Documentation/git-init.txt

   1 git-init(1)
   2 ===========
   3
   4 NAME
   5 ----
   6 git-init - Create an empty git repository or reinitialize an existing one
   7
   8
   9 SYNOPSIS
  10 --------
  11 'git-init' [-q | --quiet] [--bare] [--template=<template_directory>] [--shared[=<permissions>]]
  12
  13
  14 OPTIONS
  15 -------
  16
  17 --
  18
  19 -q, \--quiet::
  20
  21 Only print error and warning messages, all other output will be suppressed.
  22
  23 --bare::
  24
  25 Create a bare repository. If GIT_DIR environment is not set, it is set to the
  26 current working directory.
  27
  28 --template=<template_directory>::
  29
  30 Provide the directory from which templates will be used.  The default template
  31 directory is `/usr/share/git-core/templates`.
  32
  33 When specified, `<template_directory>` is used as the source of the template
  34 files rather than the default.  The template files include some directory
  35 structure, some suggested "exclude patterns", and copies of non-executing
  36 "hook" files.  The suggested patterns and hook files are all modifiable and
  37 extensible.
  38
  39 --shared[={false|true|umask|group|all|world|everybody|0xxx}]::
  40
  41 Specify that the git repository is to be shared amongst several users.  This
  42 allows users belonging to the same group to push into that
  43 repository.  When specified, the config variable "core.sharedRepository" is
  44 set so that files and directories under `$GIT_DIR` are created with the
  45 requested permissions.  When not specified, git will use permissions reported
  46 by umask(2).
  47
  48 The option can have the following values, defaulting to 'group' if no value
  49 is given:
  50
  51  - 'umask' (or 'false'): Use permissions reported by umask(2). The default,
  52    when `--shared` is not specified.
  53
  54  - 'group' (or 'true'): Make the repository group-writable, (and g+sx, since
  55    the git group may be not the primary group of all users).
  56
  57  - 'all' (or 'world' or 'everybody'): Same as 'group', but make the repository
  58    readable by all users.
  59
  60  - '0xxx': '0xxx' is an octal number and each file will have mode '0xxx'
  61    Any option except 'umask' can be set using this option. '0xxx' will
  62    override users umask(2) value, and thus, users with a safe umask (0077)
  63    can use this option. '0640' will create a repository which is group-readable
  64    but not writable. '0660' is equivalent to 'group'.
  65
  66 By default, the configuration flag receive.denyNonFastForwards is enabled
  67 in shared repositories, so that you cannot force a non fast-forwarding push
  68 into it.
  69
  70 --
  71
  72
  73 DESCRIPTION
  74 -----------
  75 This command creates an empty git repository - basically a `.git` directory
  76 with subdirectories for `objects`, `refs/heads`, `refs/tags`, and
  77 template files.
  78 An initial `HEAD` file that references the HEAD of the master branch
  79 is also created.
  80
  81 If the `$GIT_DIR` environment variable is set then it specifies a path
  82 to use instead of `./.git` for the base of the repository.
  83
  84 If the object storage directory is specified via the `$GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY`
  85 environment variable then the sha1 directories are created underneath -
  86 otherwise the default `$GIT_DIR/objects` directory is used.
  87
  88 Running `git-init` in an existing repository is safe. It will not overwrite
  89 things that are already there. The primary reason for rerunning `git-init`
  90 is to pick up newly added templates.
  91
  92 Note that `git-init` is the same as `git-init-db`.  The command
  93 was primarily meant to initialize the object database, but over
  94 time it has become responsible for setting up the other aspects
  95 of the repository, such as installing the default hooks and
  96 setting the configuration variables.  The old name is retained
  97 for backward compatibility reasons.
  98
  99
 100 EXAMPLES
 101 --------
 102
 103 Start a new git repository for an existing code base::
 104 +
 105 ----------------
 106 $ cd /path/to/my/codebase
 107 $ git-init      <1>
 108 $ git-add .     <2>
 109 ----------------
 110 +
 111 <1> prepare /path/to/my/codebase/.git directory
 112 <2> add all existing file to the index
 113
 114
 115 Author
 116 ------
 117 Written by Linus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org>
 118
 119 Documentation
 120 --------------
 121 Documentation by David Greaves, Junio C Hamano and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
 122
 123 GIT
 124 ---
 125 Part of the linkgit:git[7] suite