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-rw-r--r--Documentation/git-clone.txt147
1 files changed, 107 insertions, 40 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/git-clone.txt b/Documentation/git-clone.txt
index 6d32c491a5..dc7d3d17b1 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-clone.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-clone.txt
@@ -3,23 +3,25 @@ git-clone(1)
NAME
----
-git-clone - Clones a repository into a new directory
+git-clone - Clone a repository into a new directory
SYNOPSIS
--------
[verse]
-'git-clone' [--template=<template_directory>] [-l [-s]] [-q] [-n] [--bare]
- [-o <name>] [-u <upload-pack>] [--reference <repository>]
- [--depth <depth>] <repository> [<directory>]
+'git clone' [--template=<template_directory>]
+ [-l] [-s] [--no-hardlinks] [-q] [-n] [--bare] [--mirror]
+ [-o <name>] [-b <name>] [-u <upload-pack>] [--reference <repository>]
+ [--depth <depth>] [--recursive] [--] <repository> [<directory>]
DESCRIPTION
-----------
Clones a repository into a newly created directory, creates
remote-tracking branches for each branch in the cloned repository
-(visible using `git branch -r`), and creates and checks out an initial
-branch equal to the cloned repository's currently active branch.
+(visible using `git branch -r`), and creates and checks out an
+initial branch that is forked from the cloned repository's
+currently active branch.
After the clone, a plain `git fetch` without arguments will update
all the remote-tracking branches, and a `git pull` without
@@ -27,7 +29,7 @@ arguments will in addition merge the remote master branch into the
current master branch, if any.
This default configuration is achieved by creating references to
-the remote branch heads under `$GIT_DIR/refs/remotes/origin` and
+the remote branch heads under `refs/remotes/origin` and
by initializing `remote.origin.url` and `remote.origin.fetch`
configuration variables.
@@ -37,33 +39,79 @@ OPTIONS
--local::
-l::
When the repository to clone from is on a local machine,
- this flag bypasses normal "git aware" transport
+ this flag bypasses the normal "git aware" transport
mechanism and clones the repository by making a copy of
HEAD and everything under objects and refs directories.
- The files under .git/objects/ directory are hardlinked
- to save space when possible.
+ The files under `.git/objects/` directory are hardlinked
+ to save space when possible. This is now the default when
+ the source repository is specified with `/path/to/repo`
+ syntax, so it essentially is a no-op option. To force
+ copying instead of hardlinking (which may be desirable
+ if you are trying to make a back-up of your repository),
+ but still avoid the usual "git aware" transport
+ mechanism, `--no-hardlinks` can be used.
+
+--no-hardlinks::
+ Optimize the cloning process from a repository on a
+ local filesystem by copying files under `.git/objects`
+ directory.
--shared::
-s::
When the repository to clone is on the local machine,
instead of using hard links, automatically setup
- .git/objects/info/alternates to share the objects
+ `.git/objects/info/alternates` to share the objects
with the source repository. The resulting repository
starts out without any object of its own.
++
+*NOTE*: this is a possibly dangerous operation; do *not* use
+it unless you understand what it does. If you clone your
+repository using this option and then delete branches (or use any
+other git command that makes any existing commit unreferenced) in the
+source repository, some objects may become unreferenced (or dangling).
+These objects may be removed by normal git operations (such as `git commit`)
+which automatically call `git gc --auto`. (See linkgit:git-gc[1].)
+If these objects are removed and were referenced by the cloned repository,
+then the cloned repository will become corrupt.
++
+Note that running `git repack` without the `-l` option in a repository
+cloned with `-s` will copy objects from the source repository into a pack
+in the cloned repository, removing the disk space savings of `clone -s`.
+It is safe, however, to run `git gc`, which uses the `-l` option by
+default.
++
+If you want to break the dependency of a repository cloned with `-s` on
+its source repository, you can simply run `git repack -a` to copy all
+objects from the source repository into a pack in the cloned repository.
--reference <repository>::
- If the reference repository is on the local machine
- automatically setup .git/objects/info/alternates to
+ If the reference repository is on the local machine,
+ automatically setup `.git/objects/info/alternates` to
obtain objects from the reference repository. Using
an already existing repository as an alternate will
- require less objects to be copied from the repository
+ require fewer objects to be copied from the repository
being cloned, reducing network and local storage costs.
++
+*NOTE*: see the NOTE for the `--shared` option.
--quiet::
-q::
- Operate quietly. This flag is passed to "rsync" and
- "git-fetch-pack" commands when given.
-
+ Operate quietly. Progress is not reported to the standard
+ error stream. This flag is also passed to the `rsync'
+ command when given.
+
+--verbose::
+-v::
+ Run verbosely. Does not affect the reporting of progress status
+ to the standard error stream.
+
+--progress::
+ Progress status is reported on the standard error stream
+ by default when it is attached to a terminal, unless -q
+ is specified. This flag forces progress status even if the
+ standard error stream is not directed to a terminal.
+
+--no-checkout::
-n::
No checkout of HEAD is performed after the clone is complete.
@@ -79,47 +127,67 @@ OPTIONS
used, neither remote-tracking branches nor the related
configuration variables are created.
+--mirror::
+ Set up a mirror of the remote repository. This implies `--bare`.
+
--origin <name>::
-o <name>::
- Instead of using the remote name 'origin' to keep track
- of the upstream repository, use <name> instead.
+ Instead of using the remote name `origin` to keep track
+ of the upstream repository, use `<name>`.
+
+--branch <name>::
+-b <name>::
+ Instead of pointing the newly created HEAD to the branch pointed
+ to by the cloned repository's HEAD, point to `<name>` branch
+ instead. In a non-bare repository, this is the branch that will
+ be checked out.
--upload-pack <upload-pack>::
-u <upload-pack>::
- When given, and the repository to clone from is handled
- by 'git-fetch-pack', '--exec=<upload-pack>' is passed to
- the command to specify non-default path for the command
+ When given, and the repository to clone from is accessed
+ via ssh, this specifies a non-default path for the command
run on the other end.
--template=<template_directory>::
Specify the directory from which templates will be used;
- if unset the templates are taken from the installation
- defined default, typically `/usr/share/git-core/templates`.
+ (See the "TEMPLATE DIRECTORY" section of linkgit:git-init[1].)
--depth <depth>::
Create a 'shallow' clone with a history truncated to the
- specified number of revs. A shallow repository has
+ specified number of revisions. A shallow repository has a
number of limitations (you cannot clone or fetch from
it, nor push from nor into it), but is adequate if you
- want to only look at near the tip of a large project
- with a long history, and would want to send in a fixes
+ are only interested in the recent history of a large project
+ with a long history, and would want to send in fixes
as patches.
+--recursive::
+ After the clone is created, initialize all submodules within,
+ using their default settings. This is equivalent to running
+ `git submodule update --init --recursive` immediately after
+ the clone is finished. This option is ignored if the cloned
+ repository does not have a worktree/checkout (i.e. if any of
+ `--no-checkout`/`-n`, `--bare`, or `--mirror` is given)
+
<repository>::
- The (possibly remote) repository to clone from. It can
- be any URL git-fetch supports.
+ The (possibly remote) repository to clone from. See the
+ <<URLS,URLS>> section below for more information on specifying
+ repositories.
<directory>::
The name of a new directory to clone into. The "humanish"
part of the source repository is used if no directory is
- explicitly given ("repo" for "/path/to/repo.git" and "foo"
- for "host.xz:foo/.git"). Cloning into an existing directory
- is not allowed.
+ explicitly given (`repo` for `/path/to/repo.git` and `foo`
+ for `host.xz:foo/.git`). Cloning into an existing directory
+ is only allowed if the directory is empty.
+
+:git-clone: 1
+include::urls.txt[]
Examples
--------
-Clone from upstream::
+* Clone from upstream:
+
------------
$ git clone git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/.../linux-2.6 my2.6
@@ -128,16 +196,16 @@ $ make
------------
-Make a local clone that borrows from the current directory, without checking things out::
+* Make a local clone that borrows from the current directory, without checking things out:
+
------------
$ git clone -l -s -n . ../copy
-$ cd copy
+$ cd ../copy
$ git show-branch
------------
-Clone from upstream while borrowing from an existing local directory::
+* Clone from upstream while borrowing from an existing local directory:
+
------------
$ git clone --reference my2.6 \
@@ -147,14 +215,14 @@ $ cd my2.7
------------
-Create a bare repository to publish your changes to the public::
+* Create a bare repository to publish your changes to the public:
+
------------
$ git clone --bare -l /home/proj/.git /pub/scm/proj.git
------------
-Create a repository on the kernel.org machine that borrows from Linus::
+* Create a repository on the kernel.org machine that borrows from Linus:
+
------------
$ git clone --bare -l -s /pub/scm/.../torvalds/linux-2.6.git \
@@ -174,5 +242,4 @@ Documentation by Junio C Hamano and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
GIT
---
-Part of the gitlink:git[7] suite
-
+Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite