# Location of git config on Windows 11 messages from 2014-08-17 to 2014-08-18. Participants: Daniel Corbe, Jason Pyeron, Erik Faye-Lund, Karsten Blees. Thread: https://gitlist.dev/t/37367 ## Daniel Corbe, 2014-08-17 20:18 Subject: Location of git config on Windows Message-ID: URL: https://gitlist.dev/e/ygfvbpqooog.fsf%40corbe.net ``` I installed git on my Windows machine while it was connected to my corporate network. It picked up on that fact and used a mapped drive to store its configuration file. As a result, I cannot currently use git when disconnected from my network. It throws the following error message: fatal: unable to access 'Z:\/.config/git/config': Invalid argument Obviously this value is stored in the registry somewhere because I made an attempt to uninstall and reinstall git with the same results. Can someone give me some guidance here? Best, Daniel P.S. A screenshot for reference: http://i.imgur.com/i9lm0Da.png ``` ## Jason Pyeron, 2014-08-17 21:40 Subject: RE: Location of git config on Windows Message-ID: URL: https://gitlist.dev/e/C9491BC51199409292463C10D606F256%40black In-Reply-To: ``` > -----Original Message----- > From: Daniel Corbe > Sent: Sunday, August 17, 2014 16:18 > > > I installed git on my Windows machine while it was connected to my > corporate network. It picked up on that fact and used a > mapped drive to > store its configuration file. > > As a result, I cannot currently use git when disconnected from my > network. It throws the following error message: fatal: > unable to access > 'Z:\/.config/git/config': Invalid argument As a workaround, use subst command to map the Z: to another path on your system. Depending on your OS and your git usage patterns you may have to perform the operation twice at both non-privilged and priviliged prompts. Ex: subst z: c:\Users\corbed\cached-z-drive > > Obviously this value is stored in the registry somewhere > because I made > an attempt to uninstall and reinstall git with the same results. > > Can someone give me some guidance here? > -Jason -- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- - - - Jason Pyeron PD Inc. http://www.pdinc.us - - Principal Consultant 10 West 24th Street #100 - - +1 (443) 269-1555 x333 Baltimore, Maryland 21218 - - - -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- This message is copyright PD Inc, subject to license 20080407P00. ``` ## Erik Faye-Lund, 2014-08-17 22:01 Subject: Re: Location of git config on Windows Message-ID: URL: https://gitlist.dev/e/CABPQNSZDizccths0b_RZ5FXYYq%3D%2B4_2N35DMj9h4Rha_2voekw%40mail.gmail.com In-Reply-To: ``` On Sun, Aug 17, 2014 at 10:18 PM, Daniel Corbe wrote: > > I installed git on my Windows machine while it was connected to my > corporate network. It picked up on that fact and used a mapped drive to > store its configuration file. > > As a result, I cannot currently use git when disconnected from my > network. It throws the following error message: fatal: unable to access > 'Z:\/.config/git/config': Invalid argument > > Obviously this value is stored in the registry somewhere because I made > an attempt to uninstall and reinstall git with the same results. > > Can someone give me some guidance here? Git looks for the per-user configuration in $HOME/.gitconfig, and if $HOME is not set, it falls back to $HOMEDIR/$HOMEPATH/.gitconfig. My guess would be some of these environment variables are incorrectly set on your system. ``` ## Karsten Blees, 2014-08-17 23:08 Subject: Re: Location of git config on Windows Message-ID: <53F135F8.60508@gmail.com> URL: https://gitlist.dev/e/53F135F8.60508%40gmail.com In-Reply-To: ``` Am 18.08.2014 00:01, schrieb Erik Faye-Lund: > On Sun, Aug 17, 2014 at 10:18 PM, Daniel Corbe wrote: >> >> I installed git on my Windows machine while it was connected to my >> corporate network. It picked up on that fact and used a mapped drive to >> store its configuration file. >> >> As a result, I cannot currently use git when disconnected from my >> network. It throws the following error message: fatal: unable to access >> 'Z:\/.config/git/config': Invalid argument >> >> Obviously this value is stored in the registry somewhere because I made >> an attempt to uninstall and reinstall git with the same results. >> >> Can someone give me some guidance here? > > Git looks for the per-user configuration in $HOME/.gitconfig, and if > $HOME is not set, it falls back to $HOMEDIR/$HOMEPATH/.gitconfig. My > guess would be some of these environment variables are incorrectly set > on your system. To be precise, git checks if %HOME% is set _and_ the directory exists before falling back to %HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%. If %HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH% isn't set or the directory doesn't exist either, it falls back to %USERPROFILE%, which is always local (C:/Users/), even if disconnected from the network (at least that's how its supposed to be). ``` ## Daniel Corbe, 2014-08-18 15:14 Subject: Re: Location of git config on Windows Message-ID: URL: https://gitlist.dev/e/ygflhqlvni7.fsf%40corbe.net In-Reply-To: <53F135F8.60508@gmail.com> ``` Karsten Blees writes: > Am 18.08.2014 00:01, schrieb Erik Faye-Lund: >> On Sun, Aug 17, 2014 at 10:18 PM, Daniel Corbe wrote: >>> >>> I installed git on my Windows machine while it was connected to my >>> corporate network. It picked up on that fact and used a mapped drive to >>> store its configuration file. >>> >>> As a result, I cannot currently use git when disconnected from my >>> network. It throws the following error message: fatal: unable to access >>> 'Z:\/.config/git/config': Invalid argument >>> >>> Obviously this value is stored in the registry somewhere because I made >>> an attempt to uninstall and reinstall git with the same results. >>> >>> Can someone give me some guidance here? >> >> Git looks for the per-user configuration in $HOME/.gitconfig, and if >> $HOME is not set, it falls back to $HOMEDIR/$HOMEPATH/.gitconfig. My >> guess would be some of these environment variables are incorrectly set >> on your system. > > To be precise, git checks if %HOME% is set _and_ the directory exists before > falling back to %HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%. > > If %HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH% isn't set or the directory doesn't exist either, it > falls back to %USERPROFILE%, which is always local (C:/Users/), even > if disconnected from the network (at least that's how its supposed to be). > > Awesome! Thanks for the advice. %HOMEDRIVE% and %HOMEPATH% are indeed set by my system and point to an (often disconnected) network drive. I manually forced %HOME% to %USERPROFILE% and it works like a charm now. I would argue that on Windows %USERPROFILE% should be checked first (or at least after %HOME%). Best, Daniel ``` ## Erik Faye-Lund, 2014-08-18 15:25 Subject: Re: Location of git config on Windows Message-ID: URL: https://gitlist.dev/e/CABPQNSZ%3DBKqNPCWUmaCSz%2BgJtBRhjkWtpcDbirsV%2BKJX%3Dc0kpg%40mail.gmail.com In-Reply-To: ``` On Mon, Aug 18, 2014 at 5:14 PM, Daniel Corbe wrote: > > Karsten Blees writes: > >> Am 18.08.2014 00:01, schrieb Erik Faye-Lund: >>> On Sun, Aug 17, 2014 at 10:18 PM, Daniel Corbe wrote: >>>> >>>> I installed git on my Windows machine while it was connected to my >>>> corporate network. It picked up on that fact and used a mapped drive to >>>> store its configuration file. >>>> >>>> As a result, I cannot currently use git when disconnected from my >>>> network. It throws the following error message: fatal: unable to access >>>> 'Z:\/.config/git/config': Invalid argument >>>> >>>> Obviously this value is stored in the registry somewhere because I made >>>> an attempt to uninstall and reinstall git with the same results. >>>> >>>> Can someone give me some guidance here? >>> >>> Git looks for the per-user configuration in $HOME/.gitconfig, and if >>> $HOME is not set, it falls back to $HOMEDIR/$HOMEPATH/.gitconfig. My >>> guess would be some of these environment variables are incorrectly set >>> on your system. >> >> To be precise, git checks if %HOME% is set _and_ the directory exists before >> falling back to %HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%. >> >> If %HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH% isn't set or the directory doesn't exist either, it >> falls back to %USERPROFILE%, which is always local (C:/Users/), even >> if disconnected from the network (at least that's how its supposed to be). >> >> > > Awesome! Thanks for the advice. > > %HOMEDRIVE% and %HOMEPATH% are indeed set by my system and point to an > (often disconnected) network drive. I manually forced %HOME% to > %USERPROFILE% and it works like a charm now. > > I would argue that on Windows %USERPROFILE% should be checked first (or > at least after %HOME%). Why? Then people won't be able to have their config files on network-shares, no? I think a somewhat better approach would be to resolve the home directory lazily, unless %HOME% is set. That way we can check that %HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH% actually exists as it's being accessed. Or you could just restart your shell when you disconnect... ``` ## Daniel Corbe, 2014-08-18 15:40 Subject: Re: Location of git config on Windows Message-ID: URL: https://gitlist.dev/e/ygf7g25vm9v.fsf%40corbe.net In-Reply-To: ``` Erik Faye-Lund writes: > Or you could just restart your shell when you disconnect... Well I'm not that daft. I tried that and if it had resolved my problem I wouldn't have posted. ``` ## Erik Faye-Lund, 2014-08-18 15:47 Subject: Re: Location of git config on Windows Message-ID: URL: https://gitlist.dev/e/CABPQNSZayAr0jf9C55wtEH_AJ_hSUkwFsGV4ZxVixizthojkRA%40mail.gmail.com In-Reply-To: ``` On Mon, Aug 18, 2014 at 5:40 PM, Daniel Corbe wrote: > > Erik Faye-Lund writes: > >> Or you could just restart your shell when you disconnect... > > Well I'm not that daft. I tried that and if it had resolved my problem > I wouldn't have posted. Hm, but isn't that what Karsten explains in his last paragraph? What shell are you running msys or cmd? ``` ## Erik Faye-Lund, 2014-08-18 15:51 Subject: Re: Location of git config on Windows Message-ID: URL: https://gitlist.dev/e/CABPQNSZGYDnSfyS7X%2BMdskhUrmFx5Kzoi%2BA5%2BpgoBiX5kPruyg%40mail.gmail.com In-Reply-To: ``` On Mon, Aug 18, 2014 at 5:47 PM, Erik Faye-Lund wrote: > On Mon, Aug 18, 2014 at 5:40 PM, Daniel Corbe wrote: >> >> Erik Faye-Lund writes: >> >>> Or you could just restart your shell when you disconnect... >> >> Well I'm not that daft. I tried that and if it had resolved my problem >> I wouldn't have posted. > > Hm, but isn't that what Karsten explains in his last paragraph? What > shell are you running msys or cmd? Our /etc/profile does this: https://github.com/msysgit/msysgit/blob/master/etc/profile#L38 ...however, our git-wrapper only does this: https://github.com/msysgit/msysgit/blob/master/src/git-wrapper/git-wrapper.c#L71 So yeah, we don't seem to actually check if %HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH% exists. Perhaps fixing this is the right thing to do then? Since the git-wrapper is run for *every* invokation of git, you wouldn't even have to restart the shell in this case. ``` ## Daniel Corbe, 2014-08-18 17:05 Subject: Re: Location of git config on Windows Message-ID: URL: https://gitlist.dev/e/ygfsiktu3rl.fsf%40corbe.net In-Reply-To: ``` Erik Faye-Lund writes: > On Mon, Aug 18, 2014 at 5:47 PM, Erik Faye-Lund wrote: >> On Mon, Aug 18, 2014 at 5:40 PM, Daniel Corbe wrote: >>> >>> Erik Faye-Lund writes: >>> >>>> Or you could just restart your shell when you disconnect... >>> >>> Well I'm not that daft. I tried that and if it had resolved my problem >>> I wouldn't have posted. >> >> Hm, but isn't that what Karsten explains in his last paragraph? What >> shell are you running msys or cmd? > > Our /etc/profile does this: > > https://github.com/msysgit/msysgit/blob/master/etc/profile#L38 > > ...however, our git-wrapper only does this: > > https://github.com/msysgit/msysgit/blob/master/src/git-wrapper/git-wrapper.c#L71 > > So yeah, we don't seem to actually check if %HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH% > exists. Perhaps fixing this is the right thing to do then? Since the > git-wrapper is run for *every* invokation of git, you wouldn't even > have to restart the shell in this case. But again, restarting the shell doesn't fix the problem. -Daniel ``` ## Erik Faye-Lund, 2014-08-18 18:17 Subject: Re: Location of git config on Windows Message-ID: URL: https://gitlist.dev/e/CABPQNSbqT1CO3tXn7S3DA88BuEQpz__5D1e4gJLvYeZZy0Ztzg%40mail.gmail.com In-Reply-To: ``` On Mon, Aug 18, 2014 at 7:05 PM, Daniel Corbe wrote: > Erik Faye-Lund writes: > >> On Mon, Aug 18, 2014 at 5:47 PM, Erik Faye-Lund wrote: >>> On Mon, Aug 18, 2014 at 5:40 PM, Daniel Corbe wrote: >>>> >>>> Erik Faye-Lund writes: >>>> >>>>> Or you could just restart your shell when you disconnect... >>>> >>>> Well I'm not that daft. I tried that and if it had resolved my problem >>>> I wouldn't have posted. >>> >>> Hm, but isn't that what Karsten explains in his last paragraph? What >>> shell are you running msys or cmd? >> >> Our /etc/profile does this: >> >> https://github.com/msysgit/msysgit/blob/master/etc/profile#L38 >> >> ...however, our git-wrapper only does this: >> >> https://github.com/msysgit/msysgit/blob/master/src/git-wrapper/git-wrapper.c#L71 >> >> So yeah, we don't seem to actually check if %HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH% >> exists. Perhaps fixing this is the right thing to do then? Since the >> git-wrapper is run for *every* invokation of git, you wouldn't even >> have to restart the shell in this case. > > But again, restarting the shell doesn't fix the problem. > Not for cmd, no. But for Git Bash, it should. ```