Single User Installation of Git-LFS without sudo

git-lfs-install.md

I wanted to install GIT-Lfs on my user account without access to server root account. I write this to my future self.

1. Download tar.gz file from git-lfs website.

wget https://github.com/git-lfs/git-lfs/releases/download/v3.2.0/git-lfs-linux-amd64-v3.2.0.tar.gz

2.Untar it

tar xvf git-lfs-linux-amd64-v3.2.0.tar.gz

3. Go to directory

cd git-lfs-3.2.0/

4. give permission to file install.sh

chmod +x install.sh

5. Edit file install.sh and change prefix from /usr/local/ to $HOME/.local (Fix bug that @G-Thor has mentioned)

sed -i 's|^prefix="/usr/local"$|prefix="$HOME/.local"|' install.sh

6. Do not forget to create .local/bin in your home folder if that doesn't exist. Add Path .local/bin path to terminal.

mkdir -p ~/.local/bin/
export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

7. Now you can run ./install.sh to install git-lfs.

./install.sh

You should see Git LFS Initalized.

8. Check your installation:

git-lfs --version

9. Add .local/bin to .bashrc or whatever shell you use. This step is to make sure that your shell can find git-lfs binaries.

All in one (just copy and paste into terminal):

wget https://github.com/git-lfs/git-lfs/releases/download/v3.2.0/git-lfs-linux-amd64-v3.2.0.tar.gz
tar xvf git-lfs-linux-amd64-v3.2.0.tar.gz
cd git-lfs-3.2.0/
chmod +x install.sh
sed -i 's|^prefix="/usr/local"$|prefix="$HOME/.local"|' install.sh
mkdir -p ~/.local/bin/
export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"
./install.sh
git-lfs --version

Thank you, past self.

After doing this, is access to the command "git lfs" possible? I have made sure my env variables and .bashrc file are all configured correctly, and ran install.sh as "./install.sh".

The current (v.3.4.1) version of the installation script appends "/bin" to the prefix after it is declared so changing prefix="$YOUR_HOME/.local/bin" to prefix="$YOUR_HOME/.local" may solve the problem for @adipill04

The current (v.3.4.1) version of the installation script appends "/bin" to the prefix after it is declared so changing prefix="$YOUR_HOME/.local/bin" to prefix="$YOUR_HOME/.local" may solve the problem for @adipill04

@G-Thor That sure was the problem-- there was a mismatch between PATH variable & the actual path I had installed git lfs in. Thanks for your help!

Wow, thank you so much! I also encountered the "./local/bin" issue. Thank you all!

Thank you, past self.

Thank you!

As of at least v3.5.1, there is a --local option you can pass which sets the prefix to $HOME/.local; just make sure the directory exists first.

To wit:

mkdir ~/.local
./install.sh --local

This was really helpful. Thank you

Thank you !

The current (v.3.4.1) version of the installation script appends "/bin" to the prefix after it is declared so changing prefix="$YOUR_HOME/.local/bin" to prefix="$YOUR_HOME/.local" may solve the problem for @adipill04

Thanks @G-Thor, this was the fix I needed as well for v3.5.1. Also thanks to @pourmand1376 for these instructions!

This is really helpful. Thanks

Many thanks

shouldn't it be as easy as conda install -c conda-forge git-lfs after installing conda?

shouldn't it be as easy as conda install -c conda-forge git-lfs after installing conda?

Haha, really. I tried conda, succeed under ubuntu without sudo privileges. Thank you for extra information.

Thanks. You saved my day today.

Thank you so much! Life saver!

Thank you

thank you

Thank you

conda solution was perfect. Thank you.