Introduction

At Yahara Software, we have standardized on using Mercurial as our source control management tool.  This blog post is a set of basic instructions for installing the tools and getting code from a Mercurial repository, hosted on HTTP.

"Cloning" is the act of copying the contents of a remote Mercurial repository (set of source code and change history) to your local machine.

A comprehensive (and great) introduction to Mercurial can be found at Joel Spolsky's HG Init site.

Step 1: Install TortoiseHg

TortoiseHg is a Windows shell extension (hence “Tortise”) and client application that makes it easy to interoperate with Mercurial repositories.  TheTortoiseHg application comes in 32 and 64-bit versions, and is available from http://tortoisehg.bitbucket.org/.  The programs are lightweight, just take thedefaults when installing it.

The installer will install everything you need:

1. Mercurial – the core program and associated files
2. The TortiseHg shell extension that extends Windows Explorer so you can do right-click Mercurial operations in Windows
3. TortoiseHg Workbench – a Windows application that can be used to manage source code

Step 2: Find Your Repository URL

Locate the repository URL that you wish to clone.  This is the HTTP or file path to the remote repository.  It may look something like this:

• HTTP: https://www.myurl.com/hgweb.cgi/Source/myRepository/
• File System: E:\Repositories\myRepository

Step 3: Clone the Repository

1. Create a new folder in Windows Explorer where you will want to store your code

2. Right-click the folder and pick “TortoiseHg/Clone”

3. Paste the URL for your repository into the “Clone” dialog, and click the “Clone” button