I am a long time Subversion user that is going to try Git. I have read some about it and understand the distributed nature - I can see a lot of the benefits.

However, I do like the idea of a central server that can take on the role of backups, system of record, etc, while still using Git for my local branching and sharing. I am not doing an open source project, so I can't use Github (without paying), so my question really is: what is a best practice way to run a local git server?

I realize this may be against the standard Git usage pattern, but it will be useful for my project. Any concerns that I may have overlooked are always welcome, however.

Thanks!

You can just set up an ssh server and run a central repository there. All developers then simply agree (as a matter of policy) to push to the server when they are done making commits. This is the usage pattern at my workplace. Very CVS and SVN-like.

1. Find somewhere to put the repository (/var/gitroot for example).
2. Create a new repo (mkdir project.git && cd project.git && git init --bare --shared=group).
3. Then on your client, clone the remote repo (git clone ssh://yourserver.com/var/gitroot/project.git && cd project)
4. add some files (git add README)
5. commit (git commit -m "Initial import"),
6. push (git push origin master)

This should set things up for you.