Documentation/git-clone.txt

   1 git-clone(1)
   2 ============
   3
   4 NAME
   5 ----
   6 git-clone - Clone a repository into a new directory
   7
   8
   9 SYNOPSIS
  10 --------
  11 [verse]
  12 'git clone' [--template=<template_directory>]
  13           [-l] [-s] [--no-hardlinks] [-q] [-n] [--bare] [--mirror]
  14           [-o <name>] [-b <name>] [-u <upload-pack>] [--reference <repository>]
  15           [--separate-git-dir <git dir>]
  16           [--depth <depth>] [--[no-]single-branch]
  17           [--recursive|--recurse-submodules] [--] <repository>
  18           [<directory>]
  19
  20 DESCRIPTION
  21 -----------
  22
  23 Clones a repository into a newly created directory, creates
  24 remote-tracking branches for each branch in the cloned repository
  25 (visible using `git branch -r`), and creates and checks out an
  26 initial branch that is forked from the cloned repository's
  27 currently active branch.
  28
  29 After the clone, a plain `git fetch` without arguments will update
  30 all the remote-tracking branches, and a `git pull` without
  31 arguments will in addition merge the remote master branch into the
  32 current master branch, if any.
  33
  34 This default configuration is achieved by creating references to
  35 the remote branch heads under `refs/remotes/origin` and
  36 by initializing `remote.origin.url` and `remote.origin.fetch`
  37 configuration variables.
  38
  39
  40 OPTIONS
  41 -------
  42 --local::
  43 -l::
  44         When the repository to clone from is on a local machine,
  45         this flag bypasses the normal "git aware" transport
  46         mechanism and clones the repository by making a copy of
  47         HEAD and everything under objects and refs directories.
  48         The files under `.git/objects/` directory are hardlinked
  49         to save space when possible.
  50 +
  51 If the repository is specified as a local path (e.g., `/path/to/repo`),
  52 this is the default, and --local is essentially a no-op.  If the
  53 repository is specified as a URL, then this flag is ignored (and we
  54 never use the local optimizations).  Specifying `--no-local` will
  55 override the default when `/path/to/repo` is given, using the regular
  56 git transport instead.
  57 +
  58 To force copying instead of hardlinking (which may be desirable if you
  59 are trying to make a back-up of your repository), but still avoid the
  60 usual "git aware" transport mechanism, `--no-hardlinks` can be used.
  61
  62 --no-hardlinks::
  63         Optimize the cloning process from a repository on a
  64         local filesystem by copying files under `.git/objects`
  65         directory.
  66
  67 --shared::
  68 -s::
  69         When the repository to clone is on the local machine,
  70         instead of using hard links, automatically setup
  71         `.git/objects/info/alternates` to share the objects
  72         with the source repository.  The resulting repository
  73         starts out without any object of its own.
  74 +
  75 *NOTE*: this is a possibly dangerous operation; do *not* use
  76 it unless you understand what it does. If you clone your
  77 repository using this option and then delete branches (or use any
  78 other git command that makes any existing commit unreferenced) in the
  79 source repository, some objects may become unreferenced (or dangling).
  80 These objects may be removed by normal git operations (such as `git commit`)
  81 which automatically call `git gc --auto`. (See linkgit:git-gc[1].)
  82 If these objects are removed and were referenced by the cloned repository,
  83 then the cloned repository will become corrupt.
  84 +
  85 Note that running `git repack` without the `-l` option in a repository
  86 cloned with `-s` will copy objects from the source repository into a pack
  87 in the cloned repository, removing the disk space savings of `clone -s`.
  88 It is safe, however, to run `git gc`, which uses the `-l` option by
  89 default.
  90 +
  91 If you want to break the dependency of a repository cloned with `-s` on
  92 its source repository, you can simply run `git repack -a` to copy all
  93 objects from the source repository into a pack in the cloned repository.
  94
  95 --reference <repository>::
  96         If the reference repository is on the local machine,
  97         automatically setup `.git/objects/info/alternates` to
  98         obtain objects from the reference repository.  Using
  99         an already existing repository as an alternate will
 100         require fewer objects to be copied from the repository
 101         being cloned, reducing network and local storage costs.
 102 +
 103 *NOTE*: see the NOTE for the `--shared` option.
 104
 105 --quiet::
 106 -q::
 107         Operate quietly.  Progress is not reported to the standard
 108         error stream. This flag is also passed to the `rsync'
 109         command when given.
 110
 111 --verbose::
 112 -v::
 113         Run verbosely. Does not affect the reporting of progress status
 114         to the standard error stream.
 115
 116 --progress::
 117         Progress status is reported on the standard error stream
 118         by default when it is attached to a terminal, unless -q
 119         is specified. This flag forces progress status even if the
 120         standard error stream is not directed to a terminal.
 121
 122 --no-checkout::
 123 -n::
 124         No checkout of HEAD is performed after the clone is complete.
 125
 126 --bare::
 127         Make a 'bare' GIT repository.  That is, instead of
 128         creating `<directory>` and placing the administrative
 129         files in `<directory>/.git`, make the `<directory>`
 130         itself the `$GIT_DIR`. This obviously implies the `-n`
 131         because there is nowhere to check out the working tree.
 132         Also the branch heads at the remote are copied directly
 133         to corresponding local branch heads, without mapping
 134         them to `refs/remotes/origin/`.  When this option is
 135         used, neither remote-tracking branches nor the related
 136         configuration variables are created.
 137
 138 --mirror::
 139         Set up a mirror of the source repository.  This implies `--bare`.
 140         Compared to `--bare`, `--mirror` not only maps local branches of the
 141         source to local branches of the target, it maps all refs (including
 142         remote-tracking branches, notes etc.) and sets up a refspec configuration such
 143         that all these refs are overwritten by a `git remote update` in the
 144         target repository.
 145
 146 --origin <name>::
 147 -o <name>::
 148         Instead of using the remote name `origin` to keep track
 149         of the upstream repository, use `<name>`.
 150
 151 --branch <name>::
 152 -b <name>::
 153         Instead of pointing the newly created HEAD to the branch pointed
 154         to by the cloned repository's HEAD, point to `<name>` branch
 155         instead. `--branch` can also take tags and treat them like
 156         detached HEAD. In a non-bare repository, this is the branch
 157         that will be checked out.
 158
 159 --upload-pack <upload-pack>::
 160 -u <upload-pack>::
 161         When given, and the repository to clone from is accessed
 162         via ssh, this specifies a non-default path for the command
 163         run on the other end.
 164
 165 --template=<template_directory>::
 166         Specify the directory from which templates will be used;
 167         (See the "TEMPLATE DIRECTORY" section of linkgit:git-init[1].)
 168
 169 --config <key>=<value>::
 170 -c <key>=<value>::
 171         Set a configuration variable in the newly-created repository;
 172         this takes effect immediately after the repository is
 173         initialized, but before the remote history is fetched or any
 174         files checked out.  The key is in the same format as expected by
 175         linkgit:git-config[1] (e.g., `core.eol=true`). If multiple
 176         values are given for the same key, each value will be written to
 177         the config file. This makes it safe, for example, to add
 178         additional fetch refspecs to the origin remote.
 179
 180 --depth <depth>::
 181         Create a 'shallow' clone with a history truncated to the
 182         specified number of revisions.  A shallow repository has a
 183         number of limitations (you cannot clone or fetch from
 184         it, nor push from nor into it), but is adequate if you
 185         are only interested in the recent history of a large project
 186         with a long history, and would want to send in fixes
 187         as patches.
 188
 189 --single-branch::
 190         Clone only the history leading to the tip of a single branch,
 191         either specified by the `--branch` option or the primary
 192         branch remote's `HEAD` points at. When creating a shallow
 193         clone with the `--depth` option, this is the default, unless
 194         `--no-single-branch` is given to fetch the histories near the
 195         tips of all branches.
 196
 197 --recursive::
 198 --recurse-submodules::
 199         After the clone is created, initialize all submodules within,
 200         using their default settings. This is equivalent to running
 201         `git submodule update --init --recursive` immediately after
 202         the clone is finished. This option is ignored if the cloned
 203         repository does not have a worktree/checkout (i.e. if any of
 204         `--no-checkout`/`-n`, `--bare`, or `--mirror` is given)
 205
 206 --separate-git-dir=<git dir>::
 207         Instead of placing the cloned repository where it is supposed
 208         to be, place the cloned repository at the specified directory,
 209         then make a filesytem-agnostic git symbolic link to there.
 210         The result is git repository can be separated from working
 211         tree.
 212
 213
 214 <repository>::
 215         The (possibly remote) repository to clone from.  See the
 216         <<URLS,URLS>> section below for more information on specifying
 217         repositories.
 218
 219 <directory>::
 220         The name of a new directory to clone into.  The "humanish"
 221         part of the source repository is used if no directory is
 222         explicitly given (`repo` for `/path/to/repo.git` and `foo`
 223         for `host.xz:foo/.git`).  Cloning into an existing directory
 224         is only allowed if the directory is empty.
 225
 226 :git-clone: 1
 227 include::urls.txt[]
 228
 229 Examples
 230 --------
 231
 232 * Clone from upstream:
 233 +
 234 ------------
 235 $ git clone git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/.../linux-2.6 my2.6
 236 $ cd my2.6
 237 $ make
 238 ------------
 239
 240
 241 * Make a local clone that borrows from the current directory, without checking things out:
 242 +
 243 ------------
 244 $ git clone -l -s -n . ../copy
 245 $ cd ../copy
 246 $ git show-branch
 247 ------------
 248
 249
 250 * Clone from upstream while borrowing from an existing local directory:
 251 +
 252 ------------
 253 $ git clone --reference my2.6 \
 254         git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/.../linux-2.7 \
 255         my2.7
 256 $ cd my2.7
 257 ------------
 258
 259
 260 * Create a bare repository to publish your changes to the public:
 261 +
 262 ------------
 263 $ git clone --bare -l /home/proj/.git /pub/scm/proj.git
 264 ------------
 265
 266
 267 * Create a repository on the kernel.org machine that borrows from Linus:
 268 +
 269 ------------
 270 $ git clone --bare -l -s /pub/scm/.../torvalds/linux-2.6.git \
 271     /pub/scm/.../me/subsys-2.6.git
 272 ------------
 273
 274 GIT
 275 ---
 276 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite