| blob | 6e22522c4f7e97dbab42b3cbb5b538cdea3b4d74 |
1 git-clone(1)
2 ============
4 NAME
5 ----
6 git-clone - Clone a repository into a new directory
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 [--separate-git-dir <git dir>]
16 [--depth <depth>] [--[no-]single-branch]
17 [--recursive|--recurse-submodules] [--] <repository>
18 [<directory>]
20 DESCRIPTION
21 -----------
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 -r`), and creates and checks out an
26 initial branch that is forked from the cloned repository's
27 currently active branch.
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.
34 This default configuration is achieved by creating references to
35 the remote branch heads under `refs/remotes/origin` and
36 by initializing `remote.origin.url` and `remote.origin.fetch`
37 configuration variables.
40 OPTIONS
41 -------
42 --local::
43 -l::
44 When the repository to clone from is on a local machine,
45 this flag bypasses the normal "git aware" transport
46 mechanism and clones the repository by making a copy of
47 HEAD and everything under objects and refs directories.
48 The files under `.git/objects/` directory are hardlinked
49 to save space when possible. This is now the default when
50 the source repository is specified with `/path/to/repo`
51 syntax, so it essentially is a no-op option. To force
52 copying instead of hardlinking (which may be desirable
53 if you are trying to make a back-up of your repository),
54 but still avoid the usual "git aware" transport
55 mechanism, `--no-hardlinks` can be used.
57 --no-hardlinks::
58 Optimize the cloning process from a repository on a
59 local filesystem by copying files under `.git/objects`
60 directory.
62 --shared::
63 -s::
64 When the repository to clone is on the local machine,
65 instead of using hard links, automatically setup
66 `.git/objects/info/alternates` to share the objects
67 with the source repository. The resulting repository
68 starts out without any object of its own.
69 +
70 *NOTE*: this is a possibly dangerous operation; do *not* use
71 it unless you understand what it does. If you clone your
72 repository using this option and then delete branches (or use any
73 other git command that makes any existing commit unreferenced) in the
74 source repository, some objects may become unreferenced (or dangling).
75 These objects may be removed by normal git operations (such as `git commit`)
76 which automatically call `git gc --auto`. (See linkgit:git-gc[1].)
77 If these objects are removed and were referenced by the cloned repository,
78 then the cloned repository will become corrupt.
79 +
80 Note that running `git repack` without the `-l` option in a repository
81 cloned with `-s` will copy objects from the source repository into a pack
82 in the cloned repository, removing the disk space savings of `clone -s`.
83 It is safe, however, to run `git gc`, which uses the `-l` option by
84 default.
85 +
86 If you want to break the dependency of a repository cloned with `-s` on
87 its source repository, you can simply run `git repack -a` to copy all
88 objects from the source repository into a pack in the cloned repository.
90 --reference <repository>::
91 If the reference repository is on the local machine,
92 automatically setup `.git/objects/info/alternates` to
93 obtain objects from the reference repository. Using
94 an already existing repository as an alternate will
95 require fewer objects to be copied from the repository
96 being cloned, reducing network and local storage costs.
97 +
98 *NOTE*: see the NOTE for the `--shared` option.
100 --quiet::
101 -q::
102 Operate quietly. Progress is not reported to the standard
103 error stream. This flag is also passed to the `rsync'
104 command when given.
106 --verbose::
107 -v::
108 Run verbosely. Does not affect the reporting of progress status
109 to the standard error stream.
111 --progress::
112 Progress status is reported on the standard error stream
113 by default when it is attached to a terminal, unless -q
114 is specified. This flag forces progress status even if the
115 standard error stream is not directed to a terminal.
117 --no-checkout::
118 -n::
119 No checkout of HEAD is performed after the clone is complete.
121 --bare::
122 Make a 'bare' GIT repository. That is, instead of
123 creating `<directory>` and placing the administrative
124 files in `<directory>/.git`, make the `<directory>`
125 itself the `$GIT_DIR`. This obviously implies the `-n`
126 because there is nowhere to check out the working tree.
127 Also the branch heads at the remote are copied directly
128 to corresponding local branch heads, without mapping
129 them to `refs/remotes/origin/`. When this option is
130 used, neither remote-tracking branches nor the related
131 configuration variables are created.
133 --mirror::
134 Set up a mirror of the source repository. This implies `--bare`.
135 Compared to `--bare`, `--mirror` not only maps local branches of the
136 source to local branches of the target, it maps all refs (including
137 remote-tracking branches, notes etc.) and sets up a refspec configuration such
138 that all these refs are overwritten by a `git remote update` in the
139 target repository.
141 --origin <name>::
142 -o <name>::
143 Instead of using the remote name `origin` to keep track
144 of the upstream repository, use `<name>`.
146 --branch <name>::
147 -b <name>::
148 Instead of pointing the newly created HEAD to the branch pointed
149 to by the cloned repository's HEAD, point to `<name>` branch
150 instead. `--branch` can also take tags and treat them like
151 detached HEAD. In a non-bare repository, this is the branch
152 that will be checked out.
154 --upload-pack <upload-pack>::
155 -u <upload-pack>::
156 When given, and the repository to clone from is accessed
157 via ssh, this specifies a non-default path for the command
158 run on the other end.
160 --template=<template_directory>::
161 Specify the directory from which templates will be used;
162 (See the "TEMPLATE DIRECTORY" section of linkgit:git-init[1].)
164 --config <key>=<value>::
165 -c <key>=<value>::
166 Set a configuration variable in the newly-created repository;
167 this takes effect immediately after the repository is
168 initialized, but before the remote history is fetched or any
169 files checked out. The key is in the same format as expected by
170 linkgit:git-config[1] (e.g., `core.eol=true`). If multiple
171 values are given for the same key, each value will be written to
172 the config file. This makes it safe, for example, to add
173 additional fetch refspecs to the origin remote.
175 --depth <depth>::
176 Create a 'shallow' clone with a history truncated to the
177 specified number of revisions. A shallow repository has a
178 number of limitations (you cannot clone or fetch from
179 it, nor push from nor into it), but is adequate if you
180 are only interested in the recent history of a large project
181 with a long history, and would want to send in fixes
182 as patches.
184 --single-branch::
185 Clone only the history leading to the tip of a single branch,
186 either specified by the `--branch` option or the primary
187 branch remote's `HEAD` points at. When creating a shallow
188 clone with the `--depth` option, this is the default, unless
189 `--no-single-branch` is given to fetch the histories near the
190 tips of all branches.
192 --recursive::
193 --recurse-submodules::
194 After the clone is created, initialize all submodules within,
195 using their default settings. This is equivalent to running
196 `git submodule update --init --recursive` immediately after
197 the clone is finished. This option is ignored if the cloned
198 repository does not have a worktree/checkout (i.e. if any of
199 `--no-checkout`/`-n`, `--bare`, or `--mirror` is given)
201 --separate-git-dir=<git dir>::
202 Instead of placing the cloned repository where it is supposed
203 to be, place the cloned repository at the specified directory,
204 then make a filesytem-agnostic git symbolic link to there.
205 The result is git repository can be separated from working
206 tree.
209 <repository>::
210 The (possibly remote) repository to clone from. See the
211 <<URLS,URLS>> section below for more information on specifying
212 repositories.
214 <directory>::
215 The name of a new directory to clone into. The "humanish"
216 part of the source repository is used if no directory is
217 explicitly given (`repo` for `/path/to/repo.git` and `foo`
218 for `host.xz:foo/.git`). Cloning into an existing directory
219 is only allowed if the directory is empty.
221 :git-clone: 1
222 include::urls.txt[]
224 Examples
225 --------
227 * Clone from upstream:
228 +
229 ------------
230 $ git clone git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/.../linux-2.6 my2.6
231 $ cd my2.6
232 $ make
233 ------------
236 * Make a local clone that borrows from the current directory, without checking things out:
237 +
238 ------------
239 $ git clone -l -s -n . ../copy
240 $ cd ../copy
241 $ git show-branch
242 ------------
245 * Clone from upstream while borrowing from an existing local directory:
246 +
247 ------------
248 $ git clone --reference my2.6 \
249 git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/.../linux-2.7 \
250 my2.7
251 $ cd my2.7
252 ------------
255 * Create a bare repository to publish your changes to the public:
256 +
257 ------------
258 $ git clone --bare -l /home/proj/.git /pub/scm/proj.git
259 ------------
262 * Create a repository on the kernel.org machine that borrows from Linus:
263 +
264 ------------
265 $ git clone --bare -l -s /pub/scm/.../torvalds/linux-2.6.git \
266 /pub/scm/.../me/subsys-2.6.git
267 ------------
269 GIT
270 ---
271 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite