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Connecting to 'Git' remote repositories

Source: vignettes/git_cloud.Rmd
git_cloud.Rmd

The WORCS paper describes a workflow centered around ‘GitHub’, but there are several other cloud hosting services that offer similar functionality. This vignette describes the process of connecting a worcs project to these other cloud hosting services. If you are missing your preferred cloud hosting service, please submit a pull request with a step-by-step tutorial for that service here.

GitLab

Setup steps (do this only once)

The ‘GitLab’ website looks and feels almost identical to ‘GitHub’. Steps 4 and 5 of the setup vignette can be applied nearly without alterations. To connect worcs to ‘GitLab’, I proceeded as follows:

  1. Register on GitLab
  2. Connect ‘RStudio’ to Git and GitLab (for more support, see Happy Git with R
    1. Open ‘RStudio’, open the Tools menu, click Global Options, and click Git/SVN
    2. Verify that Enable version control interface for RStudio projects is selected
    3. Verify that Git executable: shows the location of git.exe. If it is missing, manually fix the location of the file.
    4. Click Create RSA Key. Do not enter a passphrase. Press Create. A window with some information will open, which you can close.
    5. Click View public key, and copy the entire text to the clipboard.
    6. Close ‘RStudio’ (it might offer to restart by itself; this is fine)
    7. Go to gitlab.com
    8. Click your user icon in the top right of the screen, click Settings
    9. On the settings page, click SSH Keys in the left sidebar
    10. Copy-paste the public key from your clipboard into the box labeled Key.
    11. Click Add key.
    12. Open ‘RStudio’ again (unless it restarted by itself)

Connect new worcs project to ‘GitLab’

To create a new project on ‘GitLab’, go to your account page, and click the Create a project tile in the middle of the screen.

  • Fill in a Project name; do not change anything else. Click the green Create project button.
  • You will see a page titled “The repository for this project is empty”. Under the header “Create a new repository”, you can see a web address starting with https, like so:
    git clone https://gitlab.com/yourname/yourrepo.git
  • Copy only this address, from https:// to .git.
  • Paste this address into the New project dialog window.

Bitbucket

Setup steps (do this only once)

The ‘Bitbucket’ website has cosmetic differences from ‘GitHub’, but works similarly. Steps 4 and 5 of the setup vignette can be applied nearly without alterations. To connect worcs to ‘Bitbucket’, I proceeded as follows:

  1. Register on Bitbucket
    • Go to the Bitbucket website and click Get started for free. Follow the steps to create your account. Sign in.
    • Bitbucket has largely automated the process of awarding free academic upgrades. If your email address is not recognized as belonging to an academic institution, you can fill out a form to request this upgrade manually.
  2. Connect ‘RStudio’ to Git and Bitbucket (for more support, see Happy Git with R
    1. Open ‘RStudio’, open the Tools menu, click Global Options, and click Git/SVN
    2. Verify that Enable version control interface for RStudio projects is selected
    3. Verify that Git executable: shows the location of git.exe. If it is missing, manually fix the location of the file.
    4. Click Create RSA Key. Do not enter a passphrase. Press Create. A window with some information will open, which you can close.
    5. Click View public key, and copy the entire text to the clipboard.
    6. Close ‘RStudio’ (it might offer to restart by itself; this is fine)
    7. Go to the Bitbucket website
    8. In the bottom left of the screen, click the circular icon with your initials. Select Personal settings
    9. On the settings page, click SSH Keys in the left sidebar
    10. Click Add key
    11. Copy-paste the public key from your clipboard into the box labeled Key, and give it a label. Click the Add key button.
    12. Open ‘RStudio’ again (unless it restarted by itself)

Connect new worcs project to ‘Bitbucket’

To create a new project on ‘Bitbucket’, go to your account page, and click Create repository in the middle of the page. These steps differ somewhat from the procedure for ‘GitHub’:

  • Enter a Project name and a Repository name. The latter will be used to connect your worcs project.
  • Important: Change the setting Include a README? to No.
  • Click “Create repository”
  • When the project page opens, you will see the tagline “Let’s put some bits in your bucket”. Change the dropdown menu Just below this tagline from SSH to https. It will show a web address starting with https, like this:
    git clone https://yourname@bitbucket.org/yourrepo.git
  • Copy only this address, from https:// to .git.
  • Paste this address into the New project dialog window.