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] [--no-tags]
  17           [--recurse-submodules[=<pathspec>]] [--[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 --remotes`), 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 -l::
  44 --local::
  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 -s::
  66 --shared::
  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 `--local` option in a repository
  84 cloned with `--shared` will copy objects from the source repository into a pack
  85 in the cloned repository, removing the disk space savings of `clone --shared`.
  86 It is safe, however, to run `git gc`, which uses the `--local` option by
  87 default.
  88 +
  89 If you want to break the dependency of a repository cloned with `--shared` 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[-if-able] <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         When using the `--reference-if-able`, a non existing
 101         directory is skipped with a warning instead of aborting
 102         the clone.
 103 +
 104 *NOTE*: see the NOTE for the `--shared` option, and also the
 105 `--dissociate` option.
 106
 107 --dissociate::
 108         Borrow the objects from reference repositories specified
 109         with the `--reference` options only to reduce network
 110         transfer, and stop borrowing from them after a clone is made
 111         by making necessary local copies of borrowed objects.  This
 112         option can also be used when cloning locally from a
 113         repository that already borrows objects from another
 114         repository--the new repository will borrow objects from the
 115         same repository, and this option can be used to stop the
 116         borrowing.
 117
 118 -q::
 119 --quiet::
 120         Operate quietly.  Progress is not reported to the standard
 121         error stream.
 122
 123 -v::
 124 --verbose::
 125         Run verbosely. Does not affect the reporting of progress status
 126         to the standard error stream.
 127
 128 --progress::
 129         Progress status is reported on the standard error stream
 130         by default when it is attached to a terminal, unless `--quiet`
 131         is specified. This flag forces progress status even if the
 132         standard error stream is not directed to a terminal.
 133
 134 --server-option=<option>::
 135         Transmit the given string to the server when communicating using
 136         protocol version 2.  The given string must not contain a NUL or LF
 137         character.  The server's handling of server options, including
 138         unknown ones, is server-specific.
 139         When multiple `--server-option=<option>` are given, they are all
 140         sent to the other side in the order listed on the command line.
 141
 142 -n::
 143 --no-checkout::
 144         No checkout of HEAD is performed after the clone is complete.
 145
 146 --bare::
 147         Make a 'bare' Git repository.  That is, instead of
 148         creating `<directory>` and placing the administrative
 149         files in `<directory>/.git`, make the `<directory>`
 150         itself the `$GIT_DIR`. This obviously implies the `--no-checkout`
 151         because there is nowhere to check out the working tree.
 152         Also the branch heads at the remote are copied directly
 153         to corresponding local branch heads, without mapping
 154         them to `refs/remotes/origin/`.  When this option is
 155         used, neither remote-tracking branches nor the related
 156         configuration variables are created.
 157
 158 --mirror::
 159         Set up a mirror of the source repository.  This implies `--bare`.
 160         Compared to `--bare`, `--mirror` not only maps local branches of the
 161         source to local branches of the target, it maps all refs (including
 162         remote-tracking branches, notes etc.) and sets up a refspec configuration such
 163         that all these refs are overwritten by a `git remote update` in the
 164         target repository.
 165
 166 -o <name>::
 167 --origin <name>::
 168         Instead of using the remote name `origin` to keep track
 169         of the upstream repository, use `<name>`.
 170
 171 -b <name>::
 172 --branch <name>::
 173         Instead of pointing the newly created HEAD to the branch pointed
 174         to by the cloned repository's HEAD, point to `<name>` branch
 175         instead. In a non-bare repository, this is the branch that will
 176         be checked out.
 177         `--branch` can also take tags and detaches the HEAD at that commit
 178         in the resulting repository.
 179
 180 -u <upload-pack>::
 181 --upload-pack <upload-pack>::
 182         When given, and the repository to clone from is accessed
 183         via ssh, this specifies a non-default path for the command
 184         run on the other end.
 185
 186 --template=<template_directory>::
 187         Specify the directory from which templates will be used;
 188         (See the "TEMPLATE DIRECTORY" section of linkgit:git-init[1].)
 189
 190 -c <key>=<value>::
 191 --config <key>=<value>::
 192         Set a configuration variable in the newly-created repository;
 193         this takes effect immediately after the repository is
 194         initialized, but before the remote history is fetched or any
 195         files checked out.  The key is in the same format as expected by
 196         linkgit:git-config[1] (e.g., `core.eol=true`). If multiple
 197         values are given for the same key, each value will be written to
 198         the config file. This makes it safe, for example, to add
 199         additional fetch refspecs to the origin remote.
 200 +
 201 Due to limitations of the current implementation, some configuration
 202 variables do not take effect until after the initial fetch and checkout.
 203 Configuration variables known to not take effect are:
 204 `remote.<name>.mirror` and `remote.<name>.tagOpt`.  Use the
 205 corresponding `--mirror` and `--no-tags` options instead.
 206
 207 --depth <depth>::
 208         Create a 'shallow' clone with a history truncated to the
 209         specified number of commits. Implies `--single-branch` unless
 210         `--no-single-branch` is given to fetch the histories near the
 211         tips of all branches. If you want to clone submodules shallowly,
 212         also pass `--shallow-submodules`.
 213
 214 --shallow-since=<date>::
 215         Create a shallow clone with a history after the specified time.
 216
 217 --shallow-exclude=<revision>::
 218         Create a shallow clone with a history, excluding commits
 219         reachable from a specified remote branch or tag.  This option
 220         can be specified multiple times.
 221
 222 --[no-]single-branch::
 223         Clone only the history leading to the tip of a single branch,
 224         either specified by the `--branch` option or the primary
 225         branch remote's `HEAD` points at.
 226         Further fetches into the resulting repository will only update the
 227         remote-tracking branch for the branch this option was used for the
 228         initial cloning.  If the HEAD at the remote did not point at any
 229         branch when `--single-branch` clone was made, no remote-tracking
 230         branch is created.
 231
 232 --no-tags::
 233         Don't clone any tags, and set
 234         `remote.<remote>.tagOpt=--no-tags` in the config, ensuring
 235         that future `git pull` and `git fetch` operations won't follow
 236         any tags. Subsequent explicit tag fetches will still work,
 237         (see linkgit:git-fetch[1]).
 238 +
 239 Can be used in conjunction with `--single-branch` to clone and
 240 maintain a branch with no references other than a single cloned
 241 branch. This is useful e.g. to maintain minimal clones of the default
 242 branch of some repository for search indexing.
 243
 244 --recurse-submodules[=<pathspec]::
 245         After the clone is created, initialize and clone submodules
 246         within based on the provided pathspec.  If no pathspec is
 247         provided, all submodules are initialized and cloned.
 248         This option can be given multiple times for pathspecs consisting
 249         of multiple entries.  The resulting clone has `submodule.active` set to
 250         the provided pathspec, or "." (meaning all submodules) if no
 251         pathspec is provided.
 252 +
 253 Submodules are initialized and cloned using their default settings. This is
 254 equivalent to running
 255 `git submodule update --init --recursive <pathspec>` immediately after
 256 the clone is finished. This option is ignored if the cloned repository does
 257 not have a worktree/checkout (i.e. if any of `--no-checkout`/`-n`, `--bare`,
 258 or `--mirror` is given)
 259
 260 --[no-]shallow-submodules::
 261         All submodules which are cloned will be shallow with a depth of 1.
 262
 263 --separate-git-dir=<git dir>::
 264         Instead of placing the cloned repository where it is supposed
 265         to be, place the cloned repository at the specified directory,
 266         then make a filesystem-agnostic Git symbolic link to there.
 267         The result is Git repository can be separated from working
 268         tree.
 269
 270 -j <n>::
 271 --jobs <n>::
 272         The number of submodules fetched at the same time.
 273         Defaults to the `submodule.fetchJobs` option.
 274
 275 <repository>::
 276         The (possibly remote) repository to clone from.  See the
 277         <<URLS,GIT URLS>> section below for more information on specifying
 278         repositories.
 279
 280 <directory>::
 281         The name of a new directory to clone into.  The "humanish"
 282         part of the source repository is used if no directory is
 283         explicitly given (`repo` for `/path/to/repo.git` and `foo`
 284         for `host.xz:foo/.git`).  Cloning into an existing directory
 285         is only allowed if the directory is empty.
 286
 287 :git-clone: 1
 288 include::urls.txt[]
 289
 290 EXAMPLES
 291 --------
 292
 293 * Clone from upstream:
 294 +
 295 ------------
 296 $ git clone git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/.../linux.git my-linux
 297 $ cd my-linux
 298 $ make
 299 ------------
 300
 301
 302 * Make a local clone that borrows from the current directory, without checking things out:
 303 +
 304 ------------
 305 $ git clone -l -s -n . ../copy
 306 $ cd ../copy
 307 $ git show-branch
 308 ------------
 309
 310
 311 * Clone from upstream while borrowing from an existing local directory:
 312 +
 313 ------------
 314 $ git clone --reference /git/linux.git \
 315         git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/.../linux.git \
 316         my-linux
 317 $ cd my-linux
 318 ------------
 319
 320
 321 * Create a bare repository to publish your changes to the public:
 322 +
 323 ------------
 324 $ git clone --bare -l /home/proj/.git /pub/scm/proj.git
 325 ------------
 326
 327
 328 GIT
 329 ---
 330 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite