Single User Installation of Git-LFS without sudo

git-lfs-install.md

I wanted to install GIT-Lfs on my user account without access to server root account. I write this to my future self.

1. Download tar.gz file from git-lfs website.

wget https://github.com/git-lfs/git-lfs/releases/download/v3.2.0/git-lfs-linux-amd64-v3.2.0.tar.gz

2.Untar it

tar xvf git-lfs-linux-amd64-v3.2.0.tar.gz

3. Go to directory

cd git-lfs-3.2.0/

4. give permission to file install.sh

chmod +x install.sh

5. Edit file install.sh and change prefix from /usr/local/ to $HOME/.local (Fix bug that @G-Thor has mentioned)

sed -i 's|^prefix="/usr/local"$|prefix="$HOME/.local"|' install.sh

6. Do not forget to create .local/bin in your home folder if that doesn't exist. Add Path .local/bin path to terminal.

mkdir -p ~/.local/bin/
export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

7. Now you can run ./install.sh to install git-lfs.

./install.sh

You should see Git LFS Initalized.

8. Check your installation:

git-lfs --version

9. Add .local/bin to .bashrc or whatever shell you use. This step is to make sure that your shell can find git-lfs binaries.

All in one (just copy and paste into terminal):

wget https://github.com/git-lfs/git-lfs/releases/download/v3.2.0/git-lfs-linux-amd64-v3.2.0.tar.gz
tar xvf git-lfs-linux-amd64-v3.2.0.tar.gz
cd git-lfs-3.2.0/
chmod +x install.sh
sed -i 's|^prefix="/usr/local"$|prefix="$HOME/.local"|' install.sh
mkdir -p ~/.local/bin/
export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"
./install.sh
git-lfs --version

The current (v.3.4.1) version of the installation script appends "/bin" to the prefix after it is declared so changing prefix="$YOUR_HOME/.local/bin" to prefix="$YOUR_HOME/.local" may solve the problem for @adipill04

@G-Thor That sure was the problem-- there was a mismatch between PATH variable & the actual path I had installed git lfs in. Thanks for your help!

Wow, thank you so much! I also encountered the "./local/bin" issue. Thank you all!

Thank you, past self.

Thank you!

As of at least v3.5.1, there is a --local option you can pass which sets the prefix to $HOME/.local; just make sure the directory exists first.

To wit:

mkdir ~/.local
./install.sh --local

This was really helpful. Thank you

Thank you !

The current (v.3.4.1) version of the installation script appends "/bin" to the prefix after it is declared so changing prefix="$YOUR_HOME/.local/bin" to prefix="$YOUR_HOME/.local" may solve the problem for @adipill04

Thanks @G-Thor, this was the fix I needed as well for v3.5.1. Also thanks to @pourmand1376 for these instructions!