Git LFS¶

Git LFS (Large File Storage) extends Git to track large files without storing them in the repository history. Git LFS is not preinstalled on the cluster, but its binary can be downloaded and added to the PATH, after which the git lfs commands become available in any repository.

What this guide covers¶

Get the Git LFS archive
Extract the archive
Add the git-lfs executable to the PATH
Verify the installation

Get the Git LFS archive¶

Git LFS is distributed as a tarball from the Git LFS releases page. Pick the git-lfs-linux-amd64-<VERSION>.tar.gz asset for the desired version, and download it on the cluster with wget:

1	`wget https://github.com/git-lfs/git-lfs/releases/download/v<VERSION>/git-lfs-linux-amd64-v<VERSION>.tar.gz`

Extract the archive¶

Extract the tarball with tar:

1	`tar -xzf git-lfs-linux-amd64-v<VERSION>.tar.gz`

Note

-x extracts files, -z decompresses the gzip archive, and -f specifies the archive file.

The command creates a git-lfs-linux-amd64-<VERSION>/ directory containing the git-lfs executable.

Add git-lfs to the PATH¶

Add the directory containing the git-lfs executable to the PATH:

export PATH="$HOME/git-lfs-linux-amd64-<VERSION>:$PATH"

Append the same line to ~/.bashrc to keep the setting across sessions:

echo 'export PATH="$HOME/git-lfs-linux-amd64-<VERSION>:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc

Verify the installation¶

1	`git lfs version`

git-lfs/3.5.1 (GitHub; linux amd64; go 1.21.5)

A printed version number confirms Git LFS is installed and reachable on the PATH.

Key concepts¶

Git LFS: Git extension for versioning large files. LFS replaces large files in the repository history with text pointers, while storing the contents on a remote LFS server.