Documentation / git-push.txton commit format-patch: format.from gives the default for --from (6bc6b6c)
   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] [--follow-tags] [--atomic] [-n | --dry-run] [--receive-pack=<git-receive-pack>]
  13           [--repo=<repository>] [-f | --force] [-d | --delete] [--prune] [-v | --verbose]
  14           [-u | --set-upstream]
  15           [--[no-]signed|--sign=(true|false|if-asked)]
  16           [--force-with-lease[=<refname>[:<expect>]]]
  17           [--no-verify] [<repository> [<refspec>...]]
  18
  19DESCRIPTION
  20-----------
  21
  22Updates remote refs using local refs, while sending objects
  23necessary to complete the given refs.
  24
  25You can make interesting things happen to a repository
  26every time you push into it, by setting up 'hooks' there.  See
  27documentation for linkgit:git-receive-pack[1].
  28
  29When the command line does not specify where to push with the
  30`<repository>` argument, `branch.*.remote` configuration for the
  31current branch is consulted to determine where to push.  If the
  32configuration is missing, it defaults to 'origin'.
  33
  34When the command line does not specify what to push with `<refspec>...`
  35arguments or `--all`, `--mirror`, `--tags` options, the command finds
  36the default `<refspec>` by consulting `remote.*.push` configuration,
  37and if it is not found, honors `push.default` configuration to decide
  38what to push (See linkgit:git-config[1] for the meaning of `push.default`).
  39
  40When neither the command-line nor the configuration specify what to
  41push, the default behavior is used, which corresponds to the `simple`
  42value for `push.default`: the current branch is pushed to the
  43corresponding upstream branch, but as a safety measure, the push is
  44aborted if the upstream branch does not have the same name as the
  45local one.
  46
  47
  48OPTIONS[[OPTIONS]]
  49------------------
  50<repository>::
  51        The "remote" repository that is destination of a push
  52        operation.  This parameter can be either a URL
  53        (see the section <<URLS,GIT URLS>> below) or the name
  54        of a remote (see the section <<REMOTES,REMOTES>> below).
  55
  56<refspec>...::
  57        Specify what destination ref to update with what source object.
  58        The format of a <refspec> parameter is an optional plus
  59        `+`, followed by the source object <src>, followed
  60        by a colon `:`, followed by the destination ref <dst>.
  61+
  62The <src> is often the name of the branch you would want to push, but
  63it can be any arbitrary "SHA-1 expression", such as `master~4` or
  64`HEAD` (see linkgit:gitrevisions[7]).
  65+
  66The <dst> tells which ref on the remote side is updated with this
  67push. Arbitrary expressions cannot be used here, an actual ref must
  68be named.
  69If `git push [<repository>]` without any `<refspec>` argument is set to
  70update some ref at the destination with `<src>` with
  71`remote.<repository>.push` configuration variable, `:<dst>` part can
  72be omitted--such a push will update a ref that `<src>` normally updates
  73without any `<refspec>` on the command line.  Otherwise, missing
  74`:<dst>` means to update the same ref as the `<src>`.
  75+
  76The object referenced by <src> is used to update the <dst> reference
  77on the remote side.  By default this is only allowed if <dst> is not
  78a tag (annotated or lightweight), and then only if it can fast-forward
  79<dst>.  By having the optional leading `+`, you can tell Git to update
  80the <dst> ref even if it is not allowed by default (e.g., it is not a
  81fast-forward.)  This does *not* attempt to merge <src> into <dst>.  See
  82EXAMPLES below for details.
  83+
  84`tag <tag>` means the same as `refs/tags/<tag>:refs/tags/<tag>`.
  85+
  86Pushing an empty <src> allows you to delete the <dst> ref from
  87the remote repository.
  88+
  89The special refspec `:` (or `+:` to allow non-fast-forward updates)
  90directs Git to push "matching" branches: for every branch that exists on
  91the local side, the remote side is updated if a branch of the same name
  92already exists on the remote side.
  93
  94--all::
  95        Push all branches (i.e. refs under `refs/heads/`); cannot be
  96        used with other <refspec>.
  97
  98--prune::
  99        Remove remote branches that don't have a local counterpart. For example
 100        a remote branch `tmp` will be removed if a local branch with the same
 101        name doesn't exist any more. This also respects refspecs, e.g.
 102        `git push --prune remote refs/heads/*:refs/tmp/*` would
 103        make sure that remote `refs/tmp/foo` will be removed if `refs/heads/foo`
 104        doesn't exist.
 105
 106--mirror::
 107        Instead of naming each ref to push, specifies that all
 108        refs under `refs/` (which includes but is not
 109        limited to `refs/heads/`, `refs/remotes/`, and `refs/tags/`)
 110        be mirrored to the remote repository.  Newly created local
 111        refs will be pushed to the remote end, locally updated refs
 112        will be force updated on the remote end, and deleted refs
 113        will be removed from the remote end.  This is the default
 114        if the configuration option `remote.<remote>.mirror` is
 115        set.
 116
 117-n::
 118--dry-run::
 119        Do everything except actually send the updates.
 120
 121--porcelain::
 122        Produce machine-readable output.  The output status line for each ref
 123        will be tab-separated and sent to stdout instead of stderr.  The full
 124        symbolic names of the refs will be given.
 125
 126--delete::
 127        All listed refs are deleted from the remote repository. This is
 128        the same as prefixing all refs with a colon.
 129
 130--tags::
 131        All refs under `refs/tags` are pushed, in
 132        addition to refspecs explicitly listed on the command
 133        line.
 134
 135--follow-tags::
 136        Push all the refs that would be pushed without this option,
 137        and also push annotated tags in `refs/tags` that are missing
 138        from the remote but are pointing at commit-ish that are
 139        reachable from the refs being pushed.  This can also be specified
 140        with configuration variable `push.followTags`.  For more
 141        information, see `push.followTags` in linkgit:git-config[1].
 142
 143--[no-]signed::
 144--sign=(true|false|if-asked)::
 145        GPG-sign the push request to update refs on the receiving
 146        side, to allow it to be checked by the hooks and/or be
 147        logged.  If `false` or `--no-signed`, no signing will be
 148        attempted.  If `true` or `--signed`, the push will fail if the
 149        server does not support signed pushes.  If set to `if-asked`,
 150        sign if and only if the server supports signed pushes.  The push
 151        will also fail if the actual call to `gpg --sign` fails.  See
 152        linkgit:git-receive-pack[1] for the details on the receiving end.
 153
 154--[no-]atomic::
 155        Use an atomic transaction on the remote side if available.
 156        Either all refs are updated, or on error, no refs are updated.
 157        If the server does not support atomic pushes the push will fail.
 158
 159--receive-pack=<git-receive-pack>::
 160--exec=<git-receive-pack>::
 161        Path to the 'git-receive-pack' program on the remote
 162        end.  Sometimes useful when pushing to a remote
 163        repository over ssh, and you do not have the program in
 164        a directory on the default $PATH.
 165
 166--[no-]force-with-lease::
 167--force-with-lease=<refname>::
 168--force-with-lease=<refname>:<expect>::
 169        Usually, "git push" refuses to update a remote ref that is
 170        not an ancestor of the local ref used to overwrite it.
 171+
 172This option overrides this restriction if the current value of the
 173remote ref is the expected value.  "git push" fails otherwise.
 174+
 175Imagine that you have to rebase what you have already published.
 176You will have to bypass the "must fast-forward" rule in order to
 177replace the history you originally published with the rebased history.
 178If somebody else built on top of your original history while you are
 179rebasing, the tip of the branch at the remote may advance with her
 180commit, and blindly pushing with `--force` will lose her work.
 181+
 182This option allows you to say that you expect the history you are
 183updating is what you rebased and want to replace. If the remote ref
 184still points at the commit you specified, you can be sure that no
 185other people did anything to the ref. It is like taking a "lease" on
 186the ref without explicitly locking it, and the remote ref is updated
 187only if the "lease" is still valid.
 188+
 189`--force-with-lease` alone, without specifying the details, will protect
 190all remote refs that are going to be updated by requiring their
 191current value to be the same as the remote-tracking branch we have
 192for them.
 193+
 194`--force-with-lease=<refname>`, without specifying the expected value, will
 195protect the named ref (alone), if it is going to be updated, by
 196requiring its current value to be the same as the remote-tracking
 197branch we have for it.
 198+
 199`--force-with-lease=<refname>:<expect>` will protect the named ref (alone),
 200if it is going to be updated, by requiring its current value to be
 201the same as the specified value <expect> (which is allowed to be
 202different from the remote-tracking branch we have for the refname,
 203or we do not even have to have such a remote-tracking branch when
 204this form is used).
 205+
 206Note that all forms other than `--force-with-lease=<refname>:<expect>`
 207that specifies the expected current value of the ref explicitly are
 208still experimental and their semantics may change as we gain experience
 209with this feature.
 210+
 211"--no-force-with-lease" will cancel all the previous --force-with-lease on the
 212command line.
 213
 214-f::
 215--force::
 216        Usually, the command refuses to update a remote ref that is
 217        not an ancestor of the local ref used to overwrite it.
 218        Also, when `--force-with-lease` option is used, the command refuses
 219        to update a remote ref whose current value does not match
 220        what is expected.
 221+
 222This flag disables these checks, and can cause the remote repository
 223to lose commits; use it with care.
 224+
 225Note that `--force` applies to all the refs that are pushed, hence
 226using it with `push.default` set to `matching` or with multiple push
 227destinations configured with `remote.*.push` may overwrite refs
 228other than the current branch (including local refs that are
 229strictly behind their remote counterpart).  To force a push to only
 230one branch, use a `+` in front of the refspec to push (e.g `git push
 231origin +master` to force a push to the `master` branch). See the
 232`<refspec>...` section above for details.
 233
 234--repo=<repository>::
 235        This option is equivalent to the <repository> argument. If both
 236        are specified, the command-line argument takes precedence.
 237
 238-u::
 239--set-upstream::
 240        For every branch that is up to date or successfully pushed, add
 241        upstream (tracking) reference, used by argument-less
 242        linkgit:git-pull[1] and other commands. For more information,
 243        see `branch.<name>.merge` in linkgit:git-config[1].
 244
 245--[no-]thin::
 246        These options are passed to linkgit:git-send-pack[1]. A thin transfer
 247        significantly reduces the amount of sent data when the sender and
 248        receiver share many of the same objects in common. The default is
 249        \--thin.
 250
 251-q::
 252--quiet::
 253        Suppress all output, including the listing of updated refs,
 254        unless an error occurs. Progress is not reported to the standard
 255        error stream.
 256
 257-v::
 258--verbose::
 259        Run verbosely.
 260
 261--progress::
 262        Progress status is reported on the standard error stream
 263        by default when it is attached to a terminal, unless -q
 264        is specified. This flag forces progress status even if the
 265        standard error stream is not directed to a terminal.
 266
 267--no-recurse-submodules::
 268--recurse-submodules=check|on-demand|no::
 269        May be used to make sure all submodule commits used by the
 270        revisions to be pushed are available on a remote-tracking branch.
 271        If 'check' is used Git will verify that all submodule commits that
 272        changed in the revisions to be pushed are available on at least one
 273        remote of the submodule. If any commits are missing the push will
 274        be aborted and exit with non-zero status. If 'on-demand' is used
 275        all submodules that changed in the revisions to be pushed will be
 276        pushed. If on-demand was not able to push all necessary revisions
 277        it will also be aborted and exit with non-zero status. A value of
 278        'no' or using `--no-recurse-submodules` can be used to override the
 279        push.recurseSubmodules configuration variable when no submodule
 280        recursion is required.
 281
 282--[no-]verify::
 283        Toggle the pre-push hook (see linkgit:githooks[5]).  The
 284        default is --verify, giving the hook a chance to prevent the
 285        push.  With --no-verify, the hook is bypassed completely.
 286
 287-4::
 288--ipv4::
 289        Use IPv4 addresses only, ignoring IPv6 addresses.
 290
 291-6::
 292--ipv6::
 293        Use IPv6 addresses only, ignoring IPv4 addresses.
 294
 295include::urls-remotes.txt[]
 296
 297OUTPUT
 298------
 299
 300The output of "git push" depends on the transport method used; this
 301section describes the output when pushing over the Git protocol (either
 302locally or via ssh).
 303
 304The status of the push is output in tabular form, with each line
 305representing the status of a single ref. Each line is of the form:
 306
 307-------------------------------
 308 <flag> <summary> <from> -> <to> (<reason>)
 309-------------------------------
 310
 311If --porcelain is used, then each line of the output is of the form:
 312
 313-------------------------------
 314 <flag> \t <from>:<to> \t <summary> (<reason>)
 315-------------------------------
 316
 317The status of up-to-date refs is shown only if --porcelain or --verbose
 318option is used.
 319
 320flag::
 321        A single character indicating the status of the ref:
 322(space);; for a successfully pushed fast-forward;
 323`+`;; for a successful forced update;
 324`-`;; for a successfully deleted ref;
 325`*`;; for a successfully pushed new ref;
 326`!`;; for a ref that was rejected or failed to push; and
 327`=`;; for a ref that was up to date and did not need pushing.
 328
 329summary::
 330        For a successfully pushed ref, the summary shows the old and new
 331        values of the ref in a form suitable for using as an argument to
 332        `git log` (this is `<old>..<new>` in most cases, and
 333        `<old>...<new>` for forced non-fast-forward updates).
 334+
 335For a failed update, more details are given:
 336+
 337--
 338rejected::
 339        Git did not try to send the ref at all, typically because it
 340        is not a fast-forward and you did not force the update.
 341
 342remote rejected::
 343        The remote end refused the update.  Usually caused by a hook
 344        on the remote side, or because the remote repository has one
 345        of the following safety options in effect:
 346        `receive.denyCurrentBranch` (for pushes to the checked out
 347        branch), `receive.denyNonFastForwards` (for forced
 348        non-fast-forward updates), `receive.denyDeletes` or
 349        `receive.denyDeleteCurrent`.  See linkgit:git-config[1].
 350
 351remote failure::
 352        The remote end did not report the successful update of the ref,
 353        perhaps because of a temporary error on the remote side, a
 354        break in the network connection, or other transient error.
 355--
 356
 357from::
 358        The name of the local ref being pushed, minus its
 359        `refs/<type>/` prefix. In the case of deletion, the
 360        name of the local ref is omitted.
 361
 362to::
 363        The name of the remote ref being updated, minus its
 364        `refs/<type>/` prefix.
 365
 366reason::
 367        A human-readable explanation. In the case of successfully pushed
 368        refs, no explanation is needed. For a failed ref, the reason for
 369        failure is described.
 370
 371Note about fast-forwards
 372------------------------
 373
 374When an update changes a branch (or more in general, a ref) that used to
 375point at commit A to point at another commit B, it is called a
 376fast-forward update if and only if B is a descendant of A.
 377
 378In a fast-forward update from A to B, the set of commits that the original
 379commit A built on top of is a subset of the commits the new commit B
 380builds on top of.  Hence, it does not lose any history.
 381
 382In contrast, a non-fast-forward update will lose history.  For example,
 383suppose you and somebody else started at the same commit X, and you built
 384a history leading to commit B while the other person built a history
 385leading to commit A.  The history looks like this:
 386
 387----------------
 388
 389      B
 390     /
 391 ---X---A
 392
 393----------------
 394
 395Further suppose that the other person already pushed changes leading to A
 396back to the original repository from which you two obtained the original
 397commit X.
 398
 399The push done by the other person updated the branch that used to point at
 400commit X to point at commit A.  It is a fast-forward.
 401
 402But if you try to push, you will attempt to update the branch (that
 403now points at A) with commit B.  This does _not_ fast-forward.  If you did
 404so, the changes introduced by commit A will be lost, because everybody
 405will now start building on top of B.
 406
 407The command by default does not allow an update that is not a fast-forward
 408to prevent such loss of history.
 409
 410If you do not want to lose your work (history from X to B) or the work by
 411the other person (history from X to A), you would need to first fetch the
 412history from the repository, create a history that contains changes done
 413by both parties, and push the result back.
 414
 415You can perform "git pull", resolve potential conflicts, and "git push"
 416the result.  A "git pull" will create a merge commit C between commits A
 417and B.
 418
 419----------------
 420
 421      B---C
 422     /   /
 423 ---X---A
 424
 425----------------
 426
 427Updating A with the resulting merge commit will fast-forward and your
 428push will be accepted.
 429
 430Alternatively, you can rebase your change between X and B on top of A,
 431with "git pull --rebase", and push the result back.  The rebase will
 432create a new commit D that builds the change between X and B on top of
 433A.
 434
 435----------------
 436
 437      B   D
 438     /   /
 439 ---X---A
 440
 441----------------
 442
 443Again, updating A with this commit will fast-forward and your push will be
 444accepted.
 445
 446There is another common situation where you may encounter non-fast-forward
 447rejection when you try to push, and it is possible even when you are
 448pushing into a repository nobody else pushes into. After you push commit
 449A yourself (in the first picture in this section), replace it with "git
 450commit --amend" to produce commit B, and you try to push it out, because
 451forgot that you have pushed A out already. In such a case, and only if
 452you are certain that nobody in the meantime fetched your earlier commit A
 453(and started building on top of it), you can run "git push --force" to
 454overwrite it. In other words, "git push --force" is a method reserved for
 455a case where you do mean to lose history.
 456
 457
 458Examples
 459--------
 460
 461`git push`::
 462        Works like `git push <remote>`, where <remote> is the
 463        current branch's remote (or `origin`, if no remote is
 464        configured for the current branch).
 465
 466`git push origin`::
 467        Without additional configuration, pushes the current branch to
 468        the configured upstream (`remote.origin.merge` configuration
 469        variable) if it has the same name as the current branch, and
 470        errors out without pushing otherwise.
 471+
 472The default behavior of this command when no <refspec> is given can be
 473configured by setting the `push` option of the remote, or the `push.default`
 474configuration variable.
 475+
 476For example, to default to pushing only the current branch to `origin`
 477use `git config remote.origin.push HEAD`.  Any valid <refspec> (like
 478the ones in the examples below) can be configured as the default for
 479`git push origin`.
 480
 481`git push origin :`::
 482        Push "matching" branches to `origin`. See
 483        <refspec> in the <<OPTIONS,OPTIONS>> section above for a
 484        description of "matching" branches.
 485
 486`git push origin master`::
 487        Find a ref that matches `master` in the source repository
 488        (most likely, it would find `refs/heads/master`), and update
 489        the same ref (e.g. `refs/heads/master`) in `origin` repository
 490        with it.  If `master` did not exist remotely, it would be
 491        created.
 492
 493`git push origin HEAD`::
 494        A handy way to push the current branch to the same name on the
 495        remote.
 496
 497`git push mothership master:satellite/master dev:satellite/dev`::
 498        Use the source ref that matches `master` (e.g. `refs/heads/master`)
 499        to update the ref that matches `satellite/master` (most probably
 500        `refs/remotes/satellite/master`) in the `mothership` repository;
 501        do the same for `dev` and `satellite/dev`.
 502+
 503This is to emulate `git fetch` run on the `mothership` using `git
 504push` that is run in the opposite direction in order to integrate
 505the work done on `satellite`, and is often necessary when you can
 506only make connection in one way (i.e. satellite can ssh into
 507mothership but mothership cannot initiate connection to satellite
 508because the latter is behind a firewall or does not run sshd).
 509+
 510After running this `git push` on the `satellite` machine, you would
 511ssh into the `mothership` and run `git merge` there to complete the
 512emulation of `git pull` that were run on `mothership` to pull changes
 513made on `satellite`.
 514
 515`git push origin HEAD:master`::
 516        Push the current branch to the remote ref matching `master` in the
 517        `origin` repository. This form is convenient to push the current
 518        branch without thinking about its local name.
 519
 520`git push origin master:refs/heads/experimental`::
 521        Create the branch `experimental` in the `origin` repository
 522        by copying the current `master` branch.  This form is only
 523        needed to create a new branch or tag in the remote repository when
 524        the local name and the remote name are different; otherwise,
 525        the ref name on its own will work.
 526
 527`git push origin :experimental`::
 528        Find a ref that matches `experimental` in the `origin` repository
 529        (e.g. `refs/heads/experimental`), and delete it.
 530
 531`git push origin +dev:master`::
 532        Update the origin repository's master branch with the dev branch,
 533        allowing non-fast-forward updates.  *This can leave unreferenced
 534        commits dangling in the origin repository.*  Consider the
 535        following situation, where a fast-forward is not possible:
 536+
 537----
 538            o---o---o---A---B  origin/master
 539                     \
 540                      X---Y---Z  dev
 541----
 542+
 543The above command would change the origin repository to
 544+
 545----
 546                      A---B  (unnamed branch)
 547                     /
 548            o---o---o---X---Y---Z  master
 549----
 550+
 551Commits A and B would no longer belong to a branch with a symbolic name,
 552and so would be unreachable.  As such, these commits would be removed by
 553a `git gc` command on the origin repository.
 554
 555GIT
 556---
 557Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite