difference between embedded GIT and system GIT

[Aman Sehgal]

I am using git with source tree as the client with the repository management tool being Stash. I would like to know the difference between embedded git and system GIT. When I tried using system GIT things didnt work well. I couldnt clone and I couldnt even launch the terminal. But things changes as soon as I got the embedded version of GIT

[Aman Sehgal · Accepted solution]

It turned out that using system GIT was causing a whole bunch of issues and when i switched to embedded GIT, I was able to clone the repos and also use the terminal which I couldnt previously.

[Deleted user]

Hi. I already have GIT installed on my system, but if I try and enable the Embedded GIT in SourceTree, then no way I can authenticate the SSH keys using a passphrase. If I use system GIT then source tree prompts me to enter a passphrase and then I can perform my activities. Can anyone explain why is this happening? Thanks!

[Jeff Thomas]

Hi Aman,

If you use embedded Git, SourceTree will install and use a version of Git that comes bundled with the application and provides an easy way to get going with SourceTree without having to install Git yourself.

If you already have Git installed on your machine, you can set SourceTree to use the system Git. This will use the version of Git that you have installed on your machine. I imagine there might be something wrong with Git that is installed on your system that is causing problems. In Command Prompt, are you able to run some of the basic Git commands?

[Aman Sehgal]

Jeff,

Yes I can run the GIT commands pretty easily. But source tree doesnt seem to be able clone the repos. when I change the repos on stash to enable "Allow users without a Stash account to clone and browse this repository.",

Then system git can clone the repos. However I still was not able to use system GIT and launch the terminal from source tree. I do have cygwin installed.

All these problems seem to disappear when I use embedded GIT.