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1 git-submodule(1)
2 ================
3
4 NAME
5 ----
6 git-submodule - Initialize, update or inspect submodules
7
8
9 SYNOPSIS
10 --------
11 [verse]
12 'git submodule' [--quiet] add [-b branch] [-f|--force]
13 [--reference <repository>] [--] <repository> [<path>]
14 'git submodule' [--quiet] status [--cached] [--recursive] [--] [<path>...]
15 'git submodule' [--quiet] init [--] [<path>...]
16 'git submodule' [--quiet] update [--init] [-N|--no-fetch] [--rebase]
17 [--reference <repository>] [--merge] [--recursive] [--] [<path>...]
18 'git submodule' [--quiet] summary [--cached|--files] [(-n|--summary-limit) <n>]
19 [commit] [--] [<path>...]
20 'git submodule' [--quiet] foreach [--recursive] <command>
21 'git submodule' [--quiet] sync [--] [<path>...]
22
23
24 DESCRIPTION
25 -----------
26 Submodules allow foreign repositories to be embedded within
27 a dedicated subdirectory of the source tree, always pointed
28 at a particular commit.
29
30 They are not to be confused with remotes, which are meant mainly
31 for branches of the same project; submodules are meant for
32 different projects you would like to make part of your source tree,
33 while the history of the two projects still stays completely
34 independent and you cannot modify the contents of the submodule
35 from within the main project.
36 If you want to merge the project histories and want to treat the
37 aggregated whole as a single project from then on, you may want to
38 add a remote for the other project and use the 'subtree' merge strategy,
39 instead of treating the other project as a submodule. Directories
40 that come from both projects can be cloned and checked out as a whole
41 if you choose to go that route.
42
43 Submodules are composed from a so-called `gitlink` tree entry
44 in the main repository that refers to a particular commit object
45 within the inner repository that is completely separate.
46 A record in the `.gitmodules` (see linkgit:gitmodules[5]) file at the
47 root of the source tree assigns a logical name to the submodule and
48 describes the default URL the submodule shall be cloned from.
49 The logical name can be used for overriding this URL within your
50 local repository configuration (see 'submodule init').
51
52 This command will manage the tree entries and contents of the
53 gitmodules file for you, as well as inspect the status of your
54 submodules and update them.
55 When adding a new submodule to the tree, the 'add' subcommand
56 is to be used. However, when pulling a tree containing submodules,
57 these will not be checked out by default;
58 the 'init' and 'update' subcommands will maintain submodules
59 checked out and at appropriate revision in your working tree.
60 You can briefly inspect the up-to-date status of your submodules
61 using the 'status' subcommand and get a detailed overview of the
62 difference between the index and checkouts using the 'summary'
63 subcommand.
64
65
66 COMMANDS
67 --------
68 add::
69 Add the given repository as a submodule at the given path
70 to the changeset to be committed next to the current
71 project: the current project is termed the "superproject".
72 +
73 This requires at least one argument: <repository>. The optional
74 argument <path> is the relative location for the cloned submodule
75 to exist in the superproject. If <path> is not given, the
76 "humanish" part of the source repository is used ("repo" for
77 "/path/to/repo.git" and "foo" for "host.xz:foo/.git").
78 +
79 <repository> is the URL of the new submodule's origin repository.
80 This may be either an absolute URL, or (if it begins with ./
81 or ../), the location relative to the superproject's origin
82 repository (Please note that to specify a repository 'foo.git'
83 which is located right next to a superproject 'bar.git', you'll
84 have to use '../foo.git' instead of './foo.git' - as one might expect
85 when following the rules for relative URLs - because the evaluation
86 of relative URLs in Git is identical to that of relative directories).
87 If the superproject doesn't have an origin configured
88 the superproject is its own authoritative upstream and the current
89 working directory is used instead.
90 +
91 <path> is the relative location for the cloned submodule to
92 exist in the superproject. If <path> does not exist, then the
93 submodule is created by cloning from the named URL. If <path> does
94 exist and is already a valid git repository, then this is added
95 to the changeset without cloning. This second form is provided
96 to ease creating a new submodule from scratch, and presumes
97 the user will later push the submodule to the given URL.
98 +
99 In either case, the given URL is recorded into .gitmodules for
100 use by subsequent users cloning the superproject. If the URL is
101 given relative to the superproject's repository, the presumption
102 is the superproject and submodule repositories will be kept
103 together in the same relative location, and only the
104 superproject's URL needs to be provided: git-submodule will correctly
105 locate the submodule using the relative URL in .gitmodules.
106
107 status::
108 Show the status of the submodules. This will print the SHA-1 of the
109 currently checked out commit for each submodule, along with the
110 submodule path and the output of 'git describe' for the
111 SHA-1. Each SHA-1 will be prefixed with `-` if the submodule is not
112 initialized, `+` if the currently checked out submodule commit
113 does not match the SHA-1 found in the index of the containing
114 repository and `U` if the submodule has merge conflicts.
115 This command is the default command for 'git submodule'.
116 +
117 If `--recursive` is specified, this command will recurse into nested
118 submodules, and show their status as well.
119 +
120 If you are only interested in changes of the currently initialized
121 submodules with respect to the commit recorded in the index or the HEAD,
122 linkgit:git-status[1] and linkgit:git-diff[1] will provide that information
123 too (and can also report changes to a submodule's work tree).
124
125 init::
126 Initialize the submodules, i.e. register each submodule name
127 and url found in .gitmodules into .git/config.
128 It will also copy the value of `submodule.$name.update` into
129 .git/config.
130 The key used in .git/config is `submodule.$name.url`.
131 This command does not alter existing information in .git/config.
132 You can then customize the submodule clone URLs in .git/config
133 for your local setup and proceed to `git submodule update`;
134 you can also just use `git submodule update --init` without
135 the explicit 'init' step if you do not intend to customize
136 any submodule locations.
137
138 update::
139 Update the registered submodules, i.e. clone missing submodules and
140 checkout the commit specified in the index of the containing repository.
141 This will make the submodules HEAD be detached unless `--rebase` or
142 `--merge` is specified or the key `submodule.$name.update` is set to
143 `rebase`, `merge` or `none`. `none` can be overridden by specifying
144 `--checkout`.
145 +
146 If the submodule is not yet initialized, and you just want to use the
147 setting as stored in .gitmodules, you can automatically initialize the
148 submodule with the `--init` option.
149 +
150 If `--recursive` is specified, this command will recurse into the
151 registered submodules, and update any nested submodules within.
152
153 summary::
154 Show commit summary between the given commit (defaults to HEAD) and
155 working tree/index. For a submodule in question, a series of commits
156 in the submodule between the given super project commit and the
157 index or working tree (switched by `--cached`) are shown. If the option
158 `--files` is given, show the series of commits in the submodule between
159 the index of the super project and the working tree of the submodule
160 (this option doesn't allow to use the `--cached` option or to provide an
161 explicit commit).
162 +
163 Using the `--submodule=log` option with linkgit:git-diff[1] will provide that
164 information too.
165
166 foreach::
167 Evaluates an arbitrary shell command in each checked out submodule.
168 The command has access to the variables $name, $path, $sha1 and
169 $toplevel:
170 $name is the name of the relevant submodule section in .gitmodules,
171 $path is the name of the submodule directory relative to the
172 superproject, $sha1 is the commit as recorded in the superproject,
173 and $toplevel is the absolute path to the top-level of the superproject.
174 Any submodules defined in the superproject but not checked out are
175 ignored by this command. Unless given `--quiet`, foreach prints the name
176 of each submodule before evaluating the command.
177 If `--recursive` is given, submodules are traversed recursively (i.e.
178 the given shell command is evaluated in nested submodules as well).
179 A non-zero return from the command in any submodule causes
180 the processing to terminate. This can be overridden by adding '|| :'
181 to the end of the command.
182 +
183 As an example, +git submodule foreach \'echo $path {backtick}git
184 rev-parse HEAD{backtick}'+ will show the path and currently checked out
185 commit for each submodule.
186
187 sync::
188 Synchronizes submodules' remote URL configuration setting
189 to the value specified in .gitmodules. It will only affect those
190 submodules which already have a URL entry in .git/config (that is the
191 case when they are initialized or freshly added). This is useful when
192 submodule URLs change upstream and you need to update your local
193 repositories accordingly.
194 +
195 "git submodule sync" synchronizes all submodules while
196 "git submodule sync \-- A" synchronizes submodule "A" only.
197
198 OPTIONS
199 -------
200 -q::
201 --quiet::
202 Only print error messages.
203
204 -b::
205 --branch::
206 Branch of repository to add as submodule.
207
208 -f::
209 --force::
210 This option is only valid for add and update commands.
211 When running add, allow adding an otherwise ignored submodule path.
212 When running update, throw away local changes in submodules when
213 switching to a different commit.
214
215 --cached::
216 This option is only valid for status and summary commands. These
217 commands typically use the commit found in the submodule HEAD, but
218 with this option, the commit stored in the index is used instead.
219
220 --files::
221 This option is only valid for the summary command. This command
222 compares the commit in the index with that in the submodule HEAD
223 when this option is used.
224
225 -n::
226 --summary-limit::
227 This option is only valid for the summary command.
228 Limit the summary size (number of commits shown in total).
229 Giving 0 will disable the summary; a negative number means unlimited
230 (the default). This limit only applies to modified submodules. The
231 size is always limited to 1 for added/deleted/typechanged submodules.
232
233 -N::
234 --no-fetch::
235 This option is only valid for the update command.
236 Don't fetch new objects from the remote site.
237
238 --merge::
239 This option is only valid for the update command.
240 Merge the commit recorded in the superproject into the current branch
241 of the submodule. If this option is given, the submodule's HEAD will
242 not be detached. If a merge failure prevents this process, you will
243 have to resolve the resulting conflicts within the submodule with the
244 usual conflict resolution tools.
245 If the key `submodule.$name.update` is set to `merge`, this option is
246 implicit.
247
248 --rebase::
249 This option is only valid for the update command.
250 Rebase the current branch onto the commit recorded in the
251 superproject. If this option is given, the submodule's HEAD will not
252 be detached. If a merge failure prevents this process, you will have
253 to resolve these failures with linkgit:git-rebase[1].
254 If the key `submodule.$name.update` is set to `rebase`, this option is
255 implicit.
256
257 --init::
258 This option is only valid for the update command.
259 Initialize all submodules for which "git submodule init" has not been
260 called so far before updating.
261
262 --reference <repository>::
263 This option is only valid for add and update commands. These
264 commands sometimes need to clone a remote repository. In this case,
265 this option will be passed to the linkgit:git-clone[1] command.
266 +
267 *NOTE*: Do *not* use this option unless you have read the note
268 for linkgit:git-clone[1]'s `--reference` and `--shared` options carefully.
269
270 --recursive::
271 This option is only valid for foreach, update and status commands.
272 Traverse submodules recursively. The operation is performed not
273 only in the submodules of the current repo, but also
274 in any nested submodules inside those submodules (and so on).
275
276 <path>...::
277 Paths to submodule(s). When specified this will restrict the command
278 to only operate on the submodules found at the specified paths.
279 (This argument is required with add).
280
281 FILES
282 -----
283 When initializing submodules, a .gitmodules file in the top-level directory
284 of the containing repository is used to find the url of each submodule.
285 This file should be formatted in the same way as `$GIT_DIR/config`. The key
286 to each submodule url is "submodule.$name.url". See linkgit:gitmodules[5]
287 for details.
288
289 GIT
290 ---
291 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite