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-rw-r--r--Documentation/git-clone.txt193
1 files changed, 123 insertions, 70 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/git-clone.txt b/Documentation/git-clone.txt
index b14de6c407..0363d0039b 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-clone.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-clone.txt
@@ -11,24 +11,29 @@ SYNOPSIS
[verse]
'git clone' [--template=<template_directory>]
[-l] [-s] [--no-hardlinks] [-q] [-n] [--bare] [--mirror]
- [-o <name>] [-u <upload-pack>] [--reference <repository>]
- [--depth <depth>] [--] <repository> [<directory>]
+ [-o <name>] [-b <name>] [-u <upload-pack>] [--reference <repository>]
+ [--separate-git-dir <git dir>]
+ [--depth <depth>] [--[no-]single-branch]
+ [--recursive | --recurse-submodules] [--] <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
arguments will in addition merge the remote master branch into the
-current master branch, if any.
+current master branch, if any (this is untrue when "--single-branch"
+is given; see below).
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.
@@ -38,69 +43,86 @@ 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. 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.
+ to save space when possible.
++
+If the repository is specified as a local path (e.g., `/path/to/repo`),
+this is the default, and --local is essentially a no-op. If the
+repository is specified as a URL, then this flag is ignored (and we
+never use the local optimizations). Specifying `--no-local` will
+override the default when `/path/to/repo` is given, using the regular
+Git transport instead.
--no-hardlinks::
- Optimize the cloning process from a repository on a
- local filesystem by copying files under `.git/objects`
- directory.
+ Force the cloning process from a repository on a local
+ filesystem to copy the files under the `.git/objects`
+ directory instead of using hardlinks. This may be desirable
+ if you are trying to make a back-up of your repository.
--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
+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')
+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 fewer objects to be copied from the repository
being cloned, reducing network and local storage costs.
+
-*NOTE*: see NOTE to --shared option.
+*NOTE*: see the NOTE for the `--shared` option.
--quiet::
-q::
- Operate quietly. This flag is also passed to the `rsync'
+ Operate quietly. Progress is not reported to the standard
+ error stream. This flag is also passed to the `rsync'
command when given.
--verbose::
-v::
- Display the progressbar, even in case the standard output is not
- a terminal.
+ 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.
--bare::
- Make a 'bare' GIT repository. That is, instead of
+ Make a 'bare' Git repository. That is, instead of
creating `<directory>` and placing the administrative
files in `<directory>/.git`, make the `<directory>`
itself the `$GIT_DIR`. This obviously implies the `-n`
@@ -112,12 +134,26 @@ then the cloned repository will become corrupt.
configuration variables are created.
--mirror::
- Set up a mirror of the remote repository. This implies --bare.
+ Set up a mirror of the source repository. This implies `--bare`.
+ Compared to `--bare`, `--mirror` not only maps local branches of the
+ source to local branches of the target, it maps all refs (including
+ remote-tracking branches, notes etc.) and sets up a refspec configuration such
+ that all these refs are overwritten by a `git remote update` in the
+ target repository.
--origin <name>::
-o <name>::
- Instead of using the remote name 'origin' to keep track
- of the upstream repository, use <name>.
+ 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.
+ `--branch` can also take tags and detaches the HEAD at that commit
+ in the resulting repository.
--upload-pack <upload-pack>::
-u <upload-pack>::
@@ -127,17 +163,52 @@ then the cloned repository will become corrupt.
--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].)
+
+--config <key>=<value>::
+-c <key>=<value>::
+ Set a configuration variable in the newly-created repository;
+ this takes effect immediately after the repository is
+ initialized, but before the remote history is fetched or any
+ files checked out. The key is in the same format as expected by
+ linkgit:git-config[1] (e.g., `core.eol=true`). If multiple
+ values are given for the same key, each value will be written to
+ the config file. This makes it safe, for example, to add
+ additional fetch refspecs to the origin remote.
--depth <depth>::
Create a 'shallow' clone with a history truncated to the
- 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
- are only interested in the recent history of a large project
- with a long history, and would want to send in fixes
- as patches.
+ specified number of revisions.
+
+--[no-]single-branch::
+ Clone only the history leading to the tip of a single branch,
+ either specified by the `--branch` option or the primary
+ branch remote's `HEAD` points at. When creating a shallow
+ clone with the `--depth` option, this is the default, unless
+ `--no-single-branch` is given to fetch the histories near the
+ tips of all branches.
+ Further fetches into the resulting repository will only update the
+ remote-tracking branch for the branch this option was used for the
+ initial cloning. If the HEAD at the remote did not point at any
+ branch when `--single-branch` clone was made, no remote-tracking
+ branch is created.
+
+--recursive::
+--recurse-submodules::
+ 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)
+
+--separate-git-dir=<git dir>::
+ Instead of placing the cloned repository where it is supposed
+ to be, place the cloned repository at the specified directory,
+ then make a filesystem-agnostic Git symbolic link to there.
+ The result is Git repository can be separated from working
+ tree.
+
<repository>::
The (possibly remote) repository to clone from. See the
@@ -147,8 +218,8 @@ then the cloned repository will become corrupt.
<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
+ 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
@@ -157,16 +228,16 @@ include::urls.txt[]
Examples
--------
-Clone from upstream::
+* Clone from upstream:
+
------------
-$ git clone git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/.../linux-2.6 my2.6
-$ cd my2.6
+$ git clone git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/.../linux.git my-linux
+$ cd my-linux
$ 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
@@ -175,41 +246,23 @@ $ 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 \
- git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/.../linux-2.7 \
- my2.7
-$ cd my2.7
+$ git clone --reference /git/linux.git \
+ git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/.../linux.git \
+ my-linux
+$ cd my-linux
------------
-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::
-+
-------------
-$ git clone --bare -l -s /pub/scm/.../torvalds/linux-2.6.git \
- /pub/scm/.../me/subsys-2.6.git
-------------
-
-
-Author
-------
-Written by Linus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org>
-
-
-Documentation
---------------
-Documentation by Junio C Hamano and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
-
-
GIT
---
Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite