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1 git-send-email(1)
2 =================
3
4 NAME
5 ----
6 git-send-email - Send a collection of patches as emails
7
8
9 SYNOPSIS
10 --------
11 [verse]
12 'git send-email' [<options>] (<file>|<directory>)...
13 'git send-email' [<options>] <format-patch-options>
14 'git send-email' --dump-aliases
15
16
17 DESCRIPTION
18 -----------
19 Takes the patches given on the command line and emails them out.
20 Patches can be specified as files, directories (which will send all
21 files in the directory), or directly as a revision list. In the
22 last case, any format accepted by linkgit:git-format-patch[1] can
23 be passed to git send-email, as well as options understood by
24 linkgit:git-format-patch[1].
25
26 The header of the email is configurable via command-line options. If not
27 specified on the command line, the user will be prompted with a ReadLine
28 enabled interface to provide the necessary information.
29
30 There are two formats accepted for patch files:
31
32 1. mbox format files
33 +
34 This is what linkgit:git-format-patch[1] generates. Most headers and MIME
35 formatting are ignored.
36
37 2. The original format used by Greg Kroah-Hartman's 'send_lots_of_email.pl'
38 script
39 +
40 This format expects the first line of the file to contain the "Cc:" value
41 and the "Subject:" of the message as the second line.
42
43
44 OPTIONS
45 -------
46
47 Composing
48 ~~~~~~~~~
49
50 --annotate::
51 Review and edit each patch you're about to send. Default is the value
52 of `sendemail.annotate`. See the CONFIGURATION section for
53 `sendemail.multiEdit`.
54
55 --bcc=<address>,...::
56 Specify a "Bcc:" value for each email. Default is the value of
57 `sendemail.bcc`.
58 +
59 This option may be specified multiple times.
60
61 --cc=<address>,...::
62 Specify a starting "Cc:" value for each email.
63 Default is the value of `sendemail.cc`.
64 +
65 This option may be specified multiple times.
66
67 --compose::
68 Invoke a text editor (see GIT_EDITOR in linkgit:git-var[1])
69 to edit an introductory message for the patch series.
70 +
71 When `--compose` is used, git send-email will use the From, To, Cc, Bcc,
72 Subject, Reply-To, and In-Reply-To headers specified in the message. If
73 the body of the message (what you type after the headers and a blank
74 line) only contains blank (or Git: prefixed) lines, the summary won't be
75 sent, but the headers mentioned above will be used unless they are
76 removed.
77 +
78 Missing From or In-Reply-To headers will be prompted for.
79 +
80 See the CONFIGURATION section for `sendemail.multiEdit`.
81
82 --from=<address>::
83 Specify the sender of the emails. If not specified on the command line,
84 the value of the `sendemail.from` configuration option is used. If
85 neither the command-line option nor `sendemail.from` are set, then the
86 user will be prompted for the value. The default for the prompt will be
87 the value of GIT_AUTHOR_IDENT, or GIT_COMMITTER_IDENT if that is not
88 set, as returned by "git var -l".
89
90 --reply-to=<address>::
91 Specify the address where replies from recipients should go to.
92 Use this if replies to messages should go to another address than what
93 is specified with the --from parameter.
94
95 --in-reply-to=<identifier>::
96 Make the first mail (or all the mails with `--no-thread`) appear as a
97 reply to the given Message-ID, which avoids breaking threads to
98 provide a new patch series.
99 The second and subsequent emails will be sent as replies according to
100 the `--[no-]chain-reply-to` setting.
101 +
102 So for example when `--thread` and `--no-chain-reply-to` are specified, the
103 second and subsequent patches will be replies to the first one like in the
104 illustration below where `[PATCH v2 0/3]` is in reply to `[PATCH 0/2]`:
105 +
106 [PATCH 0/2] Here is what I did...
107 [PATCH 1/2] Clean up and tests
108 [PATCH 2/2] Implementation
109 [PATCH v2 0/3] Here is a reroll
110 [PATCH v2 1/3] Clean up
111 [PATCH v2 2/3] New tests
112 [PATCH v2 3/3] Implementation
113 +
114 Only necessary if --compose is also set. If --compose
115 is not set, this will be prompted for.
116
117 --subject=<string>::
118 Specify the initial subject of the email thread.
119 Only necessary if --compose is also set. If --compose
120 is not set, this will be prompted for.
121
122 --to=<address>,...::
123 Specify the primary recipient of the emails generated. Generally, this
124 will be the upstream maintainer of the project involved. Default is the
125 value of the `sendemail.to` configuration value; if that is unspecified,
126 and --to-cmd is not specified, this will be prompted for.
127 +
128 This option may be specified multiple times.
129
130 --8bit-encoding=<encoding>::
131 When encountering a non-ASCII message or subject that does not
132 declare its encoding, add headers/quoting to indicate it is
133 encoded in <encoding>. Default is the value of the
134 'sendemail.assume8bitEncoding'; if that is unspecified, this
135 will be prompted for if any non-ASCII files are encountered.
136 +
137 Note that no attempts whatsoever are made to validate the encoding.
138
139 --compose-encoding=<encoding>::
140 Specify encoding of compose message. Default is the value of the
141 'sendemail.composeEncoding'; if that is unspecified, UTF-8 is assumed.
142
143 --transfer-encoding=(7bit|8bit|quoted-printable|base64|auto)::
144 Specify the transfer encoding to be used to send the message over SMTP.
145 7bit will fail upon encountering a non-ASCII message. quoted-printable
146 can be useful when the repository contains files that contain carriage
147 returns, but makes the raw patch email file (as saved from a MUA) much
148 harder to inspect manually. base64 is even more fool proof, but also
149 even more opaque. auto will use 8bit when possible, and quoted-printable
150 otherwise.
151 +
152 Default is the value of the `sendemail.transferEncoding` configuration
153 value; if that is unspecified, default to `auto`.
154
155 --xmailer::
156 --no-xmailer::
157 Add (or prevent adding) the "X-Mailer:" header. By default,
158 the header is added, but it can be turned off by setting the
159 `sendemail.xmailer` configuration variable to `false`.
160
161 Sending
162 ~~~~~~~
163
164 --envelope-sender=<address>::
165 Specify the envelope sender used to send the emails.
166 This is useful if your default address is not the address that is
167 subscribed to a list. In order to use the 'From' address, set the
168 value to "auto". If you use the sendmail binary, you must have
169 suitable privileges for the -f parameter. Default is the value of the
170 `sendemail.envelopeSender` configuration variable; if that is
171 unspecified, choosing the envelope sender is left to your MTA.
172
173 --sendmail-cmd=<command>::
174 Specify a command to run to send the email. The command should
175 be sendmail-like; specifically, it must support the `-i` option.
176 The command will be executed in the shell if necessary. Default
177 is the value of `sendemail.sendmailCmd`. If unspecified, and if
178 --smtp-server is also unspecified, git-send-email will search
179 for `sendmail` in `/usr/sbin`, `/usr/lib` and $PATH.
180
181 --smtp-encryption=<encryption>::
182 Specify in what way encrypting begins for the SMTP connection.
183 Valid values are 'ssl' and 'tls'. Any other value reverts to plain
184 (unencrypted) SMTP, which defaults to port 25.
185 Despite the names, both values will use the same newer version of TLS,
186 but for historic reasons have these names. 'ssl' refers to "implicit"
187 encryption (sometimes called SMTPS), that uses port 465 by default.
188 'tls' refers to "explicit" encryption (often known as STARTTLS),
189 that uses port 25 by default. Other ports might be used by the SMTP
190 server, which are not the default. Commonly found alternative port for
191 'tls' and unencrypted is 587. You need to check your provider's
192 documentation or your server configuration to make sure
193 for your own case. Default is the value of `sendemail.smtpEncryption`.
194
195 --smtp-domain=<FQDN>::
196 Specifies the Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) used in the
197 HELO/EHLO command to the SMTP server. Some servers require the
198 FQDN to match your IP address. If not set, git send-email attempts
199 to determine your FQDN automatically. Default is the value of
200 `sendemail.smtpDomain`.
201
202 --smtp-auth=<mechanisms>::
203 Whitespace-separated list of allowed SMTP-AUTH mechanisms. This setting
204 forces using only the listed mechanisms. Example:
205 +
206 ------
207 $ git send-email --smtp-auth="PLAIN LOGIN GSSAPI" ...
208 ------
209 +
210 If at least one of the specified mechanisms matches the ones advertised by the
211 SMTP server and if it is supported by the utilized SASL library, the mechanism
212 is used for authentication. If neither 'sendemail.smtpAuth' nor `--smtp-auth`
213 is specified, all mechanisms supported by the SASL library can be used. The
214 special value 'none' maybe specified to completely disable authentication
215 independently of `--smtp-user`
216
217 --smtp-pass[=<password>]::
218 Password for SMTP-AUTH. The argument is optional: If no
219 argument is specified, then the empty string is used as
220 the password. Default is the value of `sendemail.smtpPass`,
221 however `--smtp-pass` always overrides this value.
222 +
223 Furthermore, passwords need not be specified in configuration files
224 or on the command line. If a username has been specified (with
225 `--smtp-user` or a `sendemail.smtpUser`), but no password has been
226 specified (with `--smtp-pass` or `sendemail.smtpPass`), then
227 a password is obtained using 'git-credential'.
228
229 --no-smtp-auth::
230 Disable SMTP authentication. Short hand for `--smtp-auth=none`
231
232 --smtp-server=<host>::
233 If set, specifies the outgoing SMTP server to use (e.g.
234 `smtp.example.com` or a raw IP address). If unspecified, and if
235 `--sendmail-cmd` is also unspecified, the default is to search
236 for `sendmail` in `/usr/sbin`, `/usr/lib` and $PATH if such a
237 program is available, falling back to `localhost` otherwise.
238 +
239 For backward compatibility, this option can also specify a full pathname
240 of a sendmail-like program instead; the program must support the `-i`
241 option. This method does not support passing arguments or using plain
242 command names. For those use cases, consider using `--sendmail-cmd`
243 instead.
244
245 --smtp-server-port=<port>::
246 Specifies a port different from the default port (SMTP
247 servers typically listen to smtp port 25, but may also listen to
248 submission port 587, or the common SSL smtp port 465);
249 symbolic port names (e.g. "submission" instead of 587)
250 are also accepted. The port can also be set with the
251 `sendemail.smtpServerPort` configuration variable.
252
253 --smtp-server-option=<option>::
254 If set, specifies the outgoing SMTP server option to use.
255 Default value can be specified by the `sendemail.smtpServerOption`
256 configuration option.
257 +
258 The --smtp-server-option option must be repeated for each option you want
259 to pass to the server. Likewise, different lines in the configuration files
260 must be used for each option.
261
262 --smtp-ssl::
263 Legacy alias for '--smtp-encryption ssl'.
264
265 --smtp-ssl-cert-path::
266 Path to a store of trusted CA certificates for SMTP SSL/TLS
267 certificate validation (either a directory that has been processed
268 by 'c_rehash', or a single file containing one or more PEM format
269 certificates concatenated together: see verify(1) -CAfile and
270 -CApath for more information on these). Set it to an empty string
271 to disable certificate verification. Defaults to the value of the
272 `sendemail.smtpSSLCertPath` configuration variable, if set, or the
273 backing SSL library's compiled-in default otherwise (which should
274 be the best choice on most platforms).
275
276 --smtp-user=<user>::
277 Username for SMTP-AUTH. Default is the value of `sendemail.smtpUser`;
278 if a username is not specified (with `--smtp-user` or `sendemail.smtpUser`),
279 then authentication is not attempted.
280
281 --smtp-debug=(0|1)::
282 Enable (1) or disable (0) debug output. If enabled, SMTP
283 commands and replies will be printed. Useful to debug TLS
284 connection and authentication problems.
285
286 --batch-size=<num>::
287 Some email servers (e.g. smtp.163.com) limit the number emails to be
288 sent per session (connection) and this will lead to a failure when
289 sending many messages. With this option, send-email will disconnect after
290 sending $<num> messages and wait for a few seconds (see --relogin-delay)
291 and reconnect, to work around such a limit. You may want to
292 use some form of credential helper to avoid having to retype
293 your password every time this happens. Defaults to the
294 `sendemail.smtpBatchSize` configuration variable.
295
296 --relogin-delay=<int>::
297 Waiting $<int> seconds before reconnecting to SMTP server. Used together
298 with --batch-size option. Defaults to the `sendemail.smtpReloginDelay`
299 configuration variable.
300
301 Automating
302 ~~~~~~~~~~
303
304 --no-to::
305 --no-cc::
306 --no-bcc::
307 Clears any list of "To:", "Cc:", "Bcc:" addresses previously
308 set via config.
309
310 --no-identity::
311 Clears the previously read value of `sendemail.identity` set
312 via config, if any.
313
314 --to-cmd=<command>::
315 Specify a command to execute once per patch file which
316 should generate patch file specific "To:" entries.
317 Output of this command must be single email address per line.
318 Default is the value of 'sendemail.toCmd' configuration value.
319
320 --cc-cmd=<command>::
321 Specify a command to execute once per patch file which
322 should generate patch file specific "Cc:" entries.
323 Output of this command must be single email address per line.
324 Default is the value of `sendemail.ccCmd` configuration value.
325
326 --header-cmd=<command>::
327 Specify a command that is executed once per outgoing message
328 and output RFC 2822 style header lines to be inserted into
329 them. When the `sendemail.headerCmd` configuration variable is
330 set, its value is always used. When --header-cmd is provided
331 at the command line, its value takes precedence over the
332 `sendemail.headerCmd` configuration variable.
333
334 --no-header-cmd::
335 Disable any header command in use.
336
337 --[no-]chain-reply-to::
338 If this is set, each email will be sent as a reply to the previous
339 email sent. If disabled with "--no-chain-reply-to", all emails after
340 the first will be sent as replies to the first email sent. When using
341 this, it is recommended that the first file given be an overview of the
342 entire patch series. Disabled by default, but the `sendemail.chainReplyTo`
343 configuration variable can be used to enable it.
344
345 --identity=<identity>::
346 A configuration identity. When given, causes values in the
347 'sendemail.<identity>' subsection to take precedence over
348 values in the 'sendemail' section. The default identity is
349 the value of `sendemail.identity`.
350
351 --[no-]signed-off-by-cc::
352 If this is set, add emails found in the `Signed-off-by` trailer or Cc: lines to the
353 cc list. Default is the value of `sendemail.signedOffByCc` configuration
354 value; if that is unspecified, default to --signed-off-by-cc.
355
356 --[no-]cc-cover::
357 If this is set, emails found in Cc: headers in the first patch of
358 the series (typically the cover letter) are added to the cc list
359 for each email set. Default is the value of 'sendemail.ccCover'
360 configuration value; if that is unspecified, default to --no-cc-cover.
361
362 --[no-]to-cover::
363 If this is set, emails found in To: headers in the first patch of
364 the series (typically the cover letter) are added to the to list
365 for each email set. Default is the value of 'sendemail.toCover'
366 configuration value; if that is unspecified, default to --no-to-cover.
367
368 --suppress-cc=<category>::
369 Specify an additional category of recipients to suppress the
370 auto-cc of:
371 +
372 --
373 - 'author' will avoid including the patch author.
374 - 'self' will avoid including the sender.
375 - 'cc' will avoid including anyone mentioned in Cc lines in the patch header
376 except for self (use 'self' for that).
377 - 'bodycc' will avoid including anyone mentioned in Cc lines in the
378 patch body (commit message) except for self (use 'self' for that).
379 - 'sob' will avoid including anyone mentioned in the Signed-off-by trailers except
380 for self (use 'self' for that).
381 - 'misc-by' will avoid including anyone mentioned in Acked-by,
382 Reviewed-by, Tested-by and other "-by" lines in the patch body,
383 except Signed-off-by (use 'sob' for that).
384 - 'cccmd' will avoid running the --cc-cmd.
385 - 'body' is equivalent to 'sob' + 'bodycc' + 'misc-by'.
386 - 'all' will suppress all auto cc values.
387 --
388 +
389 Default is the value of `sendemail.suppressCc` configuration value; if
390 that is unspecified, default to 'self' if --suppress-from is
391 specified, as well as 'body' if --no-signed-off-cc is specified.
392
393 --[no-]suppress-from::
394 If this is set, do not add the From: address to the cc: list.
395 Default is the value of `sendemail.suppressFrom` configuration
396 value; if that is unspecified, default to --no-suppress-from.
397
398 --[no-]thread::
399 If this is set, the In-Reply-To and References headers will be
400 added to each email sent. Whether each mail refers to the
401 previous email (`deep` threading per 'git format-patch'
402 wording) or to the first email (`shallow` threading) is
403 governed by "--[no-]chain-reply-to".
404 +
405 If disabled with "--no-thread", those headers will not be added
406 (unless specified with --in-reply-to). Default is the value of the
407 `sendemail.thread` configuration value; if that is unspecified,
408 default to --thread.
409 +
410 It is up to the user to ensure that no In-Reply-To header already
411 exists when 'git send-email' is asked to add it (especially note that
412 'git format-patch' can be configured to do the threading itself).
413 Failure to do so may not produce the expected result in the
414 recipient's MUA.
415
416
417 Administering
418 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
419
420 --confirm=<mode>::
421 Confirm just before sending:
422 +
423 --
424 - 'always' will always confirm before sending
425 - 'never' will never confirm before sending
426 - 'cc' will confirm before sending when send-email has automatically
427 added addresses from the patch to the Cc list
428 - 'compose' will confirm before sending the first message when using --compose.
429 - 'auto' is equivalent to 'cc' + 'compose'
430 --
431 +
432 Default is the value of `sendemail.confirm` configuration value; if that
433 is unspecified, default to 'auto' unless any of the suppress options
434 have been specified, in which case default to 'compose'.
435
436 --dry-run::
437 Do everything except actually send the emails.
438
439 --[no-]format-patch::
440 When an argument may be understood either as a reference or as a file name,
441 choose to understand it as a format-patch argument (`--format-patch`)
442 or as a file name (`--no-format-patch`). By default, when such a conflict
443 occurs, git send-email will fail.
444
445 --quiet::
446 Make git-send-email less verbose. One line per email should be
447 all that is output.
448
449 --[no-]validate::
450 Perform sanity checks on patches.
451 Currently, validation means the following:
452 +
453 --
454 * Invoke the sendemail-validate hook if present (see linkgit:githooks[5]).
455 * Warn of patches that contain lines longer than
456 998 characters unless a suitable transfer encoding
457 ('auto', 'base64', or 'quoted-printable') is used;
458 this is due to SMTP limits as described by
459 https://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc5322.txt.
460 --
461 +
462 Default is the value of `sendemail.validate`; if this is not set,
463 default to `--validate`.
464
465 --force::
466 Send emails even if safety checks would prevent it.
467
468
469 Information
470 ~~~~~~~~~~~
471
472 --dump-aliases::
473 Instead of the normal operation, dump the shorthand alias names from
474 the configured alias file(s), one per line in alphabetical order. Note
475 that this only includes the alias name and not its expanded email addresses.
476 See 'sendemail.aliasesFile' for more information about aliases.
477
478
479 CONFIGURATION
480 -------------
481
482 include::includes/cmd-config-section-all.txt[]
483
484 include::config/sendemail.txt[]
485
486 EXAMPLES
487 --------
488 Use gmail as the smtp server
489 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
490 To use 'git send-email' to send your patches through the GMail SMTP server,
491 edit ~/.gitconfig to specify your account settings:
492
493 ----
494 [sendemail]
495 smtpEncryption = tls
496 smtpServer = smtp.gmail.com
497 smtpUser = yourname@gmail.com
498 smtpServerPort = 587
499 ----
500
501 If you have multi-factor authentication set up on your Gmail account, you can
502 generate an app-specific password for use with 'git send-email'. Visit
503 https://security.google.com/settings/security/apppasswords to create it.
504
505 Once your commits are ready to be sent to the mailing list, run the
506 following commands:
507
508 $ git format-patch --cover-letter -M origin/master -o outgoing/
509 $ edit outgoing/0000-*
510 $ git send-email outgoing/*
511
512 The first time you run it, you will be prompted for your credentials. Enter the
513 app-specific or your regular password as appropriate. If you have credential
514 helper configured (see linkgit:git-credential[1]), the password will be saved in
515 the credential store so you won't have to type it the next time.
516
517 Note: the following core Perl modules that may be installed with your
518 distribution of Perl are required:
519 MIME::Base64, MIME::QuotedPrint, Net::Domain and Net::SMTP.
520 These additional Perl modules are also required:
521 Authen::SASL and Mail::Address.
522
523
524 SEE ALSO
525 --------
526 linkgit:git-format-patch[1], linkgit:git-imap-send[1], mbox(5)
527
528 GIT
529 ---
530 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite