you have created the repository.

I'd recommend checking out the getting started guide here: https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Git-Basics-Getting-a-Git-Repository

It might also be worthwhile going back to the beginning of that getting started guide in case you have missed a couple of steps that will be required before you can commit and push changes.

I hope that helps!

-Jimmy