Upgrade Mintty to latest version?

[kxk4xyh]

The terminal application which came with Sourcetree 3.0.17 shows there is a newer version; Mintty 2.9.6  ( I now have 2.8.5).

Is it save for me to upgrade it, or should I wait for a newer version of Sourcetree which might upgrade it?

How is the Mintty terminal version managed anyway?

Thanks!

[minnsey · Accepted solution]

Hi

Sourcetree doesn't manage that we simply call the Git Bash terminal. So any upgrade will come through Git for Windows updates.

[kxk4xyh]

I'm not sure if I understand.

Prior installing SourceTree, I didn't have Git or Mintty. After installing SourceTree I did.

I found the git executable in my windows home directory, under Atlassian\SourceTree\git_local. Also the Mintty is installed in git_local.

So for me, both Git and Mintty came included in SourceTree.

I don't see any way to upgrade either one via some Windows installer or anything. The programs are not listed in the Windows 'Programs and Features', but SourceTree is.

I can however choose to Update the Embedded Git version from within SourceTree (via Tools, Options, Git, Git Version). But I don't know if that upgrades Git from 2.18 to 2.20.1 or whatever version.

Could you please explain a little further what you mean?

Also, if I would upgrade manually both Git and Mintty to the latest version, is SourceTree affected in any way?

[minnsey]

Sure.

Mintty is part of the Git for Windows distribution. The Git for Windows version controls what version of Mintty you have, but yes Sourcetree does control what embedded version of Git for Windows you have.

Sourcetree has the ability to install it's own copy of Git into the git_local folder. The verison of Git used for that is hardcoded into the Sourcetree release, so running the Update Embedded Git option will update older versions of Git but not past that specificed version.
For example Sourcetree 3.0.17 specifies Git 2.20.1
 
Sourcetree also has the ability to work with an externally installed copy of Git for Windows. So you can download whatever version, within reason, you like from https://git-scm.org and install it. In Sourcetree you can then use the System option in the Tools/Options/Git tab to configure Sourcetree to use that external copy of Git. If the Git is available on the PATH it will find it automatically, otherwise you can find it yourself. 

Sourcetree should continue to function correctly if you do this.

This functionality allows users to either keep their Git version uptodate faster than Sourcetree releases or potentially stay on an older version of Git. 

[kxk4xyh]

Aha! I get it. Thank you very much!