Documentation/git-send-email.txt

   1 git-send-email(1)
   2 =================
   3
   4 NAME
   5 ----
   6 git-send-email - Send a collection of patches as emails
   7
   8
   9 SYNOPSIS
  10 --------
  11 [verse]
  12 'git send-email' [options] <file|directory|rev-list options>...
  13
  14
  15 DESCRIPTION
  16 -----------
  17 Takes the patches given on the command line and emails them out.
  18 Patches can be specified as files, directories (which will send all
  19 files in the directory), or directly as a revision list.  In the
  20 last case, any format accepted by linkgit:git-format-patch[1] can
  21 be passed to git send-email.
  22
  23 The header of the email is configurable via command-line options.  If not
  24 specified on the command line, the user will be prompted with a ReadLine
  25 enabled interface to provide the necessary information.
  26
  27 There are two formats accepted for patch files:
  28
  29 1. mbox format files
  30 +
  31 This is what linkgit:git-format-patch[1] generates.  Most headers and MIME
  32 formatting are ignored.
  33
  34 2. The original format used by Greg Kroah-Hartman's 'send_lots_of_email.pl'
  35 script
  36 +
  37 This format expects the first line of the file to contain the "Cc:" value
  38 and the "Subject:" of the message as the second line.
  39
  40
  41 OPTIONS
  42 -------
  43
  44 Composing
  45 ~~~~~~~~~
  46
  47 --annotate::
  48         Review and edit each patch you're about to send. Default is the value
  49         of 'sendemail.annotate'. See the CONFIGURATION section for
  50         'sendemail.multiedit'.
  51
  52 --bcc=<address>::
  53         Specify a "Bcc:" value for each email. Default is the value of
  54         'sendemail.bcc'.
  55 +
  56 The --bcc option must be repeated for each user you want on the bcc list.
  57
  58 --cc=<address>::
  59         Specify a starting "Cc:" value for each email.
  60         Default is the value of 'sendemail.cc'.
  61 +
  62 The --cc option must be repeated for each user you want on the cc list.
  63
  64 --compose::
  65         Invoke a text editor (see GIT_EDITOR in linkgit:git-var[1])
  66         to edit an introductory message for the patch series.
  67 +
  68 When '--compose' is used, git send-email will use the From, Subject, and
  69 In-Reply-To headers specified in the message. If the body of the message
  70 (what you type after the headers and a blank line) only contains blank
  71 (or Git: prefixed) lines, the summary won't be sent, but From, Subject,
  72 and In-Reply-To headers will be used unless they are removed.
  73 +
  74 Missing From or In-Reply-To headers will be prompted for.
  75 +
  76 See the CONFIGURATION section for 'sendemail.multiedit'.
  77
  78 --from=<address>::
  79         Specify the sender of the emails.  If not specified on the command line,
  80         the value of the 'sendemail.from' configuration option is used.  If
  81         neither the command-line option nor 'sendemail.from' are set, then the
  82         user will be prompted for the value.  The default for the prompt will be
  83         the value of GIT_AUTHOR_IDENT, or GIT_COMMITTER_IDENT if that is not
  84         set, as returned by "git var -l".
  85
  86 --in-reply-to=<identifier>::
  87         Make the first mail (or all the mails with `--no-thread`) appear as a
  88         reply to the given Message-Id, which avoids breaking threads to
  89         provide a new patch series.
  90         The second and subsequent emails will be sent as replies according to
  91         the `--[no]-chain-reply-to` setting.
  92 +
  93 So for example when `--thread` and `--no-chain-reply-to` are specified, the
  94 second and subsequent patches will be replies to the first one like in the
  95 illustration below where `[PATCH v2 0/3]` is in reply to `[PATCH 0/2]`:
  96 +
  97   [PATCH 0/2] Here is what I did...
  98     [PATCH 1/2] Clean up and tests
  99     [PATCH 2/2] Implementation
 100     [PATCH v2 0/3] Here is a reroll
 101       [PATCH v2 1/3] Clean up
 102       [PATCH v2 2/3] New tests
 103       [PATCH v2 3/3] Implementation
 104 +
 105 Only necessary if --compose is also set.  If --compose
 106 is not set, this will be prompted for.
 107
 108 --subject=<string>::
 109         Specify the initial subject of the email thread.
 110         Only necessary if --compose is also set.  If --compose
 111         is not set, this will be prompted for.
 112
 113 --to=<address>::
 114         Specify the primary recipient of the emails generated. Generally, this
 115         will be the upstream maintainer of the project involved. Default is the
 116         value of the 'sendemail.to' configuration value; if that is unspecified,
 117         and --to-cmd is not specified, this will be prompted for.
 118 +
 119 The --to option must be repeated for each user you want on the to list.
 120
 121 --8bit-encoding=<encoding>::
 122         When encountering a non-ASCII message or subject that does not
 123         declare its encoding, add headers/quoting to indicate it is
 124         encoded in <encoding>.  Default is the value of the
 125         'sendemail.assume8bitEncoding'; if that is unspecified, this
 126         will be prompted for if any non-ASCII files are encountered.
 127 +
 128 Note that no attempts whatsoever are made to validate the encoding.
 129
 130 --compose-encoding=<encoding>::
 131         Specify encoding of compose message. Default is the value of the
 132         'sendemail.composeencoding'; if that is unspecified, UTF-8 is assumed.
 133
 134 --transfer-encoding=(7bit|8bit|quoted-printable|base64)::
 135         Specify the transfer encoding to be used to send the message over SMTP.
 136         7bit will fail upon encountering a non-ASCII message.  quoted-printable
 137         can be useful when the repository contains files that contain carriage
 138         returns, but makes the raw patch email file (as saved from a MUA) much
 139         harder to inspect manually.  base64 is even more fool proof, but also
 140         even more opaque.  Default is the value of the 'sendemail.transferEncoding'
 141         configuration value; if that is unspecified, git will use 8bit and not
 142         add a Content-Transfer-Encoding header.
 143
 144
 145 Sending
 146 ~~~~~~~
 147
 148 --envelope-sender=<address>::
 149         Specify the envelope sender used to send the emails.
 150         This is useful if your default address is not the address that is
 151         subscribed to a list. In order to use the 'From' address, set the
 152         value to "auto". If you use the sendmail binary, you must have
 153         suitable privileges for the -f parameter.  Default is the value of the
 154         'sendemail.envelopesender' configuration variable; if that is
 155         unspecified, choosing the envelope sender is left to your MTA.
 156
 157 --smtp-encryption=<encryption>::
 158         Specify the encryption to use, either 'ssl' or 'tls'.  Any other
 159         value reverts to plain SMTP.  Default is the value of
 160         'sendemail.smtpencryption'.
 161
 162 --smtp-domain=<FQDN>::
 163         Specifies the Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) used in the
 164         HELO/EHLO command to the SMTP server.  Some servers require the
 165         FQDN to match your IP address.  If not set, git send-email attempts
 166         to determine your FQDN automatically.  Default is the value of
 167         'sendemail.smtpdomain'.
 168
 169 --smtp-pass[=<password>]::
 170         Password for SMTP-AUTH. The argument is optional: If no
 171         argument is specified, then the empty string is used as
 172         the password. Default is the value of 'sendemail.smtppass',
 173         however '--smtp-pass' always overrides this value.
 174 +
 175 Furthermore, passwords need not be specified in configuration files
 176 or on the command line. If a username has been specified (with
 177 '--smtp-user' or a 'sendemail.smtpuser'), but no password has been
 178 specified (with '--smtp-pass' or 'sendemail.smtppass'), then
 179 a password is obtained using 'git-credential'.
 180
 181 --smtp-server=<host>::
 182         If set, specifies the outgoing SMTP server to use (e.g.
 183         `smtp.example.com` or a raw IP address).  Alternatively it can
 184         specify a full pathname of a sendmail-like program instead;
 185         the program must support the `-i` option.  Default value can
 186         be specified by the 'sendemail.smtpserver' configuration
 187         option; the built-in default is `/usr/sbin/sendmail` or
 188         `/usr/lib/sendmail` if such program is available, or
 189         `localhost` otherwise.
 190
 191 --smtp-server-port=<port>::
 192         Specifies a port different from the default port (SMTP
 193         servers typically listen to smtp port 25, but may also listen to
 194         submission port 587, or the common SSL smtp port 465);
 195         symbolic port names (e.g. "submission" instead of 587)
 196         are also accepted. The port can also be set with the
 197         'sendemail.smtpserverport' configuration variable.
 198
 199 --smtp-server-option=<option>::
 200         If set, specifies the outgoing SMTP server option to use.
 201         Default value can be specified by the 'sendemail.smtpserveroption'
 202         configuration option.
 203 +
 204 The --smtp-server-option option must be repeated for each option you want
 205 to pass to the server. Likewise, different lines in the configuration files
 206 must be used for each option.
 207
 208 --smtp-ssl::
 209         Legacy alias for '--smtp-encryption ssl'.
 210
 211 --smtp-ssl-cert-path::
 212         Path to ca-certificates (either a directory or a single file).
 213         Set it to an empty string to disable certificate verification.
 214         Defaults to the value set to the 'sendemail.smtpsslcertpath'
 215         configuration variable, if set, or `/etc/ssl/certs` otherwise.
 216
 217 --smtp-user=<user>::
 218         Username for SMTP-AUTH. Default is the value of 'sendemail.smtpuser';
 219         if a username is not specified (with '--smtp-user' or 'sendemail.smtpuser'),
 220         then authentication is not attempted.
 221
 222 --smtp-debug=0|1::
 223         Enable (1) or disable (0) debug output. If enabled, SMTP
 224         commands and replies will be printed. Useful to debug TLS
 225         connection and authentication problems.
 226
 227 Automating
 228 ~~~~~~~~~~
 229
 230 --to-cmd=<command>::
 231         Specify a command to execute once per patch file which
 232         should generate patch file specific "To:" entries.
 233         Output of this command must be single email address per line.
 234         Default is the value of 'sendemail.tocmd' configuration value.
 235
 236 --cc-cmd=<command>::
 237         Specify a command to execute once per patch file which
 238         should generate patch file specific "Cc:" entries.
 239         Output of this command must be single email address per line.
 240         Default is the value of 'sendemail.cccmd' configuration value.
 241
 242 --[no-]chain-reply-to::
 243         If this is set, each email will be sent as a reply to the previous
 244         email sent.  If disabled with "--no-chain-reply-to", all emails after
 245         the first will be sent as replies to the first email sent.  When using
 246         this, it is recommended that the first file given be an overview of the
 247         entire patch series. Disabled by default, but the 'sendemail.chainreplyto'
 248         configuration variable can be used to enable it.
 249
 250 --identity=<identity>::
 251         A configuration identity. When given, causes values in the
 252         'sendemail.<identity>' subsection to take precedence over
 253         values in the 'sendemail' section. The default identity is
 254         the value of 'sendemail.identity'.
 255
 256 --[no-]signed-off-by-cc::
 257         If this is set, add emails found in Signed-off-by: or Cc: lines to the
 258         cc list. Default is the value of 'sendemail.signedoffbycc' configuration
 259         value; if that is unspecified, default to --signed-off-by-cc.
 260
 261 --[no-]cc-cover::
 262         If this is set, emails found in Cc: headers in the first patch of
 263         the series (typically the cover letter) are added to the cc list
 264         for each email set. Default is the value of 'sendemail.cccover'
 265         configuration value; if that is unspecified, default to --no-cc-cover.
 266
 267 --[no-]to-cover::
 268         If this is set, emails found in To: headers in the first patch of
 269         the series (typically the cover letter) are added to the to list
 270         for each email set. Default is the value of 'sendemail.tocover'
 271         configuration value; if that is unspecified, default to --no-to-cover.
 272
 273 --suppress-cc=<category>::
 274         Specify an additional category of recipients to suppress the
 275         auto-cc of:
 276 +
 277 --
 278 - 'author' will avoid including the patch author
 279 - 'self' will avoid including the sender
 280 - 'cc' will avoid including anyone mentioned in Cc lines in the patch header
 281   except for self (use 'self' for that).
 282 - 'bodycc' will avoid including anyone mentioned in Cc lines in the
 283   patch body (commit message) except for self (use 'self' for that).
 284 - 'sob' will avoid including anyone mentioned in Signed-off-by lines except
 285    for self (use 'self' for that).
 286 - 'cccmd' will avoid running the --cc-cmd.
 287 - 'body' is equivalent to 'sob' + 'bodycc'
 288 - 'all' will suppress all auto cc values.
 289 --
 290 +
 291 Default is the value of 'sendemail.suppresscc' configuration value; if
 292 that is unspecified, default to 'self' if --suppress-from is
 293 specified, as well as 'body' if --no-signed-off-cc is specified.
 294
 295 --[no-]suppress-from::
 296         If this is set, do not add the From: address to the cc: list.
 297         Default is the value of 'sendemail.suppressfrom' configuration
 298         value; if that is unspecified, default to --no-suppress-from.
 299
 300 --[no-]thread::
 301         If this is set, the In-Reply-To and References headers will be
 302         added to each email sent.  Whether each mail refers to the
 303         previous email (`deep` threading per 'git format-patch'
 304         wording) or to the first email (`shallow` threading) is
 305         governed by "--[no-]chain-reply-to".
 306 +
 307 If disabled with "--no-thread", those headers will not be added
 308 (unless specified with --in-reply-to).  Default is the value of the
 309 'sendemail.thread' configuration value; if that is unspecified,
 310 default to --thread.
 311 +
 312 It is up to the user to ensure that no In-Reply-To header already
 313 exists when 'git send-email' is asked to add it (especially note that
 314 'git format-patch' can be configured to do the threading itself).
 315 Failure to do so may not produce the expected result in the
 316 recipient's MUA.
 317
 318
 319 Administering
 320 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 321
 322 --confirm=<mode>::
 323         Confirm just before sending:
 324 +
 325 --
 326 - 'always' will always confirm before sending
 327 - 'never' will never confirm before sending
 328 - 'cc' will confirm before sending when send-email has automatically
 329   added addresses from the patch to the Cc list
 330 - 'compose' will confirm before sending the first message when using --compose.
 331 - 'auto' is equivalent to 'cc' + 'compose'
 332 --
 333 +
 334 Default is the value of 'sendemail.confirm' configuration value; if that
 335 is unspecified, default to 'auto' unless any of the suppress options
 336 have been specified, in which case default to 'compose'.
 337
 338 --dry-run::
 339         Do everything except actually send the emails.
 340
 341 --[no-]format-patch::
 342         When an argument may be understood either as a reference or as a file name,
 343         choose to understand it as a format-patch argument ('--format-patch')
 344         or as a file name ('--no-format-patch'). By default, when such a conflict
 345         occurs, git send-email will fail.
 346
 347 --quiet::
 348         Make git-send-email less verbose.  One line per email should be
 349         all that is output.
 350
 351 --[no-]validate::
 352         Perform sanity checks on patches.
 353         Currently, validation means the following:
 354 +
 355 --
 356                 *       Warn of patches that contain lines longer than 998 characters; this
 357                         is due to SMTP limits as described by http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2821.txt.
 358 --
 359 +
 360 Default is the value of 'sendemail.validate'; if this is not set,
 361 default to '--validate'.
 362
 363 --force::
 364         Send emails even if safety checks would prevent it.
 365
 366
 367 CONFIGURATION
 368 -------------
 369
 370 sendemail.aliasesfile::
 371         To avoid typing long email addresses, point this to one or more
 372         email aliases files.  You must also supply 'sendemail.aliasfiletype'.
 373
 374 sendemail.aliasfiletype::
 375         Format of the file(s) specified in sendemail.aliasesfile. Must be
 376         one of 'mutt', 'mailrc', 'pine', 'elm', or 'gnus'.
 377
 378 sendemail.multiedit::
 379         If true (default), a single editor instance will be spawned to edit
 380         files you have to edit (patches when '--annotate' is used, and the
 381         summary when '--compose' is used). If false, files will be edited one
 382         after the other, spawning a new editor each time.
 383
 384 sendemail.confirm::
 385         Sets the default for whether to confirm before sending. Must be
 386         one of 'always', 'never', 'cc', 'compose', or 'auto'. See '--confirm'
 387         in the previous section for the meaning of these values.
 388
 389 EXAMPLE
 390 -------
 391 Use gmail as the smtp server
 392 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 393 To use 'git send-email' to send your patches through the GMail SMTP server,
 394 edit ~/.gitconfig to specify your account settings:
 395
 396         [sendemail]
 397                 smtpencryption = tls
 398                 smtpserver = smtp.gmail.com
 399                 smtpuser = yourname@gmail.com
 400                 smtpserverport = 587
 401
 402 Once your commits are ready to be sent to the mailing list, run the
 403 following commands:
 404
 405         $ git format-patch --cover-letter -M origin/master -o outgoing/
 406         $ edit outgoing/0000-*
 407         $ git send-email outgoing/*
 408
 409 Note: the following perl modules are required
 410       Net::SMTP::SSL, MIME::Base64 and Authen::SASL
 411
 412 SEE ALSO
 413 --------
 414 linkgit:git-format-patch[1], linkgit:git-imap-send[1], mbox(5)
 415
 416 GIT
 417 ---
 418 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite