Lion Cipher Lab

Version control with Git: the literacy every lab and job assumes

• Foundations
• Beginner
• ~35 min
• Free · no account required

Why it matters

Git is the quiet prerequisite for almost everything hands-on in security. External labs tell you to "clone this repo," tools live on GitHub and expect you to pull them down, and job listings list Git as a baseline skill the way they list email. It's also how you never lose your own work and can see exactly what changed and when. Learn the eight-or-so commands here once and "clone the repo and run it" stops being a wall and becomes a reflex.

What you'll learn

• Git basics
• version control
• git init / add / commit
• reading history with git log
• cloning repositories
• keeping secrets out of a repo

Steps in this lab

1. The mental model: working directory, staging, and history
2. Install Git and confirm it's there
3. Tell Git who you are (configure name and email)
4. Create a repository and check its status (git init, git status)
5. Make a change, then stage it (git add)
6. Seal the snapshot (git commit)
7. See what you've done (git log)
8. Clone a public repo — how you'll get most security tools
9. The one security rule: never commit secrets
10. You have the literacy now — here's what it unlocks

Open the full interactive lab →