How do I do an initial push to a remote repository with Git?

Question

I've read through countless tutorials and I keep coming up short. Here's what I've got:

-- I'm running RubyMine on my Windows desktop
-- I've installed Git on my WebFaction hosting account per their instructions
-- Git appears to be working fine on both machines

Here's what I'm doing:
1. On server:
         a. mkdir project
         b. git init
         c. git add .
         d. git commit <--- "nothing to commit"
2. On client:
         a. Create new project in RubyMine.
         b. "git init" in top directory of project
         c. "Push changes" to server <---- "failed to push some refs to...".

What steps am I missing?

Answer 1

You have to add at least one file to the repository before committing, e.g. .gitignore.

Answer 2

You need to set up the remote repository on your client:

git remote add origin ssh://myserver.com/path/to/project

Answer 3

On server:

mkdir my_project.git
cd my_project.git
git --bare init

On client:

mkdir my_project
cd my_project
touch .gitignore
git init
git add .
git commit -m "Initial commit"
git remote add origin [email protected]:/path/to/my_project.git
git push origin master

Note that when you add the origin, there are several formats and schemas you could use. I recommend you see what your hosting service provides.