Documentation/config.txt

   1 CONFIGURATION FILE
   2 ------------------
   3
   4 The git configuration file contains a number of variables that affect
   5 the git command's behavior. They can be used by both the git plumbing
   6 and the porcelains. The variables are divided into sections, where
   7 in the fully qualified variable name the variable itself is the last
   8 dot-separated segment and the section name is everything before the last
   9 dot. The variable names are case-insensitive and only alphanumeric
  10 characters are allowed. Some variables may appear multiple times.
  11
  12 The syntax is fairly flexible and permissive; whitespaces are mostly
  13 ignored. The '#' and ';' characters begin comments to the end of line,
  14 blank lines are ignored, lines containing strings enclosed in square
  15 brackets start sections and all the other lines are recognized
  16 as setting variables, in the form 'name = value'. If there is no equal
  17 sign on the line, the entire line is taken as 'name' and the variable
  18 is recognized as boolean "true". String values may be entirely or partially
  19 enclosed in double quotes; some variables may require special value format.
  20
  21 Example
  22 ~~~~~~~
  23
  24         # Core variables
  25         [core]
  26                 ; Don't trust file modes
  27                 filemode = false
  28
  29         # Our diff algorithm
  30         [diff]
  31                 external = "/usr/local/bin/gnu-diff -u"
  32                 renames = true
  33
  34         [branch "devel"]
  35                 remote = origin
  36                 merge = refs/heads/devel
  37
  38
  39 Variables
  40 ~~~~~~~~~
  41
  42 Note that this list is non-comprehensive and not necessarily complete.
  43 For command-specific variables, you will find a more detailed description
  44 in the appropriate manual page. You will find a description of non-core
  45 porcelain configuration variables in the respective porcelain documentation.
  46
  47 core.fileMode::
  48         If false, the executable bit differences between the index and
  49         the working copy are ignored; useful on broken filesystems like FAT.
  50         See gitlink:git-update-index[1]. True by default.
  51
  52 core.gitProxy::
  53         A "proxy command" to execute (as 'command host port') instead
  54         of establishing direct connection to the remote server when
  55         using the git protocol for fetching. If the variable value is
  56         in the "COMMAND for DOMAIN" format, the command is applied only
  57         on hostnames ending with the specified domain string. This variable
  58         may be set multiple times and is matched in the given order;
  59         the first match wins.
  60 +
  61 Can be overridden by the 'GIT_PROXY_COMMAND' environment variable
  62 (which always applies universally, without the special "for"
  63 handling).
  64
  65 core.ignoreStat::
  66         The working copy files are assumed to stay unchanged until you
  67         mark them otherwise manually - Git will not detect the file changes
  68         by lstat() calls. This is useful on systems where those are very
  69         slow, such as Microsoft Windows.  See gitlink:git-update-index[1].
  70         False by default.
  71
  72 core.preferSymlinkRefs::
  73         Instead of the default "symref" format for HEAD
  74         and other symbolic reference files, use symbolic links.
  75         This is sometimes needed to work with old scripts that
  76         expect HEAD to be a symbolic link.
  77
  78 core.logAllRefUpdates::
  79         Updates to a ref <ref> is logged to the file
  80         "$GIT_DIR/logs/<ref>", by appending the new and old
  81         SHA1, the date/time and the reason of the update, but
  82         only when the file exists.  If this configuration
  83         variable is set to true, missing "$GIT_DIR/logs/<ref>"
  84         file is automatically created for branch heads.
  85
  86         This information can be used to determine what commit
  87         was the tip of a branch "2 days ago".
  88
  89         This value is true by default in a repository that has
  90         a working directory associated with it, and false by
  91         default in a bare repository.
  92
  93 core.repositoryFormatVersion::
  94         Internal variable identifying the repository format and layout
  95         version.
  96
  97 core.sharedRepository::
  98         When 'group' (or 'true'), the repository is made shareable between
  99         several users in a group (making sure all the files and objects are
 100         group-writable). When 'all' (or 'world' or 'everybody'), the
 101         repository will be readable by all users, additionally to being
 102         group-shareable. When 'umask' (or 'false'), git will use permissions
 103         reported by umask(2). See gitlink:git-init-db[1]. False by default.
 104
 105 core.warnAmbiguousRefs::
 106         If true, git will warn you if the ref name you passed it is ambiguous
 107         and might match multiple refs in the .git/refs/ tree. True by default.
 108
 109 core.compression::
 110         An integer -1..9, indicating the compression level for objects that
 111         are not in a pack file. -1 is the zlib and git default. 0 means no
 112         compression, and 1..9 are various speed/size tradeoffs, 9 being
 113         slowest.
 114
 115 core.legacyheaders::
 116         A boolean which enables the legacy object header format in case
 117         you want to interoperate with old clients accessing the object
 118         database directly (where the "http://" and "rsync://" protocols
 119         count as direct access).
 120
 121 core.packedGitWindowSize::
 122         Number of bytes of a pack file to map into memory in a
 123         single mapping operation.  Larger window sizes may allow
 124         your system to process a smaller number of large pack files
 125         more quickly.  Smaller window sizes will negatively affect
 126         performance due to increased calls to the opreating system's
 127         memory manager, but may improve performance when accessing
 128         a large number of large pack files.  Default is 32 MiB,
 129         which should be reasonable for all users/operating systems.
 130         You probably do not need to adjust this value.
 131
 132 core.packedGitLimit::
 133         Maximum number of bytes to map simultaneously into memory
 134         from pack files.  If Git needs to access more than this many
 135         bytes at once to complete an operation it will unmap existing
 136         regions to reclaim virtual address space within the process.
 137         Default is 256 MiB, which should be reasonable for all
 138         users/operating systems, except on largest Git projects.
 139         You probably do not need to adjust this value.
 140
 141 alias.*::
 142         Command aliases for the gitlink:git[1] command wrapper - e.g.
 143         after defining "alias.last = cat-file commit HEAD", the invocation
 144         "git last" is equivalent to "git cat-file commit HEAD". To avoid
 145         confusion and troubles with script usage, aliases that
 146         hide existing git commands are ignored. Arguments are split by
 147         spaces, the usual shell quoting and escaping is supported.
 148         quote pair and a backslash can be used to quote them.
 149
 150 apply.whitespace::
 151         Tells `git-apply` how to handle whitespaces, in the same way
 152         as the '--whitespace' option. See gitlink:git-apply[1].
 153
 154 branch.<name>.remote::
 155         When in branch <name>, it tells `git fetch` which remote to fetch.
 156         If this option is not given, `git fetch` defaults to remote "origin".
 157
 158 branch.<name>.merge::
 159         When in branch <name>, it tells `git fetch` the default refspec to
 160         be marked for merging in FETCH_HEAD. The value has exactly to match
 161         a remote part of one of the refspecs which are fetched from the remote
 162         given by "branch.<name>.remote".
 163         The merge information is used by `git pull` (which at first calls
 164         `git fetch`) to lookup the default branch for merging. Without
 165         this option, `git pull` defaults to merge the first refspec fetched.
 166         Specify multiple values to get an octopus merge.
 167
 168 color.diff::
 169         When true (or `always`), always use colors in patch.
 170         When false (or `never`), never.  When set to `auto`, use
 171         colors only when the output is to the terminal.
 172
 173 color.diff.<slot>::
 174         Use customized color for diff colorization.  `<slot>`
 175         specifies which part of the patch to use the specified
 176         color, and is one of `plain` (context text), `meta`
 177         (metainformation), `frag` (hunk header), `old` (removed
 178         lines), or `new` (added lines).  The value for these
 179         configuration variables can be one of: `normal`, `bold`,
 180         `dim`, `ul`, `blink`, `reverse`, `reset`, `black`,
 181         `red`, `green`, `yellow`, `blue`, `magenta`, `cyan`, or
 182         `white`.
 183
 184 color.pager::
 185         A boolean to enable/disable colored output when the pager is in
 186         use (default is true).
 187
 188 color.status::
 189         A boolean to enable/disable color in the output of
 190         gitlink:git-status[1]. May be set to `true` (or `always`),
 191         `false` (or `never`) or `auto`, in which case colors are used
 192         only when the output is to a terminal. Defaults to false.
 193
 194 color.status.<slot>::
 195         Use customized color for status colorization. `<slot>` is
 196         one of `header` (the header text of the status message),
 197         `added` or `updated` (files which are added but not committed),
 198         `changed` (files which are changed but not added in the index),
 199         or `untracked` (files which are not tracked by git). The values of
 200         these variables may be specified as in color.diff.<slot>.
 201
 202 diff.renameLimit::
 203         The number of files to consider when performing the copy/rename
 204         detection; equivalent to the git diff option '-l'.
 205
 206 diff.renames::
 207         Tells git to detect renames.  If set to any boolean value, it
 208         will enable basic rename detection.  If set to "copies" or
 209         "copy", it will detect copies, as well.
 210
 211 format.headers::
 212         Additional email headers to include in a patch to be submitted
 213         by mail.  See gitlink:git-format-patch[1].
 214
 215 gc.reflogexpire::
 216         `git reflog expire` removes reflog entries older than
 217         this time; defaults to 90 days.
 218
 219 gc.reflogexpireunreachable::
 220         `git reflog expire` removes reflog entries older than
 221         this time and are not reachable from the current tip;
 222         defaults to 30 days.
 223
 224 gc.rerereresolved::
 225         Records of conflicted merge you resolved earlier are
 226         kept for this many days when `git rerere gc` is run.
 227         The default is 60 days.  See gitlink:git-rerere[1].
 228
 229 gc.rerereunresolved::
 230         Records of conflicted merge you have not resolved are
 231         kept for this many days when `git rerere gc` is run.
 232         The default is 15 days.  See gitlink:git-rerere[1].
 233
 234 gitcvs.enabled::
 235         Whether the cvs pserver interface is enabled for this repository.
 236         See gitlink:git-cvsserver[1].
 237
 238 gitcvs.logfile::
 239         Path to a log file where the cvs pserver interface well... logs
 240         various stuff. See gitlink:git-cvsserver[1].
 241
 242 http.sslVerify::
 243         Whether to verify the SSL certificate when fetching or pushing
 244         over HTTPS. Can be overridden by the 'GIT_SSL_NO_VERIFY' environment
 245         variable.
 246
 247 http.sslCert::
 248         File containing the SSL certificate when fetching or pushing
 249         over HTTPS. Can be overridden by the 'GIT_SSL_CERT' environment
 250         variable.
 251
 252 http.sslKey::
 253         File containing the SSL private key when fetching or pushing
 254         over HTTPS. Can be overridden by the 'GIT_SSL_KEY' environment
 255         variable.
 256
 257 http.sslCAInfo::
 258         File containing the certificates to verify the peer with when
 259         fetching or pushing over HTTPS. Can be overridden by the
 260         'GIT_SSL_CAINFO' environment variable.
 261
 262 http.sslCAPath::
 263         Path containing files with the CA certificates to verify the peer
 264         with when fetching or pushing over HTTPS. Can be overridden
 265         by the 'GIT_SSL_CAPATH' environment variable.
 266
 267 http.maxRequests::
 268         How many HTTP requests to launch in parallel. Can be overridden
 269         by the 'GIT_HTTP_MAX_REQUESTS' environment variable. Default is 5.
 270
 271 http.lowSpeedLimit, http.lowSpeedTime::
 272         If the HTTP transfer speed is less than 'http.lowSpeedLimit'
 273         for longer than 'http.lowSpeedTime' seconds, the transfer is aborted.
 274         Can be overridden by the 'GIT_HTTP_LOW_SPEED_LIMIT' and
 275         'GIT_HTTP_LOW_SPEED_TIME' environment variables.
 276
 277 http.noEPSV::
 278         A boolean which disables using of EPSV ftp command by curl.
 279         This can helpful with some "poor" ftp servers which doesn't
 280         support EPSV mode. Can be overridden by the 'GIT_CURL_FTP_NO_EPSV'
 281         environment variable. Default is false (curl will use EPSV).
 282
 283 i18n.commitEncoding::
 284         Character encoding the commit messages are stored in; git itself
 285         does not care per se, but this information is necessary e.g. when
 286         importing commits from emails or in the gitk graphical history
 287         browser (and possibly at other places in the future or in other
 288         porcelains). See e.g. gitlink:git-mailinfo[1]. Defaults to 'utf-8'.
 289
 290 i18n.logOutputEncoding::
 291         Character encoding the commit messages are converted to when
 292         running `git-log` and friends.
 293
 294 log.showroot::
 295         If true, the initial commit will be shown as a big creation event.
 296         This is equivalent to a diff against an empty tree.
 297         Tools like gitlink:git-log[1] or gitlink:git-whatchanged[1], which
 298         normally hide the root commit will now show it. True by default.
 299
 300 merge.summary::
 301         Whether to include summaries of merged commits in newly created
 302         merge commit messages. False by default.
 303
 304 pack.window::
 305         The size of the window used by gitlink:git-pack-objects[1] when no
 306         window size is given on the command line. Defaults to 10.
 307
 308 pull.octopus::
 309         The default merge strategy to use when pulling multiple branches
 310         at once.
 311
 312 pull.twohead::
 313         The default merge strategy to use when pulling a single branch.
 314
 315 remote.<name>.url::
 316         The URL of a remote repository.  See gitlink:git-fetch[1] or
 317         gitlink:git-push[1].
 318
 319 remote.<name>.fetch::
 320         The default set of "refspec" for gitlink:git-fetch[1]. See
 321         gitlink:git-fetch[1].
 322
 323 remote.<name>.push::
 324         The default set of "refspec" for gitlink:git-push[1]. See
 325         gitlink:git-push[1].
 326
 327 repack.usedeltabaseoffset::
 328         Allow gitlink:git-repack[1] to create packs that uses
 329         delta-base offset.  Defaults to false.
 330
 331 show.difftree::
 332         The default gitlink:git-diff-tree[1] arguments to be used
 333         for gitlink:git-show[1].
 334
 335 showbranch.default::
 336         The default set of branches for gitlink:git-show-branch[1].
 337         See gitlink:git-show-branch[1].
 338
 339 tar.umask::
 340         By default, gitlink:git-tar-tree[1] sets file and directories modes
 341         to 0666 or 0777. While this is both useful and acceptable for projects
 342         such as the Linux Kernel, it might be excessive for other projects.
 343         With this variable, it becomes possible to tell
 344         gitlink:git-tar-tree[1] to apply a specific umask to the modes above.
 345         The special value "user" indicates that the user's current umask will
 346         be used. This should be enough for most projects, as it will lead to
 347         the same permissions as gitlink:git-checkout[1] would use. The default
 348         value remains 0, which means world read-write.
 349
 350 user.email::
 351         Your email address to be recorded in any newly created commits.
 352         Can be overridden by the 'GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL' and 'GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL'
 353         environment variables.  See gitlink:git-commit-tree[1].
 354
 355 user.name::
 356         Your full name to be recorded in any newly created commits.
 357         Can be overridden by the 'GIT_AUTHOR_NAME' and 'GIT_COMMITTER_NAME'
 358         environment variables.  See gitlink:git-commit-tree[1].
 359
 360 whatchanged.difftree::
 361         The default gitlink:git-diff-tree[1] arguments to be used
 362         for gitlink:git-whatchanged[1].
 363
 364 imap::
 365         The configuration variables in the 'imap' section are described
 366         in gitlink:git-imap-send[1].
 367
 368 receive.unpackLimit::
 369         If the number of objects received in a push is below this
 370         limit then the objects will be unpacked into loose object
 371         files. However if the number of received objects equals or
 372         exceeds this limit then the received pack will be stored as
 373         a pack, after adding any missing delta bases.  Storing the
 374         pack from a push can make the push operation complete faster,
 375         especially on slow filesystems.
 376
 377 receive.denyNonFastForwards::
 378         If set to true, git-receive-pack will deny a ref update which is
 379         not a fast forward. Use this to prevent such an update via a push,
 380         even if that push is forced. This configuration variable is
 381         set when initializing a shared repository.
 382