DevOps4UA

Git & GitHub for Beginners (Amazon Linux 2023): Fork, Branch, Commit, Pull Request (Walkthrough)

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Source: Dev.to | Jan 31, 2026 (UTC)

This is a beginner-friendly, step-by-step; Git + GitHub walkthrough you can follow on an AWS EC2 instance running Amazon Linux 2023 (SSH access).

By the end, you will be able to:

  • Understand Git vs GitHub
  • Create a clean project workspace
  • Install and configure Git locally per repo (no global settings)
  • Generate and add a GitHub SSH key (with troubleshooting)
  • Fork an upstream repository
  • Clone your fork to your VM
  • Create a feature branch
  • Edit index.html + style.css
  • Commit changes, push to your fork, and open a Pull Request
  • Understand what a PR does (and does not do) to the original repo
  • Optionally publish your page under Nginx as /your-github-project/ alongside an existing React deployment

Learning context: This walkthrough supports self-paced learning and collaboration workflows using open-source materials.

Table of Contents

Prerequisites

You need:

  • An AWS EC2 instance running Amazon Linux 2023
  • SSH access to that instance
  • A GitHub account
  • Basic terminal comfort (copy/paste commands is fine)

Optional (but helpful):

  • A text editor like nano (I used vim)

Git vs GitHub

Git: a version control tool that runs on your computer (or VM). It tracks changes to files over time.

GitHub: a website that hosts Git repositories online so you can collaborate, share, and open pull requests.

Simple analogy:

  • Git = the save/history engine
  • GitHub = the online place where projects live and collaboration happens

Step 1 — Connect to Your VM

From your local computer, connect to your EC2 instance:

ssh -i /path/to/your-key.pem ec2-user@YOUR_PUBLIC_IP

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What the pieces mean:

Once logged in, you’re working on the VM.

Step 2 — Install Git (Amazon Linux 2023)

Update system packages:

sudo dnf update -y

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Install Git:

sudo dnf install -y git

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Verify:

git --version

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Flag notes:

Step 3 — Create a Clean Project Workspace

Create a parent folder for all repos:

mkdir -p ~/projects cd ~/projects

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Important rule:

Step 4 — Local Git Config (Per Repository Only)

You asked an important question: “Global vs local?”

For this walkthrough, we use local config only to keep things isolated.

You can only set local config after a repo exists (after git init or git clone).

We’ll do it after cloning in Step 7.

Step 5 — Generate a GitHub SSH Key

Should you add a passphrase?

Recommended: Yes (especially on cloud VMs). A passphrase protects your private key if the VM is compromised.

Generate an SSH key:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "[email protected]"

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What flags mean:

When prompted for a file location:

When prompted for passphrase:

Start the SSH agent and add your key:

eval "$(ssh-agent -s)" ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

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Copy the public key (this is what GitHub needs):

cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

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Now on GitHub:

Test connectivity:

ssh -T [email protected]

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Expected result:

Common Error: “Key is invalid…”

If GitHub says:

“Key is invalid. You must supply a key in OpenSSH public key format”

It almost always means one of these:

Fix checklist:

  1. Make sure you copied only the output of:

cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

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  1. It should be a single line starting with:
  2. Do NOT paste:

Step 6 — Fork the Assignment Repo on GitHub

Open the upstream repository in your browser:

Click:

This creates your own copy under your account (example):

Why forks matter:

Step 7 — Clone Your Fork to the VM

In your VM terminal:

cd ~/projects git clone [email protected]:yourusername/Week-2---Git-GitHub-Assignment.git cd Week-2---Git-GitHub-Assignment

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Explanation:

Check remotes:

git remote -v

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You should see origin pointing to your fork.

Set local git config in THIS repo

Now that you’re inside the repo, set local config:

git config user.name "Your Username" git config user.email "[email protected]"

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Verify local settings:

git config --list --local

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Step 8 — Add Upstream (What It Does)

Add the original repo as upstream:

git remote add upstream https://github.com/pravinmishraaws/Week-2---Git-GitHub-Assignment.git git remote -v

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What this does:

It does NOT:

Step 9 — Create a Feature Branch

Create and switch to a new branch:

git switch -c your-branch-name

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Why branch?

How to Confirm You’re on the Right Branch

Use any of these:

git status

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Look for: On branch ...

Or:

git branch

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The branch with * is your current branch.

Or quick output:

git branch --show-current

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Why You Might See master Instead of main

Some repos use master as the default branch instead of main.

This is normal.
There is no functional difference for this assignment.

Use whatever default branch exists in your repo.

Step 10 — Make Your Changes (index.html + style.css)

Edit your files:

vim index.html vim style.css

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Vim basics:

Make your updates (student details + theme).

Step 11 — Stage, Commit, and Review History

Check what changed:

git status

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Preview changes line-by-line:

git diff

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Stage (add to the “next commit”):

git add index.html style.css

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Commit (save snapshot):

git commit -m "Your descriptive commit note"

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View history:

git log --oneline

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Step 12 — Push Your Branch to GitHub

Push your branch:

git push -u origin your-branch-name

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What -u does:

Step 13 — Open a Pull Request (PR)

On GitHub, go to your fork repo page.
You should see a prompt like:

Create a PR:

Does a PR change the original repo?

No.

A PR is a request to merge.
The upstream repo does not change until:

Suggested PR Description

You can paste this:

This pull request is for learning purposes only. The goal is to practice the GitHub pull request workflow, understand how forks and branches are compared, and learn how collaboration works in a real repository. The changes are intentionally simple and focused on hands-on learning rather than introducing new features. Thank you, Pravin, for providing open-source learning materials and repositories that make it easier to learn Git and GitHub through real practice.

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Step 14 — Keep Your Fork Updated (Sync Upstream)

If upstream changes later:

git fetch upstream

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Merge upstream changes into your default branch (example uses master):

git switch master git merge upstream/master

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Push updates to your fork:

git push origin master

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Notes:

Debugging Example: UI Broke After CSS Update

Scenario:

Find recent commits that touched the file:

git log -- style.css

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Compare changes:

git diff

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If you know the commit hash that introduced the issue:

git diff <good_commit_hash> <bad_commit_hash>

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Why this matters (DevOps mindset):

Optional: Publish Under Nginx as /your-github-project/

This is optional, but it’s a great real-world deployment skill:

Reference article (React + Nginx deployment on Amazon Linux):
https://dev.to/ldwit/deploying-a-react-app-with-nginx-on-aws-amazon-linux-beginner-walkthrough-3h76

Confirm your Nginx root

Run:

sudo nginx -T | grep -i root

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In the example setup, the active root was:

Create a folder for your static page

sudo mkdir -p /var/www/react-app/current/your-github-project

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Copy your assignment files into that folder

From your repo folder:

sudo cp index.html style.css /var/www/react-app/current/your-github-project/

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Fix permissions (avoid 403 errors)

sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/react-app/current/your-github-project

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Reload Nginx safely

sudo nginx -t sudo systemctl reload nginx

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Test it

Open:

Key Takeaways

Credits

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