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windowsgitgithubmsysgitgit-bash

After updating Git Bash on Windows, still shows older version

On Git Bash's download site, it says you can clone it to update it. I downloaded it to install it, but I am starting to really get into Git and would like to clone it every time I want to update it from now on. I think I found the place where we need to clone it to, after much searching & less documentation than usual. If I am right, it is in the home directory, right under my nose the whole time!

I checked the version number with git --version beforehand, then cloned in that directory, then rechecked the version number Both times it said git version 1.8.3.msysgit.0, but on the download site it says the latest version is 1.8.4.3.

Have I not found the elusive git folder, or does the Git Bash team not let you directly clone the latest version until some time after it comes out? I know VirtualBox does that, for example.

I know this is sort of a duplicate of this question, but I tried its answer & the PATH variable didn't even have Git!

Solution

  • I would recommend to not try to update it, but simply download the portable version of msysgit and unzip it in a dedicated folder, that you then add to your path:

    Current Portable msysgit download.

    => I unzip the latest one in (for instance) C:\prgs\git\PortableGit-1.8.4-preview20130916.

    => I add 'c:\prgs\git\PortableGit-1.8.4-preview20130916\bin' to my PATH.

    Now if you want to automate that download/update process, I am building a Powershell script which does just that (for git and 30 other programs, including Mercurial, Subversion, but also Python, Ruby, Go, ...):

    senv: download the zip archive of senv, unzip it in a path and call:

    senv

    The first time, you specify where you want all those programs to be downloaded: those are portable software only: no registry modification, no system variables modified.
    If you don't want one of those program anymore, simply delete their installation folder.
    That's it.

    But each time you will call senv -u, it will check their respective web page and, if a new version is detected, it will download/upzip said new version in its dedicated folder, without removing the previous one.