github - Git Fatal Error: info/refs not found

Question

I receive the following error:

fatal: https://github.com/username/repository-name.git/info/refs not found: did you run git update-server-info on the server?

if I try to push my repository without creating it first on github.com. If I create my repository first on github, then I can push branches no problem. Is this procedure routine? Or am I doing something wrong? I thought a repository could be created locally and pushed without first creating it on github.

Answer 1

fatal: https://github.com/username/repository-name.git/info/refs not found: did you run git update-server-info on the server?

In GitHub context, this message should be understood as "The repository doesn't exist". You're supposed to push toward an already existing bare repository. A bare repository is a repository without a working directory, usually found server-side.

If I create my repository first on github, then I can push branches no problem. Is this procedure routine?

Yes. You're supposed to first create your repository on GitHub. See the help topic about this

indeed, as stated by the documentation "To put your project up on GitHub, you'll need to have a GitHub repository for it to live in."