“Git error: could not lock config file C:/Users/old_profile/.gitconfig: No such file or directory” after profile migration

Question

I have an interesting error that keeps coming up when using git for windows (version 2.12.0.windows.1). I recently migrated my windows profile directory from one location to

Answer 1

My problem was the same:

“Git error: could not lock config file C:/<Name_file>/.gitconfig: No such file or directory”

1. I saw that "C:/<...>/" no any files, and I found file ".gitconfig" in C:/Users/profile/.gitconfig
2. I did copy-paste .gitconfig to C:/<...> and reload PC, after Run git as Administrator and all worked correct.

Answer 2

I faced similar issue.

Error: could not lock config file C:/.gitconfig:

Solution: I had a system environment variable (Home= C:\ ) in my computer and it caused this issue. Deleted it and everything started working.

Answer 3

This was being caused by bad paths in my environment variables (due to the profile migration).

I opened up System Properties -> Environment Variables, and updated all references to C:\Users\<old_profile> with the new one.

Answer 4

In WSL / bash

Use sudo to set values. This should only apply to the --system scope.

sudo git config --system diff.tool p4merge

In Cmd / PowerShell

Run as Administrator to set values. This is because the gitconfig file (probably located at: C:\Program Files\Git\mingw64\etc\) is protected.

Only SYSTEM and COMPUTER\Administrators have Modify rights. The rest of the ACLs have Read and Read & execute rights only.

Answer 5

this can be due to using multiple git account on visual studio. Check if you are logged in with correct credentials.