Documentation/git-http-backend.txt

   1 git-http-backend(1)
   2 ===================
   3
   4 NAME
   5 ----
   6 git-http-backend - Server side implementation of Git over HTTP
   7
   8 SYNOPSIS
   9 --------
  10 [verse]
  11 'git-http-backend'
  12
  13 DESCRIPTION
  14 -----------
  15 A simple CGI program to serve the contents of a Git repository to Git
  16 clients accessing the repository over http:// and https:// protocols.
  17 The program supports clients fetching using both the smart HTTP protcol
  18 and the backwards-compatible dumb HTTP protocol, as well as clients
  19 pushing using the smart HTTP protocol.
  20
  21 By default, only the `upload-pack` service is enabled, which serves
  22 'git-fetch-pack' and 'git-ls-remote' clients, which are invoked from
  23 'git-fetch', 'git-pull', and 'git-clone'.  If the client is authenticated,
  24 the `receive-pack` service is enabled, which serves 'git-send-pack'
  25 clients, which is invoked from 'git-push'.
  26
  27 SERVICES
  28 --------
  29 These services can be enabled/disabled using the per-repository
  30 configuration file:
  31
  32 http.getanyfile::
  33         This serves older Git clients which are unable to use the
  34         upload pack service.  When enabled, clients are able to read
  35         any file within the repository, including objects that are
  36         no longer reachable from a branch but are still present.
  37         It is enabled by default, but a repository can disable it
  38         by setting this configuration item to `false`.
  39
  40 http.uploadpack::
  41         This serves 'git-fetch-pack' and 'git-ls-remote' clients.
  42         It is enabled by default, but a repository can disable it
  43         by setting this configuration item to `false`.
  44
  45 http.receivepack::
  46         This serves 'git-send-pack' clients, allowing push.  It is
  47         disabled by default for anonymous users, and enabled by
  48         default for users authenticated by the web server.  It can be
  49         disabled by setting this item to `false`, or enabled for all
  50         users, including anonymous users, by setting it to `true`.
  51
  52 URL TRANSLATION
  53 ---------------
  54 To determine the location of the repository on disk, 'git-http-backend'
  55 concatenates the environment variables PATH_INFO, which is set
  56 automatically by the web server, and GIT_PROJECT_ROOT, which must be set
  57 manually in the web server configuration.  If GIT_PROJECT_ROOT is not
  58 set, 'git-http-backend' reads PATH_TRANSLATED, which is also set
  59 automatically by the web server.
  60
  61 EXAMPLES
  62 --------
  63 All of the following examples map 'http://$hostname/git/foo/bar.git'
  64 to '/var/www/git/foo/bar.git'.
  65
  66 Apache 2.x::
  67         Ensure mod_cgi, mod_alias, and mod_env are enabled, set
  68         GIT_PROJECT_ROOT (or DocumentRoot) appropriately, and
  69         create a ScriptAlias to the CGI:
  70 +
  71 ----------------------------------------------------------------
  72 SetEnv GIT_PROJECT_ROOT /var/www/git
  73 ScriptAlias /git/ /usr/libexec/git-core/git-http-backend/
  74 ----------------------------------------------------------------
  75 +
  76 To enable anonymous read access but authenticated write access,
  77 require authorization with a LocationMatch directive:
  78 +
  79 ----------------------------------------------------------------
  80 <LocationMatch "^/git/.*/git-receive-pack$">
  81         AuthType Basic
  82         AuthName "Git Access"
  83         Require group committers
  84         ...
  85 </LocationMatch>
  86 ----------------------------------------------------------------
  87 +
  88 To require authentication for both reads and writes, use a Location
  89 directive around the repository, or one of its parent directories:
  90 +
  91 ----------------------------------------------------------------
  92 <Location /git/private>
  93         AuthType Basic
  94         AuthName "Private Git Access"
  95         Require group committers
  96         ...
  97 </Location>
  98 ----------------------------------------------------------------
  99 +
 100 To serve gitweb at the same url, use a ScriptAliasMatch to only
 101 those URLs that 'git-http-backend' can handle, and forward the
 102 rest to gitweb:
 103 +
 104 ----------------------------------------------------------------
 105 ScriptAliasMatch \
 106         "(?x)^/git/(.*/(HEAD | \
 107                         info/refs | \
 108                         objects/(info/[^/]+ | \
 109                                  [0-9a-f]{2}/[0-9a-f]{38} | \
 110                                  pack/pack-[0-9a-f]{40}\.(pack|idx)) | \
 111                         git-(upload|receive)-pack))$" \
 112         /usr/libexec/git-core/git-http-backend/$1
 113
 114 ScriptAlias /git/ /var/www/cgi-bin/gitweb.cgi/
 115 ----------------------------------------------------------------
 116
 117 Accelerated static Apache 2.x::
 118         Similar to the above, but Apache can be used to return static
 119         files that are stored on disk.  On many systems this may
 120         be more efficient as Apache can ask the kernel to copy the
 121         file contents from the file system directly to the network:
 122 +
 123 ----------------------------------------------------------------
 124 SetEnv GIT_PROJECT_ROOT /var/www/git
 125
 126 AliasMatch ^/git/(.*/objects/[0-9a-f]{2}/[0-9a-f]{38})$          /var/www/git/$1
 127 AliasMatch ^/git/(.*/objects/pack/pack-[0-9a-f]{40}.(pack|idx))$ /var/www/git/$1
 128 ScriptAlias /git/ /usr/libexec/git-core/git-http-backend/
 129 ----------------------------------------------------------------
 130 +
 131 This can be combined with the gitweb configuration:
 132 +
 133 ----------------------------------------------------------------
 134 SetEnv GIT_PROJECT_ROOT /var/www/git
 135
 136 AliasMatch ^/git/(.*/objects/[0-9a-f]{2}/[0-9a-f]{38})$          /var/www/git/$1
 137 AliasMatch ^/git/(.*/objects/pack/pack-[0-9a-f]{40}.(pack|idx))$ /var/www/git/$1
 138 ScriptAliasMatch \
 139         "(?x)^/git/(.*/(HEAD | \
 140                         info/refs | \
 141                         objects/info/[^/]+ | \
 142                         git-(upload|receive)-pack))$" \
 143         /usr/libexec/git-core/git-http-backend/$1
 144 ScriptAlias /git/ /var/www/cgi-bin/gitweb.cgi/
 145 ----------------------------------------------------------------
 146
 147
 148 ENVIRONMENT
 149 -----------
 150 'git-http-backend' relies upon the CGI environment variables set
 151 by the invoking web server, including:
 152
 153 * PATH_INFO (if GIT_PROJECT_ROOT is set, otherwise PATH_TRANSLATED)
 154 * REMOTE_USER
 155 * REMOTE_ADDR
 156 * CONTENT_TYPE
 157 * QUERY_STRING
 158 * REQUEST_METHOD
 159
 160 The backend process sets GIT_COMMITTER_NAME to '$REMOTE_USER' and
 161 GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL to '$\{REMOTE_USER}@http.$\{REMOTE_ADDR\}',
 162 ensuring that any reflogs created by 'git-receive-pack' contain some
 163 identifying information of the remote user who performed the push.
 164
 165 All CGI environment variables are available to each of the hooks
 166 invoked by the 'git-receive-pack'.
 167
 168 Author
 169 ------
 170 Written by Shawn O. Pearce <spearce@spearce.org>.
 171
 172 Documentation
 173 --------------
 174 Documentation by Shawn O. Pearce <spearce@spearce.org>.
 175
 176 GIT
 177 ---
 178 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite