cdk init requires git global configuration

[normj]

On my machine I don't have a global git config for username and email because for every repository I create I want to explicitly set whether I'm using my work or personal account. Since I don't have that I get errors when I execute cdk init app --language=typescript

> cdk init app --language=typescript                                                                                                                        
Error: ENOENT: no such file or directory, open 'c:\Users\norm\.aws\config'                                                                                  
    at Object.fs.openSync (fs.js:646:18)                                                                                                                    
    at Object.fs.readFileSync (fs.js:551:33)                                                                                                                
    at Object.readFileSync (C:\Users\Norm\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\aws-cdk\node_modules\aws-sdk\lib\util.js:97:26)                                  
    at SharedIniFile.loadFile [as ensureFileLoaded] (C:\Users\Norm\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\aws-cdk\node_modules\aws-sdk\lib\shared_ini.js:19:18)   
    at SharedIniFile.loadProfile [as getProfile] (C:\Users\Norm\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\aws-cdk\node_modules\aws-sdk\lib\shared_ini.js:52:10)      
    at Config.region (C:\Users\Norm\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\aws-cdk\node_modules\aws-sdk\lib\node_loader.js:88:34)                                 
    at Config.set (C:\Users\Norm\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\aws-cdk\node_modules\aws-sdk\lib\config.js:448:39)                                        
    at Config.<anonymous> (C:\Users\Norm\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\aws-cdk\node_modules\aws-sdk\lib\config.js:283:12)                                
    at Config.each (C:\Users\Norm\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\aws-cdk\node_modules\aws-sdk\lib\util.js:485:32)                                         
    at new Config (C:\Users\Norm\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\aws-cdk\node_modules\aws-sdk\lib\config.js:282:19)                                        
default@us-west-2 C:\temp\cdk-test\hello-cdk                                                                                                                
> cdk init app --language=typescript                                                                                                                        
Initializing a new git repository...                                                                                                                        
Applying project template app for typescript                                                                                                                
Executing npm install...                                                                                                                                    
npm notice created a lockfile as package-lock.json. You should commit this file.                                                                            
npm WARN hello-cdk@0.1.0 No repository field.                                                                                                               
npm WARN hello-cdk@0.1.0 No license field.                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                                            
warning: LF will be replaced by CRLF in .gitignore.                                                                                                         
The file will have its original line endings in your working directory.                                                                                     
warning: LF will be replaced by CRLF in .npmignore.                                                                                                         
The file will have its original line endings in your working directory.                                                                                     
warning: LF will be replaced by CRLF in README.md.                                                                                                          
The file will have its original line endings in your working directory.                                                                                     
warning: LF will be replaced by CRLF in bin/hello-cdk.ts.                                                                                                   
The file will have its original line endings in your working directory.                                                                                     
warning: LF will be replaced by CRLF in cdk.json.                                                                                                           
The file will have its original line endings in your working directory.                                                                                     
warning: LF will be replaced by CRLF in package-lock.json.                                                                                                  
The file will have its original line endings in your working directory.                                                                                     
warning: LF will be replaced by CRLF in package.json.                                                                                                       
The file will have its original line endings in your working directory.                                                                                     
warning: LF will be replaced by CRLF in tsconfig.json.                                                                                                      
The file will have its original line endings in your working directory.                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                                            
*** Please tell me who you are.                                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                                            
Run                                                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                                            
  git config --global user.email "you@example.com"                                                                                                          
  git config --global user.name "Your Name"                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                                            
to set your account's default identity.                                                                                                                     
Omit --global to set the identity only in this repository.                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                                            
fatal: unable to auto-detect email address (got 'Norm@master-control.(none)')                                                                               
git exited with status 128              

Looks like the project isn't finished creating either because when I run cdk synth I get errors about a missing hello-cdk.js.

[rix0rrr]

The setup probably finished, but what didn't happen is that the project got compiled for you.

You need to run:

npm run build

first to compile the .ts to .js.

[rix0rrr]

Maybe we shouldn't auto-init a git repository.

It feels like an overreach, and might even hinder if you're trying to run cdk init to create a new package in a monorepo (which presumably is already in a git repo).

@RomainMuller, thoughts?

[RomainMuller]

The mono repo story isn't one, because we don't git init if we're already in a git repository.

One first thing we should do is to force the user info for the commit that is auto-created if there isn't any global configuration available, so that git doesn't try to ask...

The other thing is we can allow people to opt out of the git repository by adding a --no-git option, maybe?

The reason I hold dear to that is because a lot of other "package init" tools do this, and I feel it's part of the basic expectations nowadays...

[eladb]

@RomainMuller this is solved by #540, correct?

[RomainMuller]

No. This issue is about it requiring global git configuration.

[eladb]

can you update the description to reflect the actual issue? It starts by talking about the config file issue

[rix0rrr]

I think we might also just be able to survive a failing git command and notify the user.