Using Git without Installing it (through Docker)

If you follow this blog, you might already know that I'm a Docker fanboy. Docker containers are like micro-VMs, just lighter and faster. Git is version control software. The nice thing about version control software, or more specifically distributed version control software like Git, is that it not only allows for the storage of blobs of text or bytes but it also allows you to build workflows that enable people to contribute edits to the stored text along with approval and multiple branches.

Installing Git isn't always needed. Sometimes I just need to clone a repo. If I have Docker installed, I do this (in Powershell):

docker run -it --rm -v ${HOME}:/root -v ${PWD}:/git alpine/git clone https://github.com/sweenig/docker-ansible-playbook.git

Linux/Mac is just as easy:

docker run -it --rm -v ${HOME}:/root -v $(pwd):/git alpine/git clone https://github.com/sweenig/docker-ansible-playbook.git

If you want, you can even setup an alias in Bash:

Linux:

alias git="docker run -ti --rm -v $(pwd):/git -v $HOME/.ssh:/root/.ssh alpine/git"

Or in Windows with Powershell:

function git {

  $allArgs = $PsBoundParameters.values + $args

  docker run --rm -it -v ${PWD}:/git -v ${HOME}:/root alpine/git $allArgs

}

With Powershell, since the underlying container is running Linux, make sure that the path to the playbook and inventory files doesn't use the backslash.