Start Managing IBM i Source Members with Git in 10 Minutes

IBM i Git Classic Source Management Made Easy

Implement Git for your Classic IBM i Source Version Control in Minutes.

iForGit is an affordable Git Client solution for PDM, RDI and VS Code developers who develop classic RPG, CL and COBOL source.

iForGit can be used standalone for source version management or in conjunction with other solutions that do classic IBM i source control to enhance those solutions with git versioning.

Learn about Git with this Free e-Book

Pro Git by Scott Chacon and Ben Straub is available to read online for free.
https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2

Start with Simple Source Management Commands

Not quite ready for Git but want simple source member version management ?

You can start with the simple source management commands and then implement the iForGit Git commands when ready. These commands are available in iForGit V1.25
https://github.com/richardschoen/iforgit/blob/master/knowledge/simple_source_management.md

Available Now - 7/20/2025 - V1.27 - The new SRCGITVER command

The SRCGITVER command provides fast and easy interactive PDM Git Log access for viewing and restoring old source member versions. The command is especially useful if you are only storing your Git repositories locally in the IFS and not exporting them to a remote Git repository. When using a remote repository, often developers will use a Web Browser or Desktop Git client to view the source member history in a repository. SRCGITVER can be used in either a local IFS or remote scenario for quick Git history access from the green screen.

Try out iForGit on PUB400

Click the link which will take you to a short how-to tutorial for testing on PUB400. https://github.com/richardschoen/iforgit/blob/master/demo_with_pub400.md

Try our FREE Windows based PDM replacement

A few months ago I created a FREE Windows based PDM replacement utility.

This is a Windows replacement for PDM that integrates with any editor such as VS Code, Notepad++, Notepad, etc.

It also integrates with the iForGit software for managing source member versioning and you can use existing PDM options.

You can download a copy of the Windows based PDM utility here:
https://github.com/richardschoen/workwithibmipdm

Welcome to iForGit - Git Client for IBM i Source Physical Files

iForGit Information Document (PDF)
<a href="https://github.com/richardschoen/iforgit/raw/master/iForGitInfo2023Q3.pdf">View iForGit Information Document</a>

iForGit Home Page
https://www.iforgit.com

Visit the iForGit Documentation
https://www.mobigogo.net/files/docs/iforgit

Request an iForGit Demo
<a href="mailto:info@mobigogo.net?">info@mobigogo.net</a>

Overview

Git is the most popular source control versioning tool available for developers today. Git has been available natively on IBM i for IFS source management for several years. The biggest challenge with using Git for traditional IBM i developers has been the lack of seamless integration and management of SEU, PDM and source physical files with a Git repository for classic 5250 based source version control. RDi developers have tried iProjects and other methods to manage source in the IFS, but the result is often a complex and frustrating edit, compile and commit workflow experience that doesn’t feel natural because of the many manual steps.

iForGit solves the problem of awkward IBM i Git source management with a native IBM i Git client interface allowing Git to be easily integrated with 5250 development workflows using SEU, PDM and RDi editors and custom user options. iForGit commands also work with SSH terminal sessions to integrate with editors such as VS Code and others that support SSH connectivity.

IBM i developers can learn to use iForGit within minutes or source version commits can be fully automated so developers initially have zero learning curve.

Optionally use iForGit to enhance other commercial or custom IBM i source/object build solutions

For more complete source management and automated build processes, iForGit commands can be used in conjunction with open and commercial IBM i enterprise source and project management toolsets if their git support is lacking or non-existent. (Aldon, Turnover, Arcad, MDCMS, etc)

iForGit can also augment a custom source control/build solution if a development team has already implemented their own custom source management solution that doesn't integrate to git.

iForGit brings the ability to version source code from all your source physical files to git no matter what you use today.

Highlights

• Install and start versioning IBM i source with Git in minutes.
• Immediately add audited Git IBM i source management and compliance.
• Source code versioning can be made 100% automatic and transparent for developers.
• Works with PDM, SEU, RDi and VS Code to manage source versioning.
• Git repository backups can be scheduled for automatic hands-off source version commits.
• Local Git source repositories are managed in the IFS to augment existing source backups.
• Git repositories can live on-premise or in the cloud using a remote Git host such as:
GitHub, Bitbucket, GitLab, GitBucket, Azure DevOps, Bonobo Git Server or any Git project hosting environment.
• Descriptive source member information can be stored in source member headers.
• Line numbers and date sequences can be retained to support SEU and RDi editing environments.
• Source change and audit info can be viewed with git log, show, diff or blame.
• Old source member versions can be easily restored to source library from a Git repository.
• Git source control can enhance and augment existing source control and build processes.

Detail

iForGit is an IBM i Specific Git Client application that allows Git to be more easily integrated with RDi development environments and traditional 5250 SEU development environments for working with source file members or IFS based source members and seamlessly integrating them with a Git repository for version control and the ability to visually review and compare changes.

The most common use case for this would be companies who have no IBM i source control systems in place, yet want to start doing more than just daily library backups. Or possibly there is a team of .Net or multi-platform developers using Git and the team wants to start managing IBM i source in the same place for compliance reasons.

iForGit is an affordable alternative to expensive version control systems because you can use your own choice of online or self-hosted repositories (Github, Gitlab, Bonobo Git Server (Windows), Bitbucket or any other Git source server) as well as their associated tools for tickets, project management, continuous integration with IBM i, other custom source management workflows and more. iForGit simply becomes the source control mechanism.

The process of source control can initially be made 100% transparent for SEU, RDi and VS Code based developers (using scheduled auto-commits) so they don't have to remember to commit a source version. The STRSEUGIT command can be used with PDM to edit a member with SEU and auto commit the source members automatically any time they are edited and saved with SEU.

The SRCFRMGIT and SRCTOGIT commands also make checking out, committing or syncing source very easy from SEU, RDi or your own source build applications on IBM i.

The SRCFRMSTMF and SRCTOSTMF commands also work for just simple importing and exporting of source members to the IFS for editing from the Integrated File System (IFS) and copying back to a source file.

The GITCMD and GITQSH command can also be used to run general git commands over an IFS git repository from a traditional IBM i job stram if you're managing traditional PC-style git repositories in the Integrated File System (IFS)

The SRCGITCMD command can be used to view or check out old versions of a source member using the the SRCGITCMD CL command itself in a process or interactively as a PDM option or RDI user action. The following options are currently supported:
Perform a git log command to see how many times a member has been committed and determine the git commit hash for checking out the member from your git repository.
Perform a git blame command to show a consolidated view of the selected source member commits to determine what older version you may want to view or restore. Perform a git diff command for a selected hash to see what has changed.
Perform a git show command for a selected hash to show that version of the source member.
Perform a git checkout command to check out a selected older version of a source member to a selected source physical file for viewing or working with it via PDM or RDI.

The initial command set provides Git editing integration, however other features such as a 5250 client, web client, continuous integration and object management commands will be added if we see demand for this.

iForGit Documentation Sitecommand to check out a selected older version of a source member to a selected source physical file for viewing or working with it via PDM or RDI.

https://www.mobigogo.net/files/docs/iforgit

iForGit Wiki Page for KB Articles

https://github.com/richardschoen/iforgit/wiki

iForGit Issues Page to Report Issues

https://github.com/richardschoen/iforgit/issues

iForGit web site

Check out the http://iforgit.com site above and request a demo if you think it might fit your IBM i source management needs.

Questions or issues

If you have any qu

Iforgit

Install / Use

README