What is a repository?
A repository is like a container, it stores your files. It is stored with a history of changes youāve made. If you donāt get what a repo is storing or its purpose, you can read the repoās README.md file.
Ever since they became a standard offering on a free tier, private GitHub repositories have become popular with developers. However, many developers become discouraged when they trigger aĀ fatal: repository not foundĀ error message in their attempts to clone a private GitHub repository.
In this tutorial, we will demonstrate how to create a private GitHub repository, then securely clone and pull your code locally without the need to deal with fatal errors.
How to create a private GitHub repository
ThereĀ arenāt any special stepsĀ required to create a private GitHub repository. Theyāre exactly the same as if you were to create a standard GitHub repository, albeit with one difference: You click the radio button for theĀ PrivateĀ option.
How to clone a private GitHub repository
The first thing a developer wants to do after the creation of a GitHub repository is to clone it. For a typical repo, you would grab the repositoryās URL and issue aĀ git clonecommand. Unfortunately, itās not always that simple onĀ GitHubās free tier.
If youāre lucky, when you attempt to clone your private GitHub repository, youāll be prompted for a username, after which an OpenSSH window will then query for your password. If you provide the correct credentials, the private repository will clone.
However, if OpenSSH isnāt configured on your system, an attempt to clone the private repository will result in theĀ fatal: repository not foundĀ GitHub error message.
FixĀ repository not foundĀ errors
If you do encounter this dreaded error message, donāt fret, becauseĀ thereās a simple fix. Prepend the private GitHub repositoryās username and password to the URL. For example, if my username wasĀ camĀ and the password wasĀ 1234, theĀ git cloneĀ command would look as follows:
git clone https://cam:1234@github.com/cameronmcnz/private-github-repo.git
Since you embedded the credentials in the GitHub URL, the clone command takes care of the authorization process, and the command will successfully create a private GitHub repository clone on your local machine. From that point on, all futureĀ git pullĀ andĀ git fetchĀ commandsĀ will run successfully.
Cameron McKenzie about free private Git repo.