Git configuration (user.name, user.email) - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

💻 Command Output

intermediate

Check current Git user name configuration

What is the output of the command git config --global user.name if the global user name is set to "Alice Dev"?

Git

git config --global user.name

A null

B user.name

C error: key does not exist

D Alice Dev

💡 Hint

This command shows the global user name set in Git configuration.

The command git config --global user.name outputs the global user name string exactly as set, here "Alice Dev".

💻 Command Output

intermediate

Effect of missing user.email in Git commit

What error message appears if you try to commit in Git but the user.email is not set anywhere in the configuration?

Git

git commit -m "Test commit"

A error: user.email is not set

B fatal: unable to auto-detect email address (got 'username@hostname')

C commit created successfully

D warning: user.email is empty, using default

💡 Hint

Git needs an email to identify the author of commits.

If user.email is not set, Git tries to guess but fails and shows a fatal error about unable to auto-detect email address.

❓ Configuration

advanced

Set local Git user name and email for a repository

Which commands correctly set the local Git user name to "Bob Builder" and email to "[e-mail]" only for the current repository?

A

git config user.name "Bob Builder"
git config user.email "[e-mail]"

B

git config --global user.name "Bob Builder"
git config --global user.email "[e-mail]"

C

git config --local user.name "Bob Builder"
git config --local user.email "[e-mail]"

D

git config --system user.name "Bob Builder"
git config --system user.email "[e-mail]"

💡 Hint

Local config is the default when no flag is given.

Running git config user.name without flags sets the value only for the current repository (local). The --global flag sets it globally, and --system sets system-wide.

❓ Troubleshoot

advanced

Diagnose why Git commit uses wrong email

You set your global Git email to "[e-mail]" but commits in a specific repository show author email as "[e-mail]". What is the most likely cause?

A Git caches old email and needs restart

B Global config is ignored if user.name is missing

C The repository has a local user.email set to "[e-mail]" overriding global config

D The commit message contains the old email explicitly

💡 Hint

Local config overrides global config in Git.

Git uses the local repository config first if set. If user.email is set locally, it overrides the global setting.

✅ Best Practice

expert

Best practice for managing Git user identity across multiple projects

You work on personal and work projects on the same machine. What is the best way to manage your Git user.name and user.email to keep identities separate?

A Set global user.name and user.email to your personal info, then set local user.name and user.email in work repos to work info

B Set global user.name and user.email to work info, then override locally for personal projects

C Use only global config for all projects and manually change before commits

D Set user.name and user.email only in system config for all projects

💡 Hint

Global config is default; local config overrides it per repo.

Setting global config to personal info and overriding locally for work repos keeps identities clean and automatic.