Documentation / git-clone.txton commit wt-status.h: drop stdio.h include (7a06fb0)
   1git-clone(1)
   2============
   3
   4NAME
   5----
   6git-clone - Clone a repository into a new directory
   7
   8
   9SYNOPSIS
  10--------
  11[verse]
  12'git clone' [--template=<template_directory>]
  13          [-l] [-s] [--no-hardlinks] [-q] [-n] [--bare] [--mirror]
  14          [-o <name>] [-b <name>] [-u <upload-pack>] [--reference <repository>]
  15          [--dissociate] [--separate-git-dir <git dir>]
  16          [--depth <depth>] [--[no-]single-branch] [--no-tags]
  17          [--recurse-submodules[=<pathspec>]] [--[no-]shallow-submodules]
  18          [--jobs <n>] [--] <repository> [<directory>]
  19
  20DESCRIPTION
  21-----------
  22
  23Clones a repository into a newly created directory, creates
  24remote-tracking branches for each branch in the cloned repository
  25(visible using `git branch -r`), and creates and checks out an
  26initial branch that is forked from the cloned repository's
  27currently active branch.
  28
  29After the clone, a plain `git fetch` without arguments will update
  30all the remote-tracking branches, and a `git pull` without
  31arguments will in addition merge the remote master branch into the
  32current master branch, if any (this is untrue when "--single-branch"
  33is given; see below).
  34
  35This default configuration is achieved by creating references to
  36the remote branch heads under `refs/remotes/origin` and
  37by initializing `remote.origin.url` and `remote.origin.fetch`
  38configuration variables.
  39
  40
  41OPTIONS
  42-------
  43--local::
  44-l::
  45        When the repository to clone from is on a local machine,
  46        this flag bypasses the normal "Git aware" transport
  47        mechanism and clones the repository by making a copy of
  48        HEAD and everything under objects and refs directories.
  49        The files under `.git/objects/` directory are hardlinked
  50        to save space when possible.
  51+
  52If the repository is specified as a local path (e.g., `/path/to/repo`),
  53this is the default, and --local is essentially a no-op.  If the
  54repository is specified as a URL, then this flag is ignored (and we
  55never use the local optimizations).  Specifying `--no-local` will
  56override the default when `/path/to/repo` is given, using the regular
  57Git transport instead.
  58
  59--no-hardlinks::
  60        Force the cloning process from a repository on a local
  61        filesystem to copy the files under the `.git/objects`
  62        directory instead of using hardlinks. This may be desirable
  63        if you are trying to make a back-up of your repository.
  64
  65--shared::
  66-s::
  67        When the repository to clone is on the local machine,
  68        instead of using hard links, automatically setup
  69        `.git/objects/info/alternates` to share the objects
  70        with the source repository.  The resulting repository
  71        starts out without any object of its own.
  72+
  73*NOTE*: this is a possibly dangerous operation; do *not* use
  74it unless you understand what it does. If you clone your
  75repository using this option and then delete branches (or use any
  76other Git command that makes any existing commit unreferenced) in the
  77source repository, some objects may become unreferenced (or dangling).
  78These objects may be removed by normal Git operations (such as `git commit`)
  79which automatically call `git gc --auto`. (See linkgit:git-gc[1].)
  80If these objects are removed and were referenced by the cloned repository,
  81then the cloned repository will become corrupt.
  82+
  83Note that running `git repack` without the `-l` option in a repository
  84cloned with `-s` will copy objects from the source repository into a pack
  85in the cloned repository, removing the disk space savings of `clone -s`.
  86It is safe, however, to run `git gc`, which uses the `-l` option by
  87default.
  88+
  89If you want to break the dependency of a repository cloned with `-s` on
  90its source repository, you can simply run `git repack -a` to copy all
  91objects from the source repository into a pack in the cloned repository.
  92
  93--reference[-if-able] <repository>::
  94        If the reference repository is on the local machine,
  95        automatically setup `.git/objects/info/alternates` to
  96        obtain objects from the reference repository.  Using
  97        an already existing repository as an alternate will
  98        require fewer objects to be copied from the repository
  99        being cloned, reducing network and local storage costs.
 100        When using the `--reference-if-able`, a non existing
 101        directory is skipped with a warning instead of aborting
 102        the clone.
 103+
 104*NOTE*: see the NOTE for the `--shared` option, and also the
 105`--dissociate` option.
 106
 107--dissociate::
 108        Borrow the objects from reference repositories specified
 109        with the `--reference` options only to reduce network
 110        transfer, and stop borrowing from them after a clone is made
 111        by making necessary local copies of borrowed objects.  This
 112        option can also be used when cloning locally from a
 113        repository that already borrows objects from another
 114        repository--the new repository will borrow objects from the
 115        same repository, and this option can be used to stop the
 116        borrowing.
 117
 118--quiet::
 119-q::
 120        Operate quietly.  Progress is not reported to the standard
 121        error stream.
 122
 123--verbose::
 124-v::
 125        Run verbosely. Does not affect the reporting of progress status
 126        to the standard error stream.
 127
 128--progress::
 129        Progress status is reported on the standard error stream
 130        by default when it is attached to a terminal, unless -q
 131        is specified. This flag forces progress status even if the
 132        standard error stream is not directed to a terminal.
 133
 134--server-option=<option>::
 135        Transmit the given string to the server when communicating using
 136        protocol version 2.  The given string must not contain a NUL or LF
 137        character.  The server's handling of server options, including
 138        unknown ones, is server-specific.
 139        When multiple `--server-option=<option>` are given, they are all
 140        sent to the other side in the order listed on the command line.
 141
 142--no-checkout::
 143-n::
 144        No checkout of HEAD is performed after the clone is complete.
 145
 146--bare::
 147        Make a 'bare' Git repository.  That is, instead of
 148        creating `<directory>` and placing the administrative
 149        files in `<directory>/.git`, make the `<directory>`
 150        itself the `$GIT_DIR`. This obviously implies the `-n`
 151        because there is nowhere to check out the working tree.
 152        Also the branch heads at the remote are copied directly
 153        to corresponding local branch heads, without mapping
 154        them to `refs/remotes/origin/`.  When this option is
 155        used, neither remote-tracking branches nor the related
 156        configuration variables are created.
 157
 158--mirror::
 159        Set up a mirror of the source repository.  This implies `--bare`.
 160        Compared to `--bare`, `--mirror` not only maps local branches of the
 161        source to local branches of the target, it maps all refs (including
 162        remote-tracking branches, notes etc.) and sets up a refspec configuration such
 163        that all these refs are overwritten by a `git remote update` in the
 164        target repository.
 165
 166--origin <name>::
 167-o <name>::
 168        Instead of using the remote name `origin` to keep track
 169        of the upstream repository, use `<name>`.
 170
 171--branch <name>::
 172-b <name>::
 173        Instead of pointing the newly created HEAD to the branch pointed
 174        to by the cloned repository's HEAD, point to `<name>` branch
 175        instead. In a non-bare repository, this is the branch that will
 176        be checked out.
 177        `--branch` can also take tags and detaches the HEAD at that commit
 178        in the resulting repository.
 179
 180--upload-pack <upload-pack>::
 181-u <upload-pack>::
 182        When given, and the repository to clone from is accessed
 183        via ssh, this specifies a non-default path for the command
 184        run on the other end.
 185
 186--template=<template_directory>::
 187        Specify the directory from which templates will be used;
 188        (See the "TEMPLATE DIRECTORY" section of linkgit:git-init[1].)
 189
 190--config <key>=<value>::
 191-c <key>=<value>::
 192        Set a configuration variable in the newly-created repository;
 193        this takes effect immediately after the repository is
 194        initialized, but before the remote history is fetched or any
 195        files checked out.  The key is in the same format as expected by
 196        linkgit:git-config[1] (e.g., `core.eol=true`). If multiple
 197        values are given for the same key, each value will be written to
 198        the config file. This makes it safe, for example, to add
 199        additional fetch refspecs to the origin remote.
 200+
 201Due to limitations of the current implementation, some configuration
 202variables do not take effect until after the initial fetch and checkout.
 203Configuration variables known to not take effect are:
 204`remote.<name>.mirror` and `remote.<name>.tagOpt`.  Use the
 205corresponding `--mirror` and `--no-tags` options instead.
 206
 207--depth <depth>::
 208        Create a 'shallow' clone with a history truncated to the
 209        specified number of commits. Implies `--single-branch` unless
 210        `--no-single-branch` is given to fetch the histories near the
 211        tips of all branches. If you want to clone submodules shallowly,
 212        also pass `--shallow-submodules`.
 213
 214--shallow-since=<date>::
 215        Create a shallow clone with a history after the specified time.
 216
 217--shallow-exclude=<revision>::
 218        Create a shallow clone with a history, excluding commits
 219        reachable from a specified remote branch or tag.  This option
 220        can be specified multiple times.
 221
 222--[no-]single-branch::
 223        Clone only the history leading to the tip of a single branch,
 224        either specified by the `--branch` option or the primary
 225        branch remote's `HEAD` points at.
 226        Further fetches into the resulting repository will only update the
 227        remote-tracking branch for the branch this option was used for the
 228        initial cloning.  If the HEAD at the remote did not point at any
 229        branch when `--single-branch` clone was made, no remote-tracking
 230        branch is created.
 231
 232--no-tags::
 233        Don't clone any tags, and set
 234        `remote.<remote>.tagOpt=--no-tags` in the config, ensuring
 235        that future `git pull` and `git fetch` operations won't follow
 236        any tags. Subsequent explicit tag fetches will still work,
 237        (see linkgit:git-fetch[1]).
 238+
 239Can be used in conjunction with `--single-branch` to clone and
 240maintain a branch with no references other than a single cloned
 241branch. This is useful e.g. to maintain minimal clones of the default
 242branch of some repository for search indexing.
 243
 244--recurse-submodules[=<pathspec]::
 245        After the clone is created, initialize and clone submodules
 246        within based on the provided pathspec.  If no pathspec is
 247        provided, all submodules are initialized and cloned.
 248        This option can be given multiple times for pathspecs consisting
 249        of multiple entries.  The resulting clone has `submodule.active` set to
 250        the provided pathspec, or "." (meaning all submodules) if no
 251        pathspec is provided.
 252+
 253Submodules are initialized and cloned using their default settings. This is
 254equivalent to running
 255`git submodule update --init --recursive <pathspec>` immediately after
 256the clone is finished. This option is ignored if the cloned repository does
 257not have a worktree/checkout (i.e. if any of `--no-checkout`/`-n`, `--bare`,
 258or `--mirror` is given)
 259
 260--[no-]shallow-submodules::
 261        All submodules which are cloned will be shallow with a depth of 1.
 262
 263--separate-git-dir=<git dir>::
 264        Instead of placing the cloned repository where it is supposed
 265        to be, place the cloned repository at the specified directory,
 266        then make a filesystem-agnostic Git symbolic link to there.
 267        The result is Git repository can be separated from working
 268        tree.
 269
 270-j <n>::
 271--jobs <n>::
 272        The number of submodules fetched at the same time.
 273        Defaults to the `submodule.fetchJobs` option.
 274
 275<repository>::
 276        The (possibly remote) repository to clone from.  See the
 277        <<URLS,GIT URLS>> section below for more information on specifying
 278        repositories.
 279
 280<directory>::
 281        The name of a new directory to clone into.  The "humanish"
 282        part of the source repository is used if no directory is
 283        explicitly given (`repo` for `/path/to/repo.git` and `foo`
 284        for `host.xz:foo/.git`).  Cloning into an existing directory
 285        is only allowed if the directory is empty.
 286
 287:git-clone: 1
 288include::urls.txt[]
 289
 290EXAMPLES
 291--------
 292
 293* Clone from upstream:
 294+
 295------------
 296$ git clone git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/.../linux.git my-linux
 297$ cd my-linux
 298$ make
 299------------
 300
 301
 302* Make a local clone that borrows from the current directory, without checking things out:
 303+
 304------------
 305$ git clone -l -s -n . ../copy
 306$ cd ../copy
 307$ git show-branch
 308------------
 309
 310
 311* Clone from upstream while borrowing from an existing local directory:
 312+
 313------------
 314$ git clone --reference /git/linux.git \
 315        git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/.../linux.git \
 316        my-linux
 317$ cd my-linux
 318------------
 319
 320
 321* Create a bare repository to publish your changes to the public:
 322+
 323------------
 324$ git clone --bare -l /home/proj/.git /pub/scm/proj.git
 325------------
 326
 327
 328GIT
 329---
 330Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite