Question

Problem on WindowsXP (likely will happen on all Win installs), first time using Mercurial. I found the answer in an inobvious place so I’m asking/answering the question myself so others don’t have to search like I did.

First time using Mercurial on machine.

Add new repoz:

c:\bla\>hg add

no problem.

Next, commit:

c:\bla\hg commit

error:

abort: no username supplied (see “hg help config”)

Answer 1

Solution:

On my Windows install, the Mercurial.ini did not get propagated. It also needs a user email added to it.

Take the default Mercurial.ini file found at in the Mercurial executable install directory (C:\Program Files\Mercurial\Mercurial.ini on my machine)
and copy it to your user home dir (C:\Documents and Settings\myName on winXP).

On a Windows 7 install there is no default .ini, you will need to create a new one in C:\Users\myName.

Then edit that .ini file. Find this area. The username needs an email set. It will be blank–add your email name here.

[ui]
; editor used to enter commit logs, etc.  Most text editors will work.
editor = notepad
username = [e-mail]

This fixed the problem for me.