Documentation / git-gc.txton commit Describe more 1.5.3.5 fixes in release notes (2ee52eb)
   1git-gc(1)
   2=========
   3
   4NAME
   5----
   6git-gc - Cleanup unnecessary files and optimize the local repository
   7
   8
   9SYNOPSIS
  10--------
  11'git-gc' [--prune] [--aggressive]
  12
  13DESCRIPTION
  14-----------
  15Runs a number of housekeeping tasks within the current repository,
  16such as compressing file revisions (to reduce disk space and increase
  17performance) and removing unreachable objects which may have been
  18created from prior invocations of gitlink:git-add[1].
  19
  20Users are encouraged to run this task on a regular basis within
  21each repository to maintain good disk space utilization and good
  22operating performance.
  23
  24OPTIONS
  25-------
  26
  27--prune::
  28        Usually `git-gc` packs refs, expires old reflog entries,
  29        packs loose objects,
  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
  36        in a cron script).
  37
  38--aggressive::
  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.
  45
  46Configuration
  47-------------
  48
  49The optional configuration variable 'gc.reflogExpire' can be
  50set to indicate how long historical entries within each branch's
  51reflog should remain available in this repository.  The setting is
  52expressed as a length of time, for example '90 days' or '3 months'.
  53It defaults to '90 days'.
  54
  55The optional configuration variable 'gc.reflogExpireUnreachable'
  56can be set to indicate how long historical reflog entries which
  57are not part of the current branch should remain available in
  58this repository.  These types of entries are generally created as
  59a result of using `git commit \--amend` or `git rebase` and are the
  60commits prior to the amend or rebase occurring.  Since these changes
  61are not part of the current project most users will want to expire
  62them sooner.  This option defaults to '30 days'.
  63
  64The optional configuration variable 'gc.rerereresolved' indicates
  65how long records of conflicted merge you resolved earlier are
  66kept.  This defaults to 60 days.
  67
  68The optional configuration variable 'gc.rerereunresolved' indicates
  69how long records of conflicted merge you have not resolved are
  70kept.  This defaults to 15 days.
  71
  72The optional configuration variable 'gc.packrefs' determines if
  73`git gc` runs `git-pack-refs`.  Without the configuration, `git-pack-refs`
  74is not run in bare repositories by default, to allow older dumb-transport
  75clients fetch from the repository,  but this will change in the future.
  76
  77The optional configuration variable 'gc.aggressiveWindow' controls how
  78much time is spent optimizing the delta compression of the objects in
  79the repository when the --aggressive option is specified.  The larger
  80the value, the more time is spent optimizing the delta compression.  See
  81the documentation for the --window' option in gitlink:git-repack[1] for
  82more details.  This defaults to 10.
  83
  84See Also
  85--------
  86gitlink:git-prune[1]
  87gitlink:git-reflog[1]
  88gitlink:git-repack[1]
  89gitlink:git-rerere[1]
  90
  91Author
  92------
  93Written by Shawn O. Pearce <spearce@spearce.org>
  94
  95GIT
  96---
  97Part of the gitlink:git[7] suite