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