1git-update-index(1) 2=================== 3 4NAME 5---- 6git-update-index - Register file contents in the working tree to the index 7 8 9SYNOPSIS 10-------- 11[verse] 12'git update-index' 13 [--add] [--remove | --force-remove] [--replace] 14 [--refresh] [-q] [--unmerged] [--ignore-missing] 15 [(--cacheinfo <mode>,<object>,<file>)...] 16 [--chmod=(+|-)x] 17 [--[no-]assume-unchanged] 18 [--[no-]skip-worktree] 19 [--ignore-submodules] 20 [--[no-]split-index] 21 [--[no-|test-|force-]untracked-cache] 22 [--really-refresh] [--unresolve] [--again | -g] 23 [--info-only] [--index-info] 24 [-z] [--stdin] [--index-version <n>] 25 [--verbose] 26 [--] [<file>...] 27 28DESCRIPTION 29----------- 30Modifies the index or directory cache. Each file mentioned is updated 31into the index and any 'unmerged' or 'needs updating' state is 32cleared. 33 34See also linkgit:git-add[1] for a more user-friendly way to do some of 35the most common operations on the index. 36 37The way 'git update-index' handles files it is told about can be modified 38using the various options: 39 40OPTIONS 41------- 42--add:: 43 If a specified file isn't in the index already then it's 44 added. 45 Default behaviour is to ignore new files. 46 47--remove:: 48 If a specified file is in the index but is missing then it's 49 removed. 50 Default behavior is to ignore removed file. 51 52--refresh:: 53 Looks at the current index and checks to see if merges or 54 updates are needed by checking stat() information. 55 56-q:: 57 Quiet. If --refresh finds that the index needs an update, the 58 default behavior is to error out. This option makes 59 'git update-index' continue anyway. 60 61--ignore-submodules:: 62 Do not try to update submodules. This option is only respected 63 when passed before --refresh. 64 65--unmerged:: 66 If --refresh finds unmerged changes in the index, the default 67 behavior is to error out. This option makes 'git update-index' 68 continue anyway. 69 70--ignore-missing:: 71 Ignores missing files during a --refresh 72 73--cacheinfo <mode>,<object>,<path>:: 74--cacheinfo <mode> <object> <path>:: 75 Directly insert the specified info into the index. For 76 backward compatibility, you can also give these three 77 arguments as three separate parameters, but new users are 78 encouraged to use a single-parameter form. 79 80--index-info:: 81 Read index information from stdin. 82 83--chmod=(+|-)x:: 84 Set the execute permissions on the updated files. 85 86--[no-]assume-unchanged:: 87 When this flag is specified, the object names recorded 88 for the paths are not updated. Instead, this option 89 sets/unsets the "assume unchanged" bit for the 90 paths. When the "assume unchanged" bit is on, the user 91 promises not to change the file and allows Git to assume 92 that the working tree file matches what is recorded in 93 the index. If you want to change the working tree file, 94 you need to unset the bit to tell Git. This is 95 sometimes helpful when working with a big project on a 96 filesystem that has very slow lstat(2) system call 97 (e.g. cifs). 98+ 99Git will fail (gracefully) in case it needs to modify this file 100in the index e.g. when merging in a commit; 101thus, in case the assumed-untracked file is changed upstream, 102you will need to handle the situation manually. 103 104--really-refresh:: 105 Like `--refresh`, but checks stat information unconditionally, 106 without regard to the "assume unchanged" setting. 107 108--[no-]skip-worktree:: 109 When one of these flags is specified, the object name recorded 110 for the paths are not updated. Instead, these options 111 set and unset the "skip-worktree" bit for the paths. See 112 section "Skip-worktree bit" below for more information. 113 114-g:: 115--again:: 116 Runs 'git update-index' itself on the paths whose index 117 entries are different from those from the `HEAD` commit. 118 119--unresolve:: 120 Restores the 'unmerged' or 'needs updating' state of a 121 file during a merge if it was cleared by accident. 122 123--info-only:: 124 Do not create objects in the object database for all 125 <file> arguments that follow this flag; just insert 126 their object IDs into the index. 127 128--force-remove:: 129 Remove the file from the index even when the working directory 130 still has such a file. (Implies --remove.) 131 132--replace:: 133 By default, when a file `path` exists in the index, 134 'git update-index' refuses an attempt to add `path/file`. 135 Similarly if a file `path/file` exists, a file `path` 136 cannot be added. With --replace flag, existing entries 137 that conflict with the entry being added are 138 automatically removed with warning messages. 139 140--stdin:: 141 Instead of taking list of paths from the command line, 142 read list of paths from the standard input. Paths are 143 separated by LF (i.e. one path per line) by default. 144 145--verbose:: 146 Report what is being added and removed from index. 147 148--index-version <n>:: 149 Write the resulting index out in the named on-disk format version. 150 Supported versions are 2, 3 and 4. The current default version is 2 151 or 3, depending on whether extra features are used, such as 152 `git add -N`. 153+ 154Version 4 performs a simple pathname compression that reduces index 155size by 30%-50% on large repositories, which results in faster load 156time. Version 4 is relatively young (first released in 1.8.0 in 157October 2012). Other Git implementations such as JGit and libgit2 158may not support it yet. 159 160-z:: 161 Only meaningful with `--stdin` or `--index-info`; paths are 162 separated with NUL character instead of LF. 163 164--split-index:: 165--no-split-index:: 166 Enable or disable split index mode. If split-index mode is 167 already enabled and `--split-index` is given again, all 168 changes in $GIT_DIR/index are pushed back to the shared index 169 file. 170+ 171These options take effect whatever the value of the `core.splitIndex` 172configuration variable (see linkgit:git-config[1]). But a warning is 173emitted when the change goes against the configured value, as the 174configured value will take effect next time the index is read and this 175will remove the intended effect of the option. 176 177--untracked-cache:: 178--no-untracked-cache:: 179 Enable or disable untracked cache feature. Please use 180 `--test-untracked-cache` before enabling it. 181+ 182These options take effect whatever the value of the `core.untrackedCache` 183configuration variable (see linkgit:git-config[1]). But a warning is 184emitted when the change goes against the configured value, as the 185configured value will take effect next time the index is read and this 186will remove the intended effect of the option. 187 188--test-untracked-cache:: 189 Only perform tests on the working directory to make sure 190 untracked cache can be used. You have to manually enable 191 untracked cache using `--untracked-cache` or 192 `--force-untracked-cache` or the `core.untrackedCache` 193 configuration variable afterwards if you really want to use 194 it. If a test fails the exit code is 1 and a message 195 explains what is not working as needed, otherwise the exit 196 code is 0 and OK is printed. 197 198--force-untracked-cache:: 199 Same as `--untracked-cache`. Provided for backwards 200 compatibility with older versions of Git where 201 `--untracked-cache` used to imply `--test-untracked-cache` but 202 this option would enable the extension unconditionally. 203 204\--:: 205 Do not interpret any more arguments as options. 206 207<file>:: 208 Files to act on. 209 Note that files beginning with '.' are discarded. This includes 210 `./file` and `dir/./file`. If you don't want this, then use 211 cleaner names. 212 The same applies to directories ending '/' and paths with '//' 213 214Using --refresh 215--------------- 216`--refresh` does not calculate a new sha1 file or bring the index 217up to date for mode/content changes. But what it *does* do is to 218"re-match" the stat information of a file with the index, so that you 219can refresh the index for a file that hasn't been changed but where 220the stat entry is out of date. 221 222For example, you'd want to do this after doing a 'git read-tree', to link 223up the stat index details with the proper files. 224 225Using --cacheinfo or --info-only 226-------------------------------- 227`--cacheinfo` is used to register a file that is not in the 228current working directory. This is useful for minimum-checkout 229merging. 230 231To pretend you have a file with mode and sha1 at path, say: 232 233---------------- 234$ git update-index --cacheinfo <mode>,<sha1>,<path> 235---------------- 236 237`--info-only` is used to register files without placing them in the object 238database. This is useful for status-only repositories. 239 240Both `--cacheinfo` and `--info-only` behave similarly: the index is updated 241but the object database isn't. `--cacheinfo` is useful when the object is 242in the database but the file isn't available locally. `--info-only` is 243useful when the file is available, but you do not wish to update the 244object database. 245 246 247Using --index-info 248------------------ 249 250`--index-info` is a more powerful mechanism that lets you feed 251multiple entry definitions from the standard input, and designed 252specifically for scripts. It can take inputs of three formats: 253 254 . mode SP sha1 TAB path 255+ 256The first format is what "git-apply --index-info" 257reports, and used to reconstruct a partial tree 258that is used for phony merge base tree when falling 259back on 3-way merge. 260 261 . mode SP type SP sha1 TAB path 262+ 263The second format is to stuff 'git ls-tree' output 264into the index file. 265 266 . mode SP sha1 SP stage TAB path 267+ 268This format is to put higher order stages into the 269index file and matches 'git ls-files --stage' output. 270 271To place a higher stage entry to the index, the path should 272first be removed by feeding a mode=0 entry for the path, and 273then feeding necessary input lines in the third format. 274 275For example, starting with this index: 276 277------------ 278$ git ls-files -s 279100644 8a1218a1024a212bb3db30becd860315f9f3ac52 0 frotz 280------------ 281 282you can feed the following input to `--index-info`: 283 284------------ 285$ git update-index --index-info 2860 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000 frotz 287100644 8a1218a1024a212bb3db30becd860315f9f3ac52 1 frotz 288100755 8a1218a1024a212bb3db30becd860315f9f3ac52 2 frotz 289------------ 290 291The first line of the input feeds 0 as the mode to remove the 292path; the SHA-1 does not matter as long as it is well formatted. 293Then the second and third line feeds stage 1 and stage 2 entries 294for that path. After the above, we would end up with this: 295 296------------ 297$ git ls-files -s 298100644 8a1218a1024a212bb3db30becd860315f9f3ac52 1 frotz 299100755 8a1218a1024a212bb3db30becd860315f9f3ac52 2 frotz 300------------ 301 302 303Using ``assume unchanged'' bit 304------------------------------ 305 306Many operations in Git depend on your filesystem to have an 307efficient `lstat(2)` implementation, so that `st_mtime` 308information for working tree files can be cheaply checked to see 309if the file contents have changed from the version recorded in 310the index file. Unfortunately, some filesystems have 311inefficient `lstat(2)`. If your filesystem is one of them, you 312can set "assume unchanged" bit to paths you have not changed to 313cause Git not to do this check. Note that setting this bit on a 314path does not mean Git will check the contents of the file to 315see if it has changed -- it makes Git to omit any checking and 316assume it has *not* changed. When you make changes to working 317tree files, you have to explicitly tell Git about it by dropping 318"assume unchanged" bit, either before or after you modify them. 319 320In order to set "assume unchanged" bit, use `--assume-unchanged` 321option. To unset, use `--no-assume-unchanged`. To see which files 322have the "assume unchanged" bit set, use `git ls-files -v` 323(see linkgit:git-ls-files[1]). 324 325The command looks at `core.ignorestat` configuration variable. When 326this is true, paths updated with `git update-index paths...` and 327paths updated with other Git commands that update both index and 328working tree (e.g. 'git apply --index', 'git checkout-index -u', 329and 'git read-tree -u') are automatically marked as "assume 330unchanged". Note that "assume unchanged" bit is *not* set if 331`git update-index --refresh` finds the working tree file matches 332the index (use `git update-index --really-refresh` if you want 333to mark them as "assume unchanged"). 334 335 336Examples 337-------- 338To update and refresh only the files already checked out: 339 340---------------- 341$ git checkout-index -n -f -a && git update-index --ignore-missing --refresh 342---------------- 343 344On an inefficient filesystem with `core.ignorestat` set:: 345+ 346------------ 347$ git update-index --really-refresh <1> 348$ git update-index --no-assume-unchanged foo.c <2> 349$ git diff --name-only <3> 350$ edit foo.c 351$ git diff --name-only <4> 352M foo.c 353$ git update-index foo.c <5> 354$ git diff --name-only <6> 355$ edit foo.c 356$ git diff --name-only <7> 357$ git update-index --no-assume-unchanged foo.c <8> 358$ git diff --name-only <9> 359M foo.c 360------------ 361+ 362<1> forces lstat(2) to set "assume unchanged" bits for paths that match index. 363<2> mark the path to be edited. 364<3> this does lstat(2) and finds index matches the path. 365<4> this does lstat(2) and finds index does *not* match the path. 366<5> registering the new version to index sets "assume unchanged" bit. 367<6> and it is assumed unchanged. 368<7> even after you edit it. 369<8> you can tell about the change after the fact. 370<9> now it checks with lstat(2) and finds it has been changed. 371 372 373Skip-worktree bit 374----------------- 375 376Skip-worktree bit can be defined in one (long) sentence: When reading 377an entry, if it is marked as skip-worktree, then Git pretends its 378working directory version is up to date and read the index version 379instead. 380 381To elaborate, "reading" means checking for file existence, reading 382file attributes or file content. The working directory version may be 383present or absent. If present, its content may match against the index 384version or not. Writing is not affected by this bit, content safety 385is still first priority. Note that Git _can_ update working directory 386file, that is marked skip-worktree, if it is safe to do so (i.e. 387working directory version matches index version) 388 389Although this bit looks similar to assume-unchanged bit, its goal is 390different from assume-unchanged bit's. Skip-worktree also takes 391precedence over assume-unchanged bit when both are set. 392 393Split index 394----------- 395 396This mode is designed for repositories with very large indexes, and 397aims at reducing the time it takes to repeatedly write these indexes. 398 399In this mode, the index is split into two files, $GIT_DIR/index and 400$GIT_DIR/sharedindex.<SHA-1>. Changes are accumulated in 401$GIT_DIR/index, the split index, while the shared index file contains 402all index entries and stays unchanged. 403 404All changes in the split index are pushed back to the shared index 405file when the number of entries in the split index reaches a level 406specified by the splitIndex.maxPercentChange config variable (see 407linkgit:git-config[1]). 408 409Each time a new shared index file is created, the old shared index 410files are deleted if their modification time is older than what is 411specified by the splitIndex.sharedIndexExpire config variable (see 412linkgit:git-config[1]). 413 414To avoid deleting a shared index file that is still used, its 415modification time is updated to the current time everytime a new split 416index based on the shared index file is either created or read from. 417 418Untracked cache 419--------------- 420 421This cache is meant to speed up commands that involve determining 422untracked files such as `git status`. 423 424This feature works by recording the mtime of the working tree 425directories and then omitting reading directories and stat calls 426against files in those directories whose mtime hasn't changed. For 427this to work the underlying operating system and file system must 428change the `st_mtime` field of directories if files in the directory 429are added, modified or deleted. 430 431You can test whether the filesystem supports that with the 432`--test-untracked-cache` option. The `--untracked-cache` option used 433to implicitly perform that test in older versions of Git, but that's 434no longer the case. 435 436If you want to enable (or disable) this feature, it is easier to use 437the `core.untrackedCache` configuration variable (see 438linkgit:git-config[1]) than using the `--untracked-cache` option to 439`git update-index` in each repository, especially if you want to do so 440across all repositories you use, because you can set the configuration 441variable to `true` (or `false`) in your `$HOME/.gitconfig` just once 442and have it affect all repositories you touch. 443 444When the `core.untrackedCache` configuration variable is changed, the 445untracked cache is added to or removed from the index the next time a 446command reads the index; while when `--[no-|force-]untracked-cache` 447are used, the untracked cache is immediately added to or removed from 448the index. 449 450Configuration 451------------- 452 453The command honors `core.filemode` configuration variable. If 454your repository is on a filesystem whose executable bits are 455unreliable, this should be set to 'false' (see linkgit:git-config[1]). 456This causes the command to ignore differences in file modes recorded 457in the index and the file mode on the filesystem if they differ only on 458executable bit. On such an unfortunate filesystem, you may 459need to use 'git update-index --chmod='. 460 461Quite similarly, if `core.symlinks` configuration variable is set 462to 'false' (see linkgit:git-config[1]), symbolic links are checked out 463as plain files, and this command does not modify a recorded file mode 464from symbolic link to regular file. 465 466The command looks at `core.ignorestat` configuration variable. See 467'Using "assume unchanged" bit' section above. 468 469The command also looks at `core.trustctime` configuration variable. 470It can be useful when the inode change time is regularly modified by 471something outside Git (file system crawlers and backup systems use 472ctime for marking files processed) (see linkgit:git-config[1]). 473 474The untracked cache extension can be enabled by the 475`core.untrackedCache` configuration variable (see 476linkgit:git-config[1]). 477 478SEE ALSO 479-------- 480linkgit:git-config[1], 481linkgit:git-add[1], 482linkgit:git-ls-files[1] 483 484GIT 485--- 486Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite