Global vs local configuration in Git - Practice Questions

Challenge - 5 Problems

🧠 Conceptual

intermediate

Understanding Git Configuration Levels

Which Git configuration level applies settings only to the current repository?

A Local configuration

B Global configuration

C System configuration

D Environment configuration

💡 Hint

Think about where you want the settings to take effect: just one project or all projects on your computer.

Local configuration applies only to the current repository. Global applies to the user across all repositories, and system applies to all users on the machine.

💻 Command Output

intermediate

Output of Git Config List Command

What is the output of the command git config --list --local when run inside a repository with a user.email set locally?

A user.email=[e-mail]

B user.email=[e-mail]

C No output, command fails

D user.email=[e-mail]

💡 Hint

Local config overrides global and system for that repository.

The --local flag shows only settings from the local repository config, so it outputs the locally set user.email.

🔀 Workflow

advanced

Setting User Name for All Repositories

You want to set your Git user name for all repositories on your computer. Which command should you run?

A git config --global user.name "Alice"

B git config --local user.name "Alice"

C git config --system user.name "Alice"

D git config user.name "Alice"

💡 Hint

Think about which config level applies to all repositories for your user.

The --global option sets the user name for all repositories for the current user. --local affects only the current repo, and --system affects all users on the machine.

❓ Troubleshoot

advanced

Why Does Git Use the Wrong Email?

You set your email globally with git config --global user.email "[e-mail]", but commits in one repository still use a different email. What is the most likely reason?

A The email is set in the environment variables and overrides Git config

B The system configuration overrides the global setting

C The repository has a local user.email set that overrides the global setting

D Git caches the email and needs to be restarted

💡 Hint

Remember the order of precedence for Git config levels.

Local configuration has higher priority than global. If a local user.email is set, it overrides the global setting for that repository.

✅ Best Practice

expert

Choosing Git Config Level for Machine-wide Settings

Which Git configuration level should you use to set a proxy for all users on a shared machine?

A Global configuration

B System configuration

C Local configuration

D Repository configuration

💡 Hint

Think about settings that affect all users on the machine.

System configuration applies to all users and repositories on the machine, making it suitable for machine-wide settings like a proxy.