Purpose of the '.netrc' file

Question

When I try to use Google Cloud's Push-to-Deploy feature, they asked me to add some credential in the .netrc file. What is the .netrc file? What is the purpose?

Answer 1

This is a file that is often used by Unix programs to hold access details for remote sites. It was originally created for use with FTP.

See the man page and this answer for its use with Git on Windows specifically.