Initialize a Local Repository

Using Docker?

If you are using the etknorr/project-template Docker setup, skip this page. The template already includes a pre-initialized repository structure. Fork the template on GitHub and clone it instead of following the steps below.

Procedure

1. Navigate to the project directory (create it if needed):

   cd /Your/File/Path
   mkdir Repository-Folder
   cd Repository-Folder

2. Initialize the repository:

   git init -b main

   note

   This names the default branch main. Historically master was used, but main is now the convention.

3. Create a remote repository on GitHub if one doesn't exist yet.

   • See: GitHub - Creating a Repo

4. Link the local repository to the remote:

   1. Navigate to the remote repository page and copy the repository link.

      

   2. Run:

      git remote add origin <repository-link>

      note

      The convention is to name the remote origin. A local repository can have multiple remotes - upstream is conventionally used for the original repo when working with forks.

The local repository is now linked with the remote and ready to accept changes.

Ignition 8.3 Directory Structure

Coming from Ignition 8.1?

In 8.1, gateway configuration lived in a SQLite database and could only be backed up as a .gwbk file - not tracked in Git. In 8.3, all gateway configuration moved to the filesystem under data/config/, making it directly version-controllable alongside your projects. See the Ignition 8.3 Version Control Guide for the full picture.

In Ignition 8.3, project and configuration files are stored on the filesystem (not in a SQLite database), making them directly trackable with Git.

When using Docker with the etknorr/project-template:

Directory	What it Contains
services/ignition/projects/	Ignition projects (tracked)
services/ignition/config/resources/core/	Shared gateway config (tracked)
services/ignition/config/resources/dev/	Dev environment config (tracked)
data/ (Docker volume)	Runtime data - not tracked

See Gateway Resource Collections for a full explanation of the core/ and dev/ directories and how to add more environments.

Recommended .gitignore

Add this to your .gitignore for an Ignition 8.3 project:

# Runtime and database files
**/db/
**/metricsdb/
**/valueStore.idb
**/jar-cache/

# Local config and secrets
**/config/local
**/config/resources/local
**/certificates/
**/keystore/

# Logs and temp files
*.log
*.tmp
*.bak

# Project artifacts
conversion-report.txt
.resources/

# Vision (if not using Vision)
com.inductiveautomation.vision/

For a host install (non-Docker), track the data/projects/ directory directly and apply the same ignore patterns.