Documentation/git-fsck.txt

   1 git-fsck(1)
   2 ===========
   3
   4 NAME
   5 ----
   6 git-fsck - Verifies the connectivity and validity of the objects in the database
   7
   8
   9 SYNOPSIS
  10 --------
  11 [verse]
  12 'git fsck' [--tags] [--root] [--unreachable] [--cache] [--no-reflogs]
  13          [--[no-]full] [--strict] [--verbose] [--lost-found]
  14          [--[no-]dangling] [--[no-]progress] [<object>*]
  15
  16 DESCRIPTION
  17 -----------
  18 Verifies the connectivity and validity of the objects in the database.
  19
  20 OPTIONS
  21 -------
  22 <object>::
  23         An object to treat as the head of an unreachability trace.
  24 +
  25 If no objects are given, 'git fsck' defaults to using the
  26 index file, all SHA1 references in `refs` namespace, and all reflogs
  27 (unless --no-reflogs is given) as heads.
  28
  29 --unreachable::
  30         Print out objects that exist but that aren't reachable from any
  31         of the reference nodes.
  32
  33 --dangling::
  34 --no-dangling::
  35         Print objects that exist but that are never 'directly' used (default).
  36         `--no-dangling` can be used to omit this information from the output.
  37
  38 --root::
  39         Report root nodes.
  40
  41 --tags::
  42         Report tags.
  43
  44 --cache::
  45         Consider any object recorded in the index also as a head node for
  46         an unreachability trace.
  47
  48 --no-reflogs::
  49         Do not consider commits that are referenced only by an
  50         entry in a reflog to be reachable.  This option is meant
  51         only to search for commits that used to be in a ref, but
  52         now aren't, but are still in that corresponding reflog.
  53
  54 --full::
  55         Check not just objects in GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY
  56         ($GIT_DIR/objects), but also the ones found in alternate
  57         object pools listed in GIT_ALTERNATE_OBJECT_DIRECTORIES
  58         or $GIT_DIR/objects/info/alternates,
  59         and in packed git archives found in $GIT_DIR/objects/pack
  60         and corresponding pack subdirectories in alternate
  61         object pools.  This is now default; you can turn it off
  62         with --no-full.
  63
  64 --strict::
  65         Enable more strict checking, namely to catch a file mode
  66         recorded with g+w bit set, which was created by older
  67         versions of git.  Existing repositories, including the
  68         Linux kernel, git itself, and sparse repository have old
  69         objects that triggers this check, but it is recommended
  70         to check new projects with this flag.
  71
  72 --verbose::
  73         Be chatty.
  74
  75 --lost-found::
  76         Write dangling objects into .git/lost-found/commit/ or
  77         .git/lost-found/other/, depending on type.  If the object is
  78         a blob, the contents are written into the file, rather than
  79         its object name.
  80
  81 --progress::
  82 --no-progress::
  83         Progress status is reported on the standard error stream by
  84         default when it is attached to a terminal, unless
  85         --no-progress or --verbose is specified. --progress forces
  86         progress status even if the standard error stream is not
  87         directed to a terminal.
  88
  89 DISCUSSION
  90 ----------
  91
  92 git-fsck tests SHA1 and general object sanity, and it does full tracking
  93 of the resulting reachability and everything else. It prints out any
  94 corruption it finds (missing or bad objects), and if you use the
  95 '--unreachable' flag it will also print out objects that exist but that
  96 aren't reachable from any of the specified head nodes (or the default
  97 set, as mentioned above).
  98
  99 Any corrupt objects you will have to find in backups or other archives
 100 (i.e., you can just remove them and do an 'rsync' with some other site in
 101 the hopes that somebody else has the object you have corrupted).
 102
 103 Extracted Diagnostics
 104 ---------------------
 105
 106 expect dangling commits - potential heads - due to lack of head information::
 107         You haven't specified any nodes as heads so it won't be
 108         possible to differentiate between un-parented commits and
 109         root nodes.
 110
 111 missing sha1 directory '<dir>'::
 112         The directory holding the sha1 objects is missing.
 113
 114 unreachable <type> <object>::
 115         The <type> object <object>, isn't actually referred to directly
 116         or indirectly in any of the trees or commits seen. This can
 117         mean that there's another root node that you're not specifying
 118         or that the tree is corrupt. If you haven't missed a root node
 119         then you might as well delete unreachable nodes since they
 120         can't be used.
 121
 122 missing <type> <object>::
 123         The <type> object <object>, is referred to but isn't present in
 124         the database.
 125
 126 dangling <type> <object>::
 127         The <type> object <object>, is present in the database but never
 128         'directly' used. A dangling commit could be a root node.
 129
 130 sha1 mismatch <object>::
 131         The database has an object who's sha1 doesn't match the
 132         database value.
 133         This indicates a serious data integrity problem.
 134
 135 Environment Variables
 136 ---------------------
 137
 138 GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY::
 139         used to specify the object database root (usually $GIT_DIR/objects)
 140
 141 GIT_INDEX_FILE::
 142         used to specify the index file of the index
 143
 144 GIT_ALTERNATE_OBJECT_DIRECTORIES::
 145         used to specify additional object database roots (usually unset)
 146
 147 GIT
 148 ---
 149 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite