Git clone fatal error - [URL] not found

DrErle · January 18, 2021, 9:43pm

I have a GitHub and Classroom account. I created my first assignment. When I attempt to clone the template repository using the link provided in Classroom, using a different account that I specified as an authorized student, I get the following error. Any thoughts? If this should be posted elsewhere, please let me know. Thanks.

merle@ceres:~/202/prog0_bits % ls -la
total 8
drwx------. 3 merle faculty 3 Jan 18 14:44 ./
drwx------. 3 merle faculty 3 Jan 18 14:37 …/
drwx------. 7 merle faculty 10 Jan 18 14:41 .git/
merle@ceres:~/202/prog0_bits % git clone https://classroom.github.com/a/EXJ7X_hY
Initialized empty Git repository in /home/merle/cse202.spring2021/prog0_bits/EXJ7X_hY/.git/
fatal: https://classroom.github.com/a/EXJ7X_hY/info/refs not found: did you run git update-server-info on the server?

Grayson-Orr · January 19, 2021, 1:14am

@DrErle I have tested the link you have provided and it has created the appropriate repository.

DrErle · January 19, 2021, 2:11am

Thanks. So what I just did now was to go to that URL in my browser, select my github account from the list, and then accept the assignment. And I can see that I now have the repository (i.e., organization/assignment-account). But, I am still unable to clone the repo on my Linux box.

merle@enceladus:~/202/prog0_bits % git clone [protocol]://github.com/lehigh-university/bits-DrErle.git
Initialized empty Git repository in /home/merle/cse202.spring2021/prog0_bits/bits-DrErle/.git/
error: The requested URL returned error: 403 Forbidden while accessing [protocol]://github.com/lehigh-university/bits-DrErle.git/info/refs
fatal: HTTP request failed

Grayson-Orr · January 19, 2021, 10:00am

@DrErle Are you able to clone the repository via SSH? Have a look at this article - HTTPS cloning errors - GitHub Docs

DrErle · January 19, 2021, 4:46pm

That (accessing using SSH) did the trick! Using the HTTPS approach, on my Linux box, I got a 403 error, while on my MacBook, I was at least prompted for my username and password (although it still didn’t clone). But using SSH worked on both my Linux box and my MacBook (also Linux). Thanks, @Grayson-Orr!

stevenbitner · January 20, 2021, 3:45am

I realize this might be unnecessary commentary, but it looks like you put [protocol] in the clone URL, when that part is just a placeholder for something like https. My guess is that the command that you ran on the Linux box differs from what you ran on the M c. Running the history command usually helps out in these situations.

Grayson-Orr · January 20, 2021, 11:50am

Following on from @stevenbitner. Running git clone https://github.com/lehigh-university/bits-DrErle.git should work. Note the https being used. This will work with SSH. @stevenbitner is 100% correct with the [protocol] as a placeholder. I overlooked that part. Well spotted.

DrErle · January 20, 2021, 1:57pm

Appreciate the follow-up. I put “[protocol]” in the URL because I (as a new poster) am only allowed to have two URLs in any post… presumably a Github security measure. I used “https” as the protocol, which didn’t work. But the SSH approach does. It’s a bit more work for my students to set up SSH (gen keys and store), but I understand the straight-up username/password approach is going away summer 2021. Thanks again.