Clone a git repository to an existing non-empty folder

git_instructions.md

Clone a git repository to an existing folder

1. Get to the existing directory

cd my/folder/

2. Now start a new git repository

$ git init

3. Identify if the current elements on the directory are needed or not and add them to the .gitignore file

vi .gitignore

4. Configure username and e-mail address (unless already set globally from before)

git config user.name "Mona Lisa"
git config user.email "mona.lisa@participate.in.project.tld"

4. Optionally set username and e-mail globally for all your repositories

git config --global user.name "Mona Lisa"
git config --global user.email "mona.lisa@in.louvre.fr"

5. When ready create the first commit

git add .
git commit -m 'Initial commit'

6. Set the remote from where you want to clone

git remote add origin https|ssh:path/to/the/repository.git

7. Now just pull and merge with local repository

git pull origin master --allow-unrelated-histories

8. If you have some merge conflicts resolve them and commit your changes

9. Push your changes

git push -u origin master