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           [--dissociate] [--separate-git-dir <git dir>]
  16           [--depth <depth>] [--[no-]single-branch]
  17           [--recursive | --recurse-submodules] [--[no-]shallow-submodules]
  18           [--jobs <n>] [--] <repository> [<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 (this is untrue when "--single-branch"
  33 is given; see below).
  34
  35 This default configuration is achieved by creating references to
  36 the remote branch heads under `refs/remotes/origin` and
  37 by initializing `remote.origin.url` and `remote.origin.fetch`
  38 configuration variables.
  39
  40
  41 OPTIONS
  42 -------
  43 --local::
  44 -l::
  45         When the repository to clone from is on a local machine,
  46         this flag bypasses the normal "Git aware" transport
  47         mechanism and clones the repository by making a copy of
  48         HEAD and everything under objects and refs directories.
  49         The files under `.git/objects/` directory are hardlinked
  50         to save space when possible.
  51 +
  52 If the repository is specified as a local path (e.g., `/path/to/repo`),
  53 this is the default, and --local is essentially a no-op.  If the
  54 repository is specified as a URL, then this flag is ignored (and we
  55 never use the local optimizations).  Specifying `--no-local` will
  56 override the default when `/path/to/repo` is given, using the regular
  57 Git transport instead.
  58
  59 --no-hardlinks::
  60         Force the cloning process from a repository on a local
  61         filesystem to copy the files under the `.git/objects`
  62         directory instead of using hardlinks. This may be desirable
  63         if you are trying to make a back-up of your repository.
  64
  65 --shared::
  66 -s::
  67         When the repository to clone is on the local machine,
  68         instead of using hard links, automatically setup
  69         `.git/objects/info/alternates` to share the objects
  70         with the source repository.  The resulting repository
  71         starts out without any object of its own.
  72 +
  73 *NOTE*: this is a possibly dangerous operation; do *not* use
  74 it unless you understand what it does. If you clone your
  75 repository using this option and then delete branches (or use any
  76 other Git command that makes any existing commit unreferenced) in the
  77 source repository, some objects may become unreferenced (or dangling).
  78 These objects may be removed by normal Git operations (such as `git commit`)
  79 which automatically call `git gc --auto`. (See linkgit:git-gc[1].)
  80 If these objects are removed and were referenced by the cloned repository,
  81 then the cloned repository will become corrupt.
  82 +
  83 Note that running `git repack` without the `-l` option in a repository
  84 cloned with `-s` will copy objects from the source repository into a pack
  85 in the cloned repository, removing the disk space savings of `clone -s`.
  86 It is safe, however, to run `git gc`, which uses the `-l` option by
  87 default.
  88 +
  89 If you want to break the dependency of a repository cloned with `-s` on
  90 its source repository, you can simply run `git repack -a` to copy all
  91 objects from the source repository into a pack in the cloned repository.
  92
  93 --reference <repository>::
  94         If the reference repository is on the local machine,
  95         automatically setup `.git/objects/info/alternates` to
  96         obtain objects from the reference repository.  Using
  97         an already existing repository as an alternate will
  98         require fewer objects to be copied from the repository
  99         being cloned, reducing network and local storage costs.
 100 +
 101 *NOTE*: see the NOTE for the `--shared` option, and also the
 102 `--dissociate` option.
 103
 104 --dissociate::
 105         Borrow the objects from reference repositories specified
 106         with the `--reference` options only to reduce network
 107         transfer, and stop borrowing from them after a clone is made
 108         by making necessary local copies of borrowed objects.  This
 109         option can also be used when cloning locally from a
 110         repository that already borrows objects from another
 111         repository--the new repository will borrow objects from the
 112         same repository, and this option can be used to stop the
 113         borrowing.
 114
 115 --quiet::
 116 -q::
 117         Operate quietly.  Progress is not reported to the standard
 118         error stream.
 119
 120 --verbose::
 121 -v::
 122         Run verbosely. Does not affect the reporting of progress status
 123         to the standard error stream.
 124
 125 --progress::
 126         Progress status is reported on the standard error stream
 127         by default when it is attached to a terminal, unless -q
 128         is specified. This flag forces progress status even if the
 129         standard error stream is not directed to a terminal.
 130
 131 --no-checkout::
 132 -n::
 133         No checkout of HEAD is performed after the clone is complete.
 134
 135 --bare::
 136         Make a 'bare' Git repository.  That is, instead of
 137         creating `<directory>` and placing the administrative
 138         files in `<directory>/.git`, make the `<directory>`
 139         itself the `$GIT_DIR`. This obviously implies the `-n`
 140         because there is nowhere to check out the working tree.
 141         Also the branch heads at the remote are copied directly
 142         to corresponding local branch heads, without mapping
 143         them to `refs/remotes/origin/`.  When this option is
 144         used, neither remote-tracking branches nor the related
 145         configuration variables are created.
 146
 147 --mirror::
 148         Set up a mirror of the source repository.  This implies `--bare`.
 149         Compared to `--bare`, `--mirror` not only maps local branches of the
 150         source to local branches of the target, it maps all refs (including
 151         remote-tracking branches, notes etc.) and sets up a refspec configuration such
 152         that all these refs are overwritten by a `git remote update` in the
 153         target repository.
 154
 155 --origin <name>::
 156 -o <name>::
 157         Instead of using the remote name `origin` to keep track
 158         of the upstream repository, use `<name>`.
 159
 160 --branch <name>::
 161 -b <name>::
 162         Instead of pointing the newly created HEAD to the branch pointed
 163         to by the cloned repository's HEAD, point to `<name>` branch
 164         instead. In a non-bare repository, this is the branch that will
 165         be checked out.
 166         `--branch` can also take tags and detaches the HEAD at that commit
 167         in the resulting repository.
 168
 169 --upload-pack <upload-pack>::
 170 -u <upload-pack>::
 171         When given, and the repository to clone from is accessed
 172         via ssh, this specifies a non-default path for the command
 173         run on the other end.
 174
 175 --template=<template_directory>::
 176         Specify the directory from which templates will be used;
 177         (See the "TEMPLATE DIRECTORY" section of linkgit:git-init[1].)
 178
 179 --config <key>=<value>::
 180 -c <key>=<value>::
 181         Set a configuration variable in the newly-created repository;
 182         this takes effect immediately after the repository is
 183         initialized, but before the remote history is fetched or any
 184         files checked out.  The key is in the same format as expected by
 185         linkgit:git-config[1] (e.g., `core.eol=true`). If multiple
 186         values are given for the same key, each value will be written to
 187         the config file. This makes it safe, for example, to add
 188         additional fetch refspecs to the origin remote.
 189
 190 --depth <depth>::
 191         Create a 'shallow' clone with a history truncated to the
 192         specified number of commits. Implies `--single-branch` unless
 193         `--no-single-branch` is given to fetch the histories near the
 194         tips of all branches. If you want to clone submodules shallowly,
 195         also pass `--shallow-submodules`.
 196
 197 --[no-]single-branch::
 198         Clone only the history leading to the tip of a single branch,
 199         either specified by the `--branch` option or the primary
 200         branch remote's `HEAD` points at.
 201         Further fetches into the resulting repository will only update the
 202         remote-tracking branch for the branch this option was used for the
 203         initial cloning.  If the HEAD at the remote did not point at any
 204         branch when `--single-branch` clone was made, no remote-tracking
 205         branch is created.
 206
 207 --recursive::
 208 --recurse-submodules::
 209         After the clone is created, initialize all submodules within,
 210         using their default settings. This is equivalent to running
 211         `git submodule update --init --recursive` immediately after
 212         the clone is finished. This option is ignored if the cloned
 213         repository does not have a worktree/checkout (i.e. if any of
 214         `--no-checkout`/`-n`, `--bare`, or `--mirror` is given)
 215
 216 --[no-]shallow-submodules::
 217         All submodules which are cloned will be shallow with a depth of 1.
 218
 219 --separate-git-dir=<git dir>::
 220         Instead of placing the cloned repository where it is supposed
 221         to be, place the cloned repository at the specified directory,
 222         then make a filesystem-agnostic Git symbolic link to there.
 223         The result is Git repository can be separated from working
 224         tree.
 225
 226 -j <n>::
 227 --jobs <n>::
 228         The number of submodules fetched at the same time.
 229         Defaults to the `submodule.fetchJobs` option.
 230
 231 <repository>::
 232         The (possibly remote) repository to clone from.  See the
 233         <<URLS,URLS>> section below for more information on specifying
 234         repositories.
 235
 236 <directory>::
 237         The name of a new directory to clone into.  The "humanish"
 238         part of the source repository is used if no directory is
 239         explicitly given (`repo` for `/path/to/repo.git` and `foo`
 240         for `host.xz:foo/.git`).  Cloning into an existing directory
 241         is only allowed if the directory is empty.
 242
 243 :git-clone: 1
 244 include::urls.txt[]
 245
 246 Examples
 247 --------
 248
 249 * Clone from upstream:
 250 +
 251 ------------
 252 $ git clone git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/.../linux.git my-linux
 253 $ cd my-linux
 254 $ make
 255 ------------
 256
 257
 258 * Make a local clone that borrows from the current directory, without checking things out:
 259 +
 260 ------------
 261 $ git clone -l -s -n . ../copy
 262 $ cd ../copy
 263 $ git show-branch
 264 ------------
 265
 266
 267 * Clone from upstream while borrowing from an existing local directory:
 268 +
 269 ------------
 270 $ git clone --reference /git/linux.git \
 271         git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/.../linux.git \
 272         my-linux
 273 $ cd my-linux
 274 ------------
 275
 276
 277 * Create a bare repository to publish your changes to the public:
 278 +
 279 ------------
 280 $ git clone --bare -l /home/proj/.git /pub/scm/proj.git
 281 ------------
 282
 283
 284 GIT
 285 ---
 286 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite