Documentation: describe --thin more accurately

[thirdparty/git.git] / Documentation / git-push.txt

git-push(1)
===========

NAME
----
git-push - Update remote refs along with associated objects


SYNOPSIS
--------
[verse]
'git push' [--all | --mirror | --tags] [-n | --dry-run] [--receive-pack=<git-receive-pack>]
	   [--repo=<repository>] [-f | --force] [-v | --verbose] [-u | --set-upstream]
	   [<repository> <refspec>...]

DESCRIPTION
-----------

Updates remote refs using local refs, while sending objects
necessary to complete the given refs.

You can make interesting things happen to a repository
every time you push into it, by setting up 'hooks' there.  See
documentation for linkgit:git-receive-pack[1].


OPTIONS[[OPTIONS]]
------------------
<repository>::
	The "remote" repository that is destination of a push
	operation.  This parameter can be either a URL
	(see the section <<URLS,GIT URLS>> below) or the name
	of a remote (see the section <<REMOTES,REMOTES>> below).

<refspec>...::
	The format of a <refspec> parameter is an optional plus
	`{plus}`, followed by the source ref <src>, followed
	by a colon `:`, followed by the destination ref <dst>.
	It is used to specify with what <src> object the <dst> ref
	in the remote repository is to be updated.
+
The <src> is often the name of the branch you would want to push, but
it can be any arbitrary "SHA-1 expression", such as `master~4` or
`HEAD` (see linkgit:git-rev-parse[1]).
+
The <dst> tells which ref on the remote side is updated with this
push. Arbitrary expressions cannot be used here, an actual ref must
be named. If `:`<dst> is omitted, the same ref as <src> will be
updated.
+
The object referenced by <src> is used to update the <dst> reference
on the remote side, but by default this is only allowed if the
update can fast-forward <dst>.  By having the optional leading `{plus}`,
you can tell git to update the <dst> ref even when the update is not a
fast-forward.  This does *not* attempt to merge <src> into <dst>.  See
EXAMPLES below for details.
+
`tag <tag>` means the same as `refs/tags/<tag>:refs/tags/<tag>`.
+
Pushing an empty <src> allows you to delete the <dst> ref from
the remote repository.
+
The special refspec `:` (or `{plus}:` to allow non-fast-forward updates)
directs git to push "matching" branches: for every branch that exists on
the local side, the remote side is updated if a branch of the same name
already exists on the remote side.  This is the default operation mode
if no explicit refspec is found (that is neither on the command line
nor in any Push line of the corresponding remotes file---see below).

--all::
	Instead of naming each ref to push, specifies that all
	refs under `refs/heads/` be pushed.

--mirror::
	Instead of naming each ref to push, specifies that all
	refs under `refs/` (which includes but is not
	limited to `refs/heads/`, `refs/remotes/`, and `refs/tags/`)
	be mirrored to the remote repository.  Newly created local
	refs will be pushed to the remote end, locally updated refs
	will be force updated on the remote end, and deleted refs
	will be removed from the remote end.  This is the default
	if the configuration option `remote.<remote>.mirror` is
	set.

-n::
--dry-run::
	Do everything except actually send the updates.

--porcelain::
	Produce machine-readable output.  The output status line for each ref
	will be tab-separated and sent to stdout instead of stderr.  The full
	symbolic names of the refs will be given.

--delete::
	All listed refs are deleted from the remote repository. This is
	the same as prefixing all refs with a colon.

--tags::
	All refs under `refs/tags` are pushed, in
	addition to refspecs explicitly listed on the command
	line.

--receive-pack=<git-receive-pack>::
--exec=<git-receive-pack>::
	Path to the 'git-receive-pack' program on the remote
	end.  Sometimes useful when pushing to a remote
	repository over ssh, and you do not have the program in
	a directory on the default $PATH.

-f::
--force::
	Usually, the command refuses to update a remote ref that is
	not an ancestor of the local ref used to overwrite it.
	This flag disables the check.  This can cause the
	remote repository to lose commits; use it with care.

--repo=<repository>::
	This option is only relevant if no <repository> argument is
	passed in the invocation. In this case, 'git push' derives the
	remote name from the current branch: If it tracks a remote
	branch, then that remote repository is pushed to. Otherwise,
	the name "origin" is used. For this latter case, this option
	can be used to override the name "origin". In other words,
	the difference between these two commands
+
--------------------------
git push public         #1
git push --repo=public  #2
--------------------------
+
is that #1 always pushes to "public" whereas #2 pushes to "public"
only if the current branch does not track a remote branch. This is
useful if you write an alias or script around 'git push'.

-u::
--set-upstream::
	For every branch that is up to date or successfully pushed, add
	upstream (tracking) reference, used by argument-less
	linkgit:git-pull[1] and other commands. For more information,
	see 'branch.<name>.merge' in linkgit:git-config[1].

--thin::
--no-thin::
	These options are passed to linkgit:git-send-pack[1]. A thin transfer
	significantly reduces the amount of sent data when the sender and
	receiver share many of the same objects in common. The default is
	\--thin.

-v::
--verbose::
	Run verbosely.

-q::
--quiet::
	Suppress all output, including the listing of updated refs,
	unless an error occurs.

include::urls-remotes.txt[]

OUTPUT
------

The output of "git push" depends on the transport method used; this
section describes the output when pushing over the git protocol (either
locally or via ssh).

The status of the push is output in tabular form, with each line
representing the status of a single ref. Each line is of the form:

-------------------------------
 <flag> <summary> <from> -> <to> (<reason>)
-------------------------------

If --porcelain is used, then each line of the output is of the form:

-------------------------------
 <flag> \t <from>:<to> \t <summary> (<reason>)
-------------------------------

The status of up-to-date refs is shown only if --porcelain or --verbose
option is used.

flag::
	A single character indicating the status of the ref:
(space);; for a successfully pushed fast-forward;
`{plus}`;; for a successful forced update;
`-`;; for a successfully deleted ref;
`*`;; for a successfully pushed new ref;
`!`;; for a ref that was rejected or failed to push; and
`=`;; for a ref that was up to date and did not need pushing.

summary::
	For a successfully pushed ref, the summary shows the old and new
	values of the ref in a form suitable for using as an argument to
	`git log` (this is `<old>..<new>` in most cases, and
	`<old>...<new>` for forced non-fast-forward updates). For a
	failed update, more details are given for the failure.
	The string `rejected` indicates that git did not try to send the
	ref at all (typically because it is not a fast-forward). The
	string `remote rejected` indicates that the remote end refused
	the update; this rejection is typically caused by a hook on the
	remote side. The string `remote failure` indicates that the
	remote end did not report the successful update of the ref
	(perhaps because of a temporary error on the remote side, a
	break in the network connection, or other transient error).

from::
	The name of the local ref being pushed, minus its
	`refs/<type>/` prefix. In the case of deletion, the
	name of the local ref is omitted.

to::
	The name of the remote ref being updated, minus its
	`refs/<type>/` prefix.

reason::
	A human-readable explanation. In the case of successfully pushed
	refs, no explanation is needed. For a failed ref, the reason for
	failure is described.

Note about fast-forwards
------------------------

When an update changes a branch (or more in general, a ref) that used to
point at commit A to point at another commit B, it is called a
fast-forward update if and only if B is a descendant of A.

In a fast-forward update from A to B, the set of commits that the original
commit A built on top of is a subset of the commits the new commit B
builds on top of.  Hence, it does not lose any history.

In contrast, a non-fast-forward update will lose history.  For example,
suppose you and somebody else started at the same commit X, and you built
a history leading to commit B while the other person built a history
leading to commit A.  The history looks like this:

----------------

      B
     /
 ---X---A

----------------

Further suppose that the other person already pushed changes leading to A
back to the original repository you two obtained the original commit X.

The push done by the other person updated the branch that used to point at
commit X to point at commit A.  It is a fast-forward.

But if you try to push, you will attempt to update the branch (that
now points at A) with commit B.  This does _not_ fast-forward.  If you did
so, the changes introduced by commit A will be lost, because everybody
will now start building on top of B.

The command by default does not allow an update that is not a fast-forward
to prevent such loss of history.

If you do not want to lose your work (history from X to B) nor the work by
the other person (history from X to A), you would need to first fetch the
history from the repository, create a history that contains changes done
by both parties, and push the result back.

You can perform "git pull", resolve potential conflicts, and "git push"
the result.  A "git pull" will create a merge commit C between commits A
and B.

----------------

      B---C
     /   /
 ---X---A

----------------

Updating A with the resulting merge commit will fast-forward and your
push will be accepted.

Alternatively, you can rebase your change between X and B on top of A,
with "git pull --rebase", and push the result back.  The rebase will
create a new commit D that builds the change between X and B on top of
A.

----------------

      B   D
     /   /
 ---X---A

----------------

Again, updating A with this commit will fast-forward and your push will be
accepted.

There is another common situation where you may encounter non-fast-forward
rejection when you try to push, and it is possible even when you are
pushing into a repository nobody else pushes into. After you push commit
A yourself (in the first picture in this section), replace it with "git
commit --amend" to produce commit B, and you try to push it out, because
forgot that you have pushed A out already. In such a case, and only if
you are certain that nobody in the meantime fetched your earlier commit A
(and started building on top of it), you can run "git push --force" to
overwrite it. In other words, "git push --force" is a method reserved for
a case where you do mean to lose history.


Examples
--------

git push::
	Works like `git push <remote>`, where <remote> is the
	current branch's remote (or `origin`, if no remote is
	configured for the current branch).

git push origin::
	Without additional configuration, works like
	`git push origin :`.
+
The default behavior of this command when no <refspec> is given can be
configured by setting the `push` option of the remote.
+
For example, to default to pushing only the current branch to `origin`
use `git config remote.origin.push HEAD`.  Any valid <refspec> (like
the ones in the examples below) can be configured as the default for
`git push origin`.

git push origin :::
	Push "matching" branches to `origin`. See
	<refspec> in the <<OPTIONS,OPTIONS>> section above for a
	description of "matching" branches.

git push origin master::
	Find a ref that matches `master` in the source repository
	(most likely, it would find `refs/heads/master`), and update
	the same ref (e.g. `refs/heads/master`) in `origin` repository
	with it.  If `master` did not exist remotely, it would be
	created.

git push origin HEAD::
	A handy way to push the current branch to the same name on the
	remote.

git push origin master:satellite/master dev:satellite/dev::
	Use the source ref that matches `master` (e.g. `refs/heads/master`)
	to update the ref that matches `satellite/master` (most probably
	`refs/remotes/satellite/master`) in the `origin` repository, then
	do the same for `dev` and `satellite/dev`.

git push origin HEAD:master::
	Push the current branch to the remote ref matching `master` in the
	`origin` repository. This form is convenient to push the current
	branch without thinking about its local name.

git push origin master:refs/heads/experimental::
	Create the branch `experimental` in the `origin` repository
	by copying the current `master` branch.  This form is only
	needed to create a new branch or tag in the remote repository when
	the local name and the remote name are different; otherwise,
	the ref name on its own will work.

git push origin :experimental::
	Find a ref that matches `experimental` in the `origin` repository
	(e.g. `refs/heads/experimental`), and delete it.

git push origin {plus}dev:master::
	Update the origin repository's master branch with the dev branch,
	allowing non-fast-forward updates.  *This can leave unreferenced
	commits dangling in the origin repository.*  Consider the
	following situation, where a fast-forward is not possible:
+
----
	    o---o---o---A---B  origin/master
		     \
		      X---Y---Z  dev
----
+
The above command would change the origin repository to
+
----
		      A---B  (unnamed branch)
		     /
	    o---o---o---X---Y---Z  master
----
+
Commits A and B would no longer belong to a branch with a symbolic name,
and so would be unreachable.  As such, these commits would be removed by
a `git gc` command on the origin repository.


Author
------
Written by Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>, later rewritten in C
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