Introduction to Git and GitLab

Location: On-Site or Online
Pricing: $1,250 per seat (6-seat minimum)
Length: 4 Days

Course Summary

Introduction to Git and GitLab is a practical, hands-on course designed to teach students how to use Git for version control and GitLab for collaboration, code review, and DevOps workflows.

Students learn how Git works under the hood—commits, branches, merges, and history—and how GitLab builds on Git to support team collaboration, visibility, and automation. The course emphasizes real-world workflows used by engineering, DevOps, and infrastructure teams to safely manage changes, collaborate at scale, and integrate with CI/CD pipelines.

By the end of the course, students are comfortable working with Git locally and GitLab remotely, collaborating through merge requests, resolving conflicts, and participating in modern Git-based delivery workflows.

Course Outline

Day 1 – Git Fundamentals and Version Control Concepts

• 💬 Lecture: Why version control matters

• 💬 Lecture: Git vs centralized version control systems

• 💬 Lecture: How Git works (repositories, commits, history)

• 💬 Lecture: Working directory, staging area, and repository

• ⚙️ Lab: Installing Git and validating the environment

• ⚙️ Lab: Initializing a local Git repository

• ⚙️ Lab: Tracking files and creating commits

• ⚙️ Lab: Viewing commit history with log and diff

• 💬 Lecture: Branches and HEAD

• ⚙️ Lab: Creating and switching branches

• ⚙️ Lab: Making changes on feature branches

Day 2 – Branching, Merging, and Collaboration

• 💬 Lecture: Branching strategies and workflows

• 💬 Lecture: Fast-forward vs merge commits

• ⚙️ Lab: Merging branches locally

• ⚙️ Lab: Resolving simple merge conflicts

• 💬 Lecture: Remote repositories and collaboration

• ⚙️ Lab: Connecting a local repository to GitLab

• ⚙️ Lab: Pushing and pulling changes

• 💬 Lecture: GitLab projects and repositories

• ⚙️ Lab: Creating a GitLab project

• ⚙️ Lab: Cloning a GitLab repository

• 💬 Lecture: Merge requests and code review

• ⚙️ Lab: Creating a merge request

• ⚙️ Lab: Reviewing and approving changes

Day 3 – GitLab Workflows and Team Practices

• 💬 Lecture: GitLab groups, users, and permissions

• 💬 Lecture: Protected branches and governance

• ⚙️ Lab: Managing repository permissions

• ⚙️ Lab: Protecting main and release branches

• 💬 Lecture: Issues, milestones, and planning

• ⚙️ Lab: Creating and managing issues

• ⚙️ Lab: Linking issues to merge requests

• 💬 Lecture: Tags, releases, and versioning

• ⚙️ Lab: Creating Git tags

• ⚙️ Lab: Publishing a release in GitLab

• 💬 Lecture: Handling mistakes in Git

• ⚙️ Lab: Undoing changes safely

• ⚙️ Lab: Reverting commits vs resetting history

Day 4 – Best Practices, CI/CD Awareness, and Real-World Usage

• 💬 Lecture: Git best practices for teams

• 💬 Lecture: Commit messages and repository hygiene

• ⚙️ Lab: Writing meaningful commit messages

• ⚙️ Lab: Cleaning up commit history

• 💬 Lecture: Introduction to GitLab CI/CD

• ⚙️ Lab: Exploring a .gitlab-ci.yml file

• ⚙️ Lab: Running a simple GitLab CI pipeline

• 💬 Lecture: GitLab in DevOps and infrastructure workflows

• 💬 Lecture: Security and compliance considerations

• ⚙️ Lab: Using merge request pipelines

• ⚙️ Lab: Enforcing checks before merge

• 💬 Lecture: Real-world Git and GitLab workflows

• ⚙️ Lab: Working through an end-to-end GitLab workflow

• ⚙️ Lab: Creating a feature branch, merge request, review, and merge

• ⚙️ Lab: Validating history and repository state

Outcomes

Students who complete Introduction to Git and GitLab will be able to:

• Use Git confidently for version control

• Understand branches, merges, and history

• Collaborate effectively using GitLab

• Create and review merge requests

• Resolve conflicts and recover from mistakes

• Participate in modern Git-based DevOps workflows