Synchronizing configurations between multiple PCs using Git

Working with multiple computers at the same time It's become perfectly normal: a powerful desktop at home, a laptop for travel, maybe even a third computer at the office. The problem arises when you want to maintain the same configuration, the same projects, and the same code version across all of them without going crazy copying folders with a USB drive or emailing zip files to yourself.

If this situation sounds familiar to you to have a desktop PC where you can program to your likingIf you're looking to buy a new laptop to continue working on the same projects and don't know how to sync everything, Git and GitHub (or other remote platforms) are exactly what you need. The idea is simple: have a central repository in the cloud and have all your teams connect to it to upload and download changes, keeping both the code and certain configurations aligned.

What does it mean to synchronize configurations and code between multiple PCs with Git?

When we talk about “synchronizing configuration and code” between your desktop computer and your laptop (or between Windows and macOS), we are actually referring to two different but related things: on the one hand, your project files (code, resources, documentation) and, on the other hand, the configuration you use to work (editor settings, templates, scripts, dotfiles, etc.).

Git is primarily intended for versioning and sharing the source codeBut with a little organization, you can also use it to replicate certain configurations between machines, as long as they are files within a project folder or specific configuration repositories (for example, a dotfiles repo with your settings). terminal, alias, etc.).

In a typical scenario, you'll have a desktop PC at home with your IDE, projects, and repositories already set up, and you want your work laptop to have exactly the same repositorieswith the same main branch and the same changes. This way, you can edit code in either one, commit, and sync via GitHub or another remote.

It's also common to wonder if you should use the same user and email Git is configured on all machines. For GitHub to correctly associate your commits with your account, the email address you configure on each machine must match the one registered in your GitHub profile. The name can vary, but the email address is key to linking everything to you.

In short, the goal is for you to be able to open your project on your desktop, close it, go off with your laptop, continue programming, and when you return, have your main computer receive the changes without conflicts, always maintaining a single “source of truth” of the code in the remote.

Configure Git correctly on each device

Before you start cloning repositories and making commitsIt's essential that you have Git properly configured on all the machines you'll be working on. This includes installing Git, setting up your name and email, and, if you use GitHub, ensuring your identity is consistent and your credentials work seamlessly.

The first is install Git on each operating systemOnce installed, open the console (Terminal on macOS or Linux, PowerShell or Git Bash on Windows) and configure your user data with these commands:

git config –global user.name “Your Name”
git config –global user.email “your-email@example.com”

What's really important is that The email address should be the same as the one you have on GitHub.Because that's what GitHub uses to associate your commits with your account. The name is more flexible: you could even choose different names for each team, although in practice it doesn't make much sense if you're the only person working on the project. It makes sense to always use the same name so that the history looks clean and consistent.

If you ever have any doubts about what you have configured, you can run:

git config –list

This command will show you a list with your user.name, user.email, and other global and local options. If you see something wrong (for example, an email with a typo), you can Repeat the previous commands. to correct it. It's a good idea to check this on all your devices, especially when you get a new laptop.

Additionally, the Git console It works virtually the same on Windows, macOS, and Linux.This means that the commands you learn on your Windows desktop will also work if you have macOS or a Linux distribution on your laptop. The most important thing is to familiarize yourself with the basic workflow (add, commit, push, pull) and keep your configuration consistent.

How to share the same repository between desktop and laptop

If you already have the project created on your desktop PC And you've uploaded it to GitHub; the only thing left is to connect your laptop so it can work with that same repository. Many people get stuck right after the first push to the remote, not understanding how to continue from another machine.

The idea is very simple: on the laptop you're not going to create a new repository, but rather you're going to clone the one that already exists on GitHubThis creates a complete copy of the history and files on your second computer, with the remote already configured.

On your laptop, go to the folder where you want to save the project and run:

git clone https://github.com/tu-usuario/tu-repo.git

After that command, you will have a folder your-repo with the code and the complete history. From there, the flow will be the same on both teams: you make changes, you use git add to select files, gitcommit to record the changes and git push to send them to the remote server. On the other computer, you will run git pull to bring in those new commits.

If you're new to Git, it's normal to get confused at first with the difference between clone, pull, and push. Keep in mind that git clone is only done once per machineWhen you want to get the repository for the first time, you'll use `pull` to download changes and `push` to upload yours. From then on, every time you want to sync, you'll use `pull` to download changes and `push` to upload yours.

Work from multiple teams without neglecting your own work

One of the most common fears when using multiple PCs It's the possibility of unintentionally overwriting your work. The good news is that Git is specifically designed to prevent these kinds of disasters, provided you follow some basic rules and make a habit of making clear commits.

As a general rule, before you start coding on any of your computers, it's a good idea to do a git pull in the branch you'll be working on. This ensures you have the latest version from the remote and minimizes conflicts. Then, program as usual, add the modified files, and commit with a descriptive message.

It is highly recommended that Your commit messages should clearly explain what you've changed.Imagine yourself two weeks from now trying to understand why you did something. Messages like "various changes" or "minor things" don't help anyone. Include information such as "fixes bug when compiling on Windows" or "adds automatic synchronization between computers."

When you finish a work session at home, you do git push to upload the commits. When you get to work, you turn on your laptop, you do git pull And you'll continue right from that point. The reverse process is exactly the same: you work on your laptop, you do push, and at home you do pull before continuing.

As for conflicts, they will appear when you modify the same lines of a file in two different places without synchronizing in between. Git will warn you and ask you to resolve the conflict manually. It's not a major issue, but the better you get used to it, the better. Sync before starting and when finishingIt will happen to you less often.

Some people consider using different usernames on each device to "know which PC made each commit." Technically, you can do this, but in practice, it's usually more of a hindrance than a help. If you do everything yourself, you'll normally use the same name everywhere and that the device details are not of real importance to the project.

Near real-time synchronization: is it possible to avoid so much manual push/pull?

When you get used to working in two very different systemsfor example, developing code in a Mac But when compiling and testing the game on a Windows PC, you might start to get annoyed having to constantly push on one side and pull on the other manually.

Git itself is designed for a explicit synchronizationThat is, you have to call the commands yourself. It doesn't work like a Dropbox folder that updates automatically when you save a change. However, there are Tricks and tools that can bring you closer to something similar to live synchronization.

One option that many developers are considering is using services from storage in the cloud (Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive) to directly sync the folder where the repository is located. This may work, but It is not the most recommendedbecause those services do not understand Git's internal logic and, in certain cases, could corrupt the repository if there are simultaneous changes or files in use.

If your plan is to program on a Mac while the game only runs on Windows, you could have the main repository on your PC and simply use Git as a "bridge" between machines. You commit on the Mac, push to a remote repository (for example, GitHub or a private repository on your local network), and on the PC you automate the pull in some way, perhaps with a script that runs periodically or with a scheduled task that checks for new changes.

For example, you can create a script in Windows that runs the following every few minutes:

git fetch origin
git pull origin main

That way, every time you save your changes on the Mac, commit, and push, the PC will finish. Automatically downloading the latest version after a short interval. It's not as immediate as a magic folder that updates itself, but it comes pretty close and avoids the "repetitive headache" of constantly going to the PC console to pull the branch.

In any case, remember that Git still needs consistent commitsEven if you automate part of the synchronization process, it's a good idea to maintain the discipline of grouping logical changes into each commit and reviewing the history from time to time to make sure everything makes sense.

Synchronizing only the work team vs. synchronizing organizations and teams on GitHub

So far we have focused on the individual use of GitThat is, you with your computers and your personal projects. But GitHub offers another form of "syncing" that, although it has a similar name, is designed for larger organizations, companies, and teams: team synchronization with groups from an identity provider (IdP).

When team synchronization is enabled in a GitHub organization, it's possible to link a GitHub team with a user group defined in your IdP (for example, Azure AD, Okta, etc.). As soon as that connection is established, any change in membership in that IdP group is automatically reflected in GitHub: if a user joins or leaves the group in the IdP, they are added to or removed from the corresponding team in GitHub.

This reduces the need to manually update the team member list on GitHub or maintain custom scripts to automate that task. You can even assign the same IdP group to multiple GitHub teamsThis is very convenient if you share the same developers across different repositories or areas of a project.

Once you connect a GitHub team to an identity provider group, managing team additions and removals must be done exclusively through the identity provider. This means you can no longer manually manage team memberships directly in GitHub; any changes must go through the central identity system.

However, some limitations should be taken into account. For example, Parent teams cannot synchronize directly with IdP groupsIf the team you're interested in is set up as a parent team within the GitHub hierarchy, you'll need to either create a new team without nested relationships or reorganize that hierarchy to remove the parent status before you can link it to the IdP.

Another important point is that this team synchronization doesn't automatically create teams in GitHub when groups are created in the IdP, even if you have SCIM provisioning configured. For the connection to work, the team must... first exist within the GitHub organizationThen, you link it to the group. And although adding and removing members is controlled from the IdP, the access of those teams to each repository (read, write, admin permissions, etc.) is still configured from GitHub.

In short: this synchronization feature is fantastic for medium or large organizations With many users, you don't want to be managing who belongs to which team one by one. But it's very different from synchronizing code and configuration between your own PCs; they are complementary synchronization layers, but geared towards different needs.

Practical steps to be able to work on the same project from desktop and laptop

If you are completely new to Git And if you've just followed a tutorial where you created the repository on your desktop computer, made your first commit and uploaded it to GitHub, it's normal that you don't know what comes next to have the same project on your laptop.

The general sequence you should follow is something like this: on your desktop PC you create the project (or convert it to a repo with go init), you make your first changes, add them, commit, and then connect to GitHub (with git remote add origin) and you push to the main branch. This is usually the point where many beginner tutorials end.

On your laptop, as we've seen before, you simply clone the repository from GitHub Using `git clone`. From that moment on, both the desktop PC and the laptop share the same remote and the same main branch. The rest is a matter of discipline: before working you do a pull, after you do a push.

If you've already been trying other alternatives (without really knowing which system to choose) and you have a mix of folders, manual backups, and cloud services, you might have gotten yourself into a bit of a mess. The best strategy is usually to choose a single central solution (for example, GitHub with Git) and clean up the rest of the makeshift methods to prevent different versions of the same project from being mixed up in different places.

As an individual developer, you can perfectly work across multiple computers using Git and a free remote provider. Free plans For both private and public repositories, several services are available, offering more than enough for a single developer. What sets them apart are the ease of integration with your tools, your preferred web interface, and any extra features (issues, CI/CD, etc.), but they all fulfill the role of a remote repository for synchronizing your teams.

Also, remember that you don't need to use a graphical interface if you prefer the console, although many modern IDEs (such as Visual Studio, VS Code, IntelliJ, etc.) have built-in support for Git. Specifically, in the case of Visual Studio 2022 on Windows, you can Perform commits, pushes, and pulls directly from within the IDEThis makes the process less cumbersome if you don't want to constantly move to the terminal.

Ultimately, the key is that you understand the concept: The remote acts as a central point where the changes you make from your different computers converge. As long as you respect that flow (pull before working, push when finished, clear commit messages), you can jump from machine to machine with the peace of mind of knowing you're always using the latest version.

With all this, synchronizing configurations and code between multiple PCs using Git becomes quite manageable: You correctly configure your user on each machine.You use a trusted remote as the core of your work, decide whether you want a manual or automated workflow for pulls, and, if you work in an organization, you rely on team synchronization with the IdP to manage access centrally. Once you've internalized these pillars, switching from desktop to laptop or from Windows to Mac ceases to be a headache and becomes simply a matter of committing, pushing, and continuing to work where you left off.