6 git-gc - Cleanup unnecessary files and optimize the local repository
11 'git-gc' [--prune] [--aggressive] [--auto]
15 Runs a number of housekeeping tasks within the current repository,
16 such as compressing file revisions (to reduce disk space and increase
17 performance) and removing unreachable objects which may have been
18 created from prior invocations of gitlink:git-add[1].
20 Users are encouraged to run this task on a regular basis within
21 each repository to maintain good disk space utilization and good
22 operating performance.
28 Usually `git-gc` packs refs, expires old reflog entries,
30 and removes old 'rerere' records. Removal
31 of unreferenced loose objects is an unsafe operation
32 while other git operations are in progress, so it is not
33 done by default. Pass this option if you want it, and only
34 when you know nobody else is creating new objects in the
35 repository at the same time (e.g. never use this option
39 Usually 'git-gc' runs very quickly while providing good disk
40 space utilization and performance. This option will cause
41 git-gc to more aggressively optimize the repository at the expense
42 of taking much more time. The effects of this optimization are
43 persistent, so this option only needs to be used occasionally; every
44 few hundred changesets or so.
47 With this option, `git gc` checks if there are too many
48 loose objects in the repository and runs
49 gitlink:git-repack[1] with `-d -l` option to pack them.
50 The threshold is set with `gc.auto` configuration
51 variable, and can be disabled by setting it to 0. Some
52 Porcelain commands use this after they perform operation
53 that could create many loose objects automatically.
58 The optional configuration variable 'gc.reflogExpire' can be
59 set to indicate how long historical entries within each branch's
60 reflog should remain available in this repository. The setting is
61 expressed as a length of time, for example '90 days' or '3 months'.
62 It defaults to '90 days'.
64 The optional configuration variable 'gc.reflogExpireUnreachable'
65 can be set to indicate how long historical reflog entries which
66 are not part of the current branch should remain available in
67 this repository. These types of entries are generally created as
68 a result of using `git commit \--amend` or `git rebase` and are the
69 commits prior to the amend or rebase occurring. Since these changes
70 are not part of the current project most users will want to expire
71 them sooner. This option defaults to '30 days'.
73 The optional configuration variable 'gc.rerereresolved' indicates
74 how long records of conflicted merge you resolved earlier are
75 kept. This defaults to 60 days.
77 The optional configuration variable 'gc.rerereunresolved' indicates
78 how long records of conflicted merge you have not resolved are
79 kept. This defaults to 15 days.
81 The optional configuration variable 'gc.packrefs' determines if
82 `git gc` runs `git-pack-refs`. Without the configuration, `git-pack-refs`
83 is not run in bare repositories by default, to allow older dumb-transport
84 clients fetch from the repository, but this will change in the future.
86 The optional configuration variable 'gc.aggressiveWindow' controls how
87 much time is spent optimizing the delta compression of the objects in
88 the repository when the --aggressive option is specified. The larger
89 the value, the more time is spent optimizing the delta compression. See
90 the documentation for the --window' option in gitlink:git-repack[1] for
91 more details. This defaults to 10.
102 Written by Shawn O. Pearce <spearce@spearce.org>
106 Part of the gitlink:git[7] suite