Documentation / git-push.txton commit Documentation: add "Fighting regressions with git bisect" article (69a9cd3)
   1git-push(1)
   2===========
   3
   4NAME
   5----
   6git-push - Update remote refs along with associated objects
   7
   8
   9SYNOPSIS
  10--------
  11[verse]
  12'git push' [--all | --mirror | --tags] [-n | --dry-run] [--receive-pack=<git-receive-pack>]
  13           [--repo=<repository>] [-f | --force] [-v | --verbose]
  14           [<repository> <refspec>...]
  15
  16DESCRIPTION
  17-----------
  18
  19Updates remote refs using local refs, while sending objects
  20necessary to complete the given refs.
  21
  22You can make interesting things happen to a repository
  23every time you push into it, by setting up 'hooks' there.  See
  24documentation for linkgit:git-receive-pack[1].
  25
  26
  27OPTIONS[[OPTIONS]]
  28------------------
  29<repository>::
  30        The "remote" repository that is destination of a push
  31        operation.  This parameter can be either a URL
  32        (see the section <<URLS,GIT URLS>> below) or the name
  33        of a remote (see the section <<REMOTES,REMOTES>> below).
  34
  35<refspec>...::
  36        The format of a <refspec> parameter is an optional plus
  37        `{plus}`, followed by the source ref <src>, followed
  38        by a colon `:`, followed by the destination ref <dst>.
  39        It is used to specify with what <src> object the <dst> ref
  40        in the remote repository is to be updated.
  41+
  42The <src> is often the name of the branch you would want to push, but
  43it can be any arbitrary "SHA-1 expression", such as `master~4` or
  44`HEAD` (see linkgit:git-rev-parse[1]).
  45+
  46The <dst> tells which ref on the remote side is updated with this
  47push. Arbitrary expressions cannot be used here, an actual ref must
  48be named. If `:`<dst> is omitted, the same ref as <src> will be
  49updated.
  50+
  51The object referenced by <src> is used to update the <dst> reference
  52on the remote side, but by default this is only allowed if the
  53update can fast forward <dst>.  By having the optional leading `{plus}`,
  54you can tell git to update the <dst> ref even when the update is not a
  55fast forward.  This does *not* attempt to merge <src> into <dst>.  See
  56EXAMPLES below for details.
  57+
  58`tag <tag>` means the same as `refs/tags/<tag>:refs/tags/<tag>`.
  59+
  60Pushing an empty <src> allows you to delete the <dst> ref from
  61the remote repository.
  62+
  63The special refspec `:` (or `{plus}:` to allow non-fast forward updates)
  64directs git to push "matching" branches: for every branch that exists on
  65the local side, the remote side is updated if a branch of the same name
  66already exists on the remote side.  This is the default operation mode
  67if no explicit refspec is found (that is neither on the command line
  68nor in any Push line of the corresponding remotes file---see below).
  69
  70--all::
  71        Instead of naming each ref to push, specifies that all
  72        refs under `$GIT_DIR/refs/heads/` be pushed.
  73
  74--mirror::
  75        Instead of naming each ref to push, specifies that all
  76        refs under `$GIT_DIR/refs/` (which includes but is not
  77        limited to `refs/heads/`, `refs/remotes/`, and `refs/tags/`)
  78        be mirrored to the remote repository.  Newly created local
  79        refs will be pushed to the remote end, locally updated refs
  80        will be force updated on the remote end, and deleted refs
  81        will be removed from the remote end.  This is the default
  82        if the configuration option `remote.<remote>.mirror` is
  83        set.
  84
  85-n::
  86--dry-run::
  87        Do everything except actually send the updates.
  88
  89--porcelain::
  90        Produce machine-readable output.  The output status line for each ref
  91        will be tab-separated and sent to stdout instead of stderr.  The full
  92        symbolic names of the refs will be given.
  93
  94--tags::
  95        All refs under `$GIT_DIR/refs/tags` are pushed, in
  96        addition to refspecs explicitly listed on the command
  97        line.
  98
  99--receive-pack=<git-receive-pack>::
 100--exec=<git-receive-pack>::
 101        Path to the 'git-receive-pack' program on the remote
 102        end.  Sometimes useful when pushing to a remote
 103        repository over ssh, and you do not have the program in
 104        a directory on the default $PATH.
 105
 106-f::
 107--force::
 108        Usually, the command refuses to update a remote ref that is
 109        not an ancestor of the local ref used to overwrite it.
 110        This flag disables the check.  This can cause the
 111        remote repository to lose commits; use it with care.
 112
 113--repo=<repository>::
 114        This option is only relevant if no <repository> argument is
 115        passed in the invocation. In this case, 'git-push' derives the
 116        remote name from the current branch: If it tracks a remote
 117        branch, then that remote repository is pushed to. Otherwise,
 118        the name "origin" is used. For this latter case, this option
 119        can be used to override the name "origin". In other words,
 120        the difference between these two commands
 121+
 122--------------------------
 123git push public         #1
 124git push --repo=public  #2
 125--------------------------
 126+
 127is that #1 always pushes to "public" whereas #2 pushes to "public"
 128only if the current branch does not track a remote branch. This is
 129useful if you write an alias or script around 'git-push'.
 130
 131--thin::
 132--no-thin::
 133        These options are passed to 'git-send-pack'.  Thin
 134        transfer spends extra cycles to minimize the number of
 135        objects to be sent and meant to be used on slower connection.
 136
 137-v::
 138--verbose::
 139        Run verbosely.
 140
 141-q::
 142--quiet::
 143        Suppress all output, including the listing of updated refs,
 144        unless an error occurs.
 145
 146include::urls-remotes.txt[]
 147
 148OUTPUT
 149------
 150
 151The output of "git push" depends on the transport method used; this
 152section describes the output when pushing over the git protocol (either
 153locally or via ssh).
 154
 155The status of the push is output in tabular form, with each line
 156representing the status of a single ref. Each line is of the form:
 157
 158-------------------------------
 159 <flag> <summary> <from> -> <to> (<reason>)
 160-------------------------------
 161
 162If --porcelain is used, then each line of the output is of the form:
 163
 164-------------------------------
 165 <flag> \t <from>:<to> \t <summary> (<reason>)
 166-------------------------------
 167
 168flag::
 169        A single character indicating the status of the ref. This is
 170        blank for a successfully pushed ref, `!` for a ref that was
 171        rejected or failed to push, and '=' for a ref that was up to
 172        date and did not need pushing (note that the status of up to
 173        date refs is shown only when `git push` is running verbosely).
 174
 175summary::
 176        For a successfully pushed ref, the summary shows the old and new
 177        values of the ref in a form suitable for using as an argument to
 178        `git log` (this is `<old>..<new>` in most cases, and
 179        `<old>...<new>` for forced non-fast forward updates). For a
 180        failed update, more details are given for the failure.
 181        The string `rejected` indicates that git did not try to send the
 182        ref at all (typically because it is not a fast forward). The
 183        string `remote rejected` indicates that the remote end refused
 184        the update; this rejection is typically caused by a hook on the
 185        remote side. The string `remote failure` indicates that the
 186        remote end did not report the successful update of the ref
 187        (perhaps because of a temporary error on the remote side, a
 188        break in the network connection, or other transient error).
 189
 190from::
 191        The name of the local ref being pushed, minus its
 192        `refs/<type>/` prefix. In the case of deletion, the
 193        name of the local ref is omitted.
 194
 195to::
 196        The name of the remote ref being updated, minus its
 197        `refs/<type>/` prefix.
 198
 199reason::
 200        A human-readable explanation. In the case of successfully pushed
 201        refs, no explanation is needed. For a failed ref, the reason for
 202        failure is described.
 203
 204Note about fast-forwards
 205------------------------
 206
 207When an update changes a branch (or more in general, a ref) that used to
 208point at commit A to point at another commit B, it is called a
 209fast-forward update if and only if B is a descendant of A.
 210
 211In a fast-forward update from A to B, the set of commits that the original
 212commit A built on top of is a subset of the commits the new commit B
 213builds on top of.  Hence, it does not lose any history.
 214
 215In contrast, a non-fast-forward update will lose history.  For example,
 216suppose you and somebody else started at the same commit X, and you built
 217a history leading to commit B while the other person built a history
 218leading to commit A.  The history looks like this:
 219
 220----------------
 221
 222      B
 223     /
 224 ---X---A
 225
 226----------------
 227
 228Further suppose that the other person already pushed changes leading to A
 229back to the original repository you two obtained the original commit X.
 230
 231The push done by the other person updated the branch that used to point at
 232commit X to point at commit A.  It is a fast-forward.
 233
 234But if you try to push, you will attempt to update the branch (that
 235now points at A) with commit B.  This does _not_ fast-forward.  If you did
 236so, the changes introduced by commit A will be lost, because everybody
 237will now start building on top of B.
 238
 239The command by default does not allow an update that is not a fast-forward
 240to prevent such loss of history.
 241
 242If you do not want to lose your work (history from X to B) nor the work by
 243the other person (history from X to A), you would need to first fetch the
 244history from the repository, create a history that contains changes done
 245by both parties, and push the result back.
 246
 247You can perform "git pull", resolve potential conflicts, and "git push"
 248the result.  A "git pull" will create a merge commit C between commits A
 249and B.
 250
 251----------------
 252
 253      B---C
 254     /   /
 255 ---X---A
 256
 257----------------
 258
 259Updating A with the resulting merge commit will fast-forward and your
 260push will be accepted.
 261
 262Alternatively, you can rebase your change between X and B on top of A,
 263with "git pull --rebase", and push the result back.  The rebase will
 264create a new commit D that builds the change between X and B on top of
 265A.
 266
 267----------------
 268
 269      B   D
 270     /   /
 271 ---X---A
 272
 273----------------
 274
 275Again, updating A with this commit will fast-forward and your push will be
 276accepted.
 277
 278There is another common situation where you may encounter non-fast-forward
 279rejection when you try to push, and it is possible even when you are
 280pushing into a repository nobody else pushes into. After you push commit
 281A yourself (in the first picture in this section), replace it with "git
 282commit --amend" to produce commit B, and you try to push it out, because
 283forgot that you have pushed A out already. In such a case, and only if
 284you are certain that nobody in the meantime fetched your earlier commit A
 285(and started building on top of it), you can run "git push --force" to
 286overwrite it. In other words, "git push --force" is a method reserved for
 287a case where you do mean to lose history.
 288
 289
 290Examples
 291--------
 292
 293git push::
 294        Works like `git push <remote>`, where <remote> is the
 295        current branch's remote (or `origin`, if no remote is
 296        configured for the current branch).
 297
 298git push origin::
 299        Without additional configuration, works like
 300        `git push origin :`.
 301+
 302The default behavior of this command when no <refspec> is given can be
 303configured by setting the `push` option of the remote.
 304+
 305For example, to default to pushing only the current branch to `origin`
 306use `git config remote.origin.push HEAD`.  Any valid <refspec> (like
 307the ones in the examples below) can be configured as the default for
 308`git push origin`.
 309
 310git push origin :::
 311        Push "matching" branches to `origin`. See
 312        <refspec> in the <<OPTIONS,OPTIONS>> section above for a
 313        description of "matching" branches.
 314
 315git push origin master::
 316        Find a ref that matches `master` in the source repository
 317        (most likely, it would find `refs/heads/master`), and update
 318        the same ref (e.g. `refs/heads/master`) in `origin` repository
 319        with it.  If `master` did not exist remotely, it would be
 320        created.
 321
 322git push origin HEAD::
 323        A handy way to push the current branch to the same name on the
 324        remote.
 325
 326git push origin master:satellite/master dev:satellite/dev::
 327        Use the source ref that matches `master` (e.g. `refs/heads/master`)
 328        to update the ref that matches `satellite/master` (most probably
 329        `refs/remotes/satellite/master`) in the `origin` repository, then
 330        do the same for `dev` and `satellite/dev`.
 331
 332git push origin HEAD:master::
 333        Push the current branch to the remote ref matching `master` in the
 334        `origin` repository. This form is convenient to push the current
 335        branch without thinking about its local name.
 336
 337git push origin master:refs/heads/experimental::
 338        Create the branch `experimental` in the `origin` repository
 339        by copying the current `master` branch.  This form is only
 340        needed to create a new branch or tag in the remote repository when
 341        the local name and the remote name are different; otherwise,
 342        the ref name on its own will work.
 343
 344git push origin :experimental::
 345        Find a ref that matches `experimental` in the `origin` repository
 346        (e.g. `refs/heads/experimental`), and delete it.
 347
 348git push origin {plus}dev:master::
 349        Update the origin repository's master branch with the dev branch,
 350        allowing non-fast forward updates.  *This can leave unreferenced
 351        commits dangling in the origin repository.*  Consider the
 352        following situation, where a fast forward is not possible:
 353+
 354----
 355            o---o---o---A---B  origin/master
 356                     \
 357                      X---Y---Z  dev
 358----
 359+
 360The above command would change the origin repository to
 361+
 362----
 363                      A---B  (unnamed branch)
 364                     /
 365            o---o---o---X---Y---Z  master
 366----
 367+
 368Commits A and B would no longer belong to a branch with a symbolic name,
 369and so would be unreachable.  As such, these commits would be removed by
 370a `git gc` command on the origin repository.
 371
 372
 373Author
 374------
 375Written by Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>, later rewritten in C
 376by Linus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org>
 377
 378Documentation
 379--------------
 380Documentation by Junio C Hamano and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
 381
 382GIT
 383---
 384Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite