6 giteveryday - A useful minimum set of commands for Everyday Git
11 Everyday Git With 20 Commands Or So
16 Git users can broadly be grouped into four categories for the purposes of
17 describing here a small set of useful command for everyday Git.
19 * <<STANDALONE,Individual Developer (Standalone)>> commands are essential
20 for anybody who makes a commit, even for somebody who works alone.
22 * If you work with other people, you will need commands listed in
23 the <<PARTICIPANT,Individual Developer (Participant)>> section as well.
25 * People who play the <<INTEGRATOR,Integrator>> role need to learn some
26 more commands in addition to the above.
28 * <<ADMINISTRATION,Repository Administration>> commands are for system
29 administrators who are responsible for the care and feeding
33 Individual Developer (Standalone)[[STANDALONE]]
34 -----------------------------------------------
36 A standalone individual developer does not exchange patches with
37 other people, and works alone in a single repository, using the
40 * linkgit:git-init[1] to create a new repository.
42 * linkgit:git-log[1] to see what happened.
44 * linkgit:git-switch[1] and linkgit:git-branch[1] to switch
47 * linkgit:git-add[1] to manage the index file.
49 * linkgit:git-diff[1] and linkgit:git-status[1] to see what
50 you are in the middle of doing.
52 * linkgit:git-commit[1] to advance the current branch.
54 * linkgit:git-restore[1] to undo changes.
56 * linkgit:git-merge[1] to merge between local branches.
58 * linkgit:git-rebase[1] to maintain topic branches.
60 * linkgit:git-tag[1] to mark a known point.
65 Use a tarball as a starting point for a new repository.::
68 $ tar zxf frotz.tar.gz
72 $ git commit -m "import of frotz source tree."
76 <1> add everything under the current directory.
77 <2> make a lightweight, unannotated tag.
79 Create a topic branch and develop.::
82 $ git switch -c alsa-audio <1>
84 $ git restore curses/ux_audio_oss.c <2>
85 $ git add curses/ux_audio_alsa.c <3>
88 $ git commit -a -s <5>
91 $ git commit -a --amend <7>
92 $ git switch master <8>
93 $ git merge alsa-audio <9>
94 $ git log --since='3 days ago' <10>
95 $ git log v2.43.. curses/ <11>
98 <1> create a new topic branch.
99 <2> revert your botched changes in `curses/ux_audio_oss.c`.
100 <3> you need to tell Git if you added a new file; removal and
101 modification will be caught if you do `git commit -a` later.
102 <4> to see what changes you are committing.
103 <5> commit everything, as you have tested, with your sign-off.
104 <6> look at all your changes including the previous commit.
105 <7> amend the previous commit, adding all your new changes,
106 using your original message.
107 <8> switch to the master branch.
108 <9> merge a topic branch into your master branch.
109 <10> review commit logs; other forms to limit output can be
110 combined and include `-10` (to show up to 10 commits),
111 `--until=2005-12-10`, etc.
112 <11> view only the changes that touch what's in `curses/`
113 directory, since `v2.43` tag.
116 Individual Developer (Participant)[[PARTICIPANT]]
117 -------------------------------------------------
119 A developer working as a participant in a group project needs to
120 learn how to communicate with others, and uses these commands in
121 addition to the ones needed by a standalone developer.
123 * linkgit:git-clone[1] from the upstream to prime your local
126 * linkgit:git-pull[1] and linkgit:git-fetch[1] from "origin"
127 to keep up-to-date with the upstream.
129 * linkgit:git-push[1] to shared repository, if you adopt CVS
130 style shared repository workflow.
132 * linkgit:git-format-patch[1] to prepare e-mail submission, if
133 you adopt Linux kernel-style public forum workflow.
135 * linkgit:git-send-email[1] to send your e-mail submission without
136 corruption by your MUA.
138 * linkgit:git-request-pull[1] to create a summary of changes
139 for your upstream to pull.
145 Clone the upstream and work on it. Feed changes to upstream.::
148 $ git clone git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/.../torvalds/linux-2.6 my2.6
150 $ git switch -c mine master <1>
151 $ edit/compile/test; git commit -a -s <2>
152 $ git format-patch master <3>
153 $ git send-email --to="person <email@example.com>" 00*.patch <4>
154 $ git switch master <5>
156 $ git log -p ORIG_HEAD.. arch/i386 include/asm-i386 <7>
157 $ git ls-remote --heads http://git.kernel.org/.../jgarzik/libata-dev.git <8>
158 $ git pull git://git.kernel.org/pub/.../jgarzik/libata-dev.git ALL <9>
159 $ git reset --hard ORIG_HEAD <10>
163 <1> checkout a new branch `mine` from master.
164 <2> repeat as needed.
165 <3> extract patches from your branch, relative to master,
167 <5> return to `master`, ready to see what's new
168 <6> `git pull` fetches from `origin` by default and merges into the
170 <7> immediately after pulling, look at the changes done upstream
171 since last time we checked, only in the
172 area we are interested in.
173 <8> check the branch names in an external repository (if not known).
174 <9> fetch from a specific branch `ALL` from a specific repository
176 <10> revert the pull.
177 <11> garbage collect leftover objects from reverted pull.
180 Push into another repository.::
183 satellite$ git clone mothership:frotz frotz <1>
185 satellite$ git config --get-regexp '^(remote|branch)\.' <2>
186 remote.origin.url mothership:frotz
187 remote.origin.fetch refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/origin/*
188 branch.master.remote origin
189 branch.master.merge refs/heads/master
190 satellite$ git config remote.origin.push \
191 +refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/satellite/* <3>
192 satellite$ edit/compile/test/commit
193 satellite$ git push origin <4>
196 mothership$ git switch master
197 mothership$ git merge satellite/master <5>
200 <1> mothership machine has a frotz repository under your home
201 directory; clone from it to start a repository on the satellite
203 <2> clone sets these configuration variables by default.
204 It arranges `git pull` to fetch and store the branches of mothership
205 machine to local `remotes/origin/*` remote-tracking branches.
206 <3> arrange `git push` to push all local branches to
207 their corresponding branch of the mothership machine.
208 <4> push will stash all our work away on `remotes/satellite/*`
209 remote-tracking branches on the mothership machine. You could use this
210 as a back-up method. Likewise, you can pretend that mothership
211 "fetched" from you (useful when access is one sided).
212 <5> on mothership machine, merge the work done on the satellite
213 machine into the master branch.
215 Branch off of a specific tag.::
218 $ git switch -c private2.6.14 v2.6.14 <1>
219 $ edit/compile/test; git commit -a
220 $ git checkout master
221 $ git cherry-pick v2.6.14..private2.6.14 <2>
224 <1> create a private branch based on a well known (but somewhat behind)
226 <2> forward port all changes in `private2.6.14` branch to `master` branch
227 without a formal "merging". Or longhand +
228 `git format-patch -k -m --stdout v2.6.14..private2.6.14 |
231 An alternate participant submission mechanism is using the
232 `git request-pull` or pull-request mechanisms (e.g as used on
233 GitHub (www.github.com) to notify your upstream of your
236 Integrator[[INTEGRATOR]]
237 ------------------------
239 A fairly central person acting as the integrator in a group
240 project receives changes made by others, reviews and integrates
241 them and publishes the result for others to use, using these
242 commands in addition to the ones needed by participants.
244 This section can also be used by those who respond to `git
245 request-pull` or pull-request on GitHub (www.github.com) to
246 integrate the work of others into their history. A sub-area
247 lieutenant for a repository will act both as a participant and
251 * linkgit:git-am[1] to apply patches e-mailed in from your
254 * linkgit:git-pull[1] to merge from your trusted lieutenants.
256 * linkgit:git-format-patch[1] to prepare and send suggested
257 alternative to contributors.
259 * linkgit:git-revert[1] to undo botched commits.
261 * linkgit:git-push[1] to publish the bleeding edge.
267 A typical integrator's Git day.::
271 $ git branch --no-merged master <2>
273 & s 2 3 4 5 ./+to-apply
274 & s 7 8 ./+hold-linus
276 $ git switch -c topic/one master
277 $ git am -3 -i -s ./+to-apply <4>
279 $ git switch -c hold/linus && git am -3 -i -s ./+hold-linus <5>
280 $ git switch topic/one && git rebase master <6>
281 $ git switch -C pu next <7>
282 $ git merge topic/one topic/two && git merge hold/linus <8>
284 $ git cherry-pick master~4 <9>
286 $ git tag -s -m "GIT 0.99.9x" v0.99.9x <10>
287 $ git fetch ko && for branch in master maint next pu <11>
289 git show-branch ko/$branch $branch <12>
291 $ git push --follow-tags ko <13>
294 <1> see what you were in the middle of doing, if anything.
295 <2> see which branches haven't been merged into `master` yet.
296 Likewise for any other integration branches e.g. `maint`, `next`
297 and `pu` (potential updates).
298 <3> read mails, save ones that are applicable, and save others
299 that are not quite ready (other mail readers are available).
300 <4> apply them, interactively, with your sign-offs.
301 <5> create topic branch as needed and apply, again with sign-offs.
302 <6> rebase internal topic branch that has not been merged to the
303 master or exposed as a part of a stable branch.
304 <7> restart `pu` every time from the next.
305 <8> and bundle topic branches still cooking.
306 <9> backport a critical fix.
307 <10> create a signed tag.
308 <11> make sure master was not accidentally rewound beyond that
310 <12> In the output from `git show-branch`, `master` should have
311 everything `ko/master` has, and `next` should have
312 everything `ko/next` has, etc.
313 <13> push out the bleeding edge, together with new tags that point
314 into the pushed history.
316 In this example, the `ko` shorthand points at the Git maintainer's
317 repository at kernel.org, and looks like this:
322 url = kernel.org:/pub/scm/git/git.git
323 fetch = refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/ko/*
324 push = refs/heads/master
325 push = refs/heads/next
326 push = +refs/heads/pu
327 push = refs/heads/maint
331 Repository Administration[[ADMINISTRATION]]
332 -------------------------------------------
334 A repository administrator uses the following tools to set up
335 and maintain access to the repository by developers.
337 * linkgit:git-daemon[1] to allow anonymous download from
340 * linkgit:git-shell[1] can be used as a 'restricted login shell'
341 for shared central repository users.
343 * linkgit:git-http-backend[1] provides a server side implementation
344 of Git-over-HTTP ("Smart http") allowing both fetch and push services.
346 * linkgit:gitweb[1] provides a web front-end to Git repositories,
347 which can be set-up using the linkgit:git-instaweb[1] script.
349 link:howto/update-hook-example.html[update hook howto] has a good
350 example of managing a shared central repository.
352 In addition there are a number of other widely deployed hosting, browsing
353 and reviewing solutions such as:
355 * gitolite, gerrit code review, cgit and others.
359 We assume the following in /etc/services::
362 $ grep 9418 /etc/services
363 git 9418/tcp # Git Version Control System
366 Run git-daemon to serve /pub/scm from inetd.::
369 $ grep git /etc/inetd.conf
370 git stream tcp nowait nobody \
371 /usr/bin/git-daemon git-daemon --inetd --export-all /pub/scm
374 The actual configuration line should be on one line.
376 Run git-daemon to serve /pub/scm from xinetd.::
379 $ cat /etc/xinetd.d/git-daemon
381 # description: The Git server offers access to Git repositories
390 server = /usr/bin/git-daemon
391 server_args = --inetd --export-all --base-path=/pub/scm
392 log_on_failure += USERID
396 Check your xinetd(8) documentation and setup, this is from a Fedora system.
397 Others might be different.
399 Give push/pull only access to developers using git-over-ssh.::
402 `$ git push/pull ssh://host.xz/pub/scm/project`
405 $ grep git /etc/passwd <1>
406 alice:x:1000:1000::/home/alice:/usr/bin/git-shell
407 bob:x:1001:1001::/home/bob:/usr/bin/git-shell
408 cindy:x:1002:1002::/home/cindy:/usr/bin/git-shell
409 david:x:1003:1003::/home/david:/usr/bin/git-shell
410 $ grep git /etc/shells <2>
414 <1> log-in shell is set to /usr/bin/git-shell, which does not
415 allow anything but `git push` and `git pull`. The users require
416 ssh access to the machine.
417 <2> in many distributions /etc/shells needs to list what is used
420 CVS-style shared repository.::
423 $ grep git /etc/group <1>
424 git:x:9418:alice,bob,cindy,david
427 lrwxrwxrwx 1 david git 17 Dec 4 22:40 HEAD -> refs/heads/master
428 drwxrwsr-x 2 david git 4096 Dec 4 22:40 branches
429 -rw-rw-r-- 1 david git 84 Dec 4 22:40 config
430 -rw-rw-r-- 1 david git 58 Dec 4 22:40 description
431 drwxrwsr-x 2 david git 4096 Dec 4 22:40 hooks
432 -rw-rw-r-- 1 david git 37504 Dec 4 22:40 index
433 drwxrwsr-x 2 david git 4096 Dec 4 22:40 info
434 drwxrwsr-x 4 david git 4096 Dec 4 22:40 objects
435 drwxrwsr-x 4 david git 4096 Nov 7 14:58 refs
436 drwxrwsr-x 2 david git 4096 Dec 4 22:40 remotes
437 $ ls -l hooks/update <3>
438 -r-xr-xr-x 1 david git 3536 Dec 4 22:40 update
439 $ cat info/allowed-users <4>
440 refs/heads/master alice\|cindy
441 refs/heads/doc-update bob
442 refs/tags/v[0-9]* david
445 <1> place the developers into the same git group.
446 <2> and make the shared repository writable by the group.
447 <3> use update-hook example by Carl from Documentation/howto/
448 for branch policy control.
449 <4> alice and cindy can push into master, only bob can push into doc-update.
450 david is the release manager and is the only person who can
451 create and push version tags.
455 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite