Documentation / git-push.txton commit Start preparing for 2.10.1 (7c0304a)
   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] [--push-option=<string>]
  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-o::
 160--push-option::
 161        Transmit the given string to the server, which passes them to
 162        the pre-receive as well as the post-receive hook. The given string
 163        must not contain a NUL or LF character.
 164
 165--receive-pack=<git-receive-pack>::
 166--exec=<git-receive-pack>::
 167        Path to the 'git-receive-pack' program on the remote
 168        end.  Sometimes useful when pushing to a remote
 169        repository over ssh, and you do not have the program in
 170        a directory on the default $PATH.
 171
 172--[no-]force-with-lease::
 173--force-with-lease=<refname>::
 174--force-with-lease=<refname>:<expect>::
 175        Usually, "git push" refuses to update a remote ref that is
 176        not an ancestor of the local ref used to overwrite it.
 177+
 178This option overrides this restriction if the current value of the
 179remote ref is the expected value.  "git push" fails otherwise.
 180+
 181Imagine that you have to rebase what you have already published.
 182You will have to bypass the "must fast-forward" rule in order to
 183replace the history you originally published with the rebased history.
 184If somebody else built on top of your original history while you are
 185rebasing, the tip of the branch at the remote may advance with her
 186commit, and blindly pushing with `--force` will lose her work.
 187+
 188This option allows you to say that you expect the history you are
 189updating is what you rebased and want to replace. If the remote ref
 190still points at the commit you specified, you can be sure that no
 191other people did anything to the ref. It is like taking a "lease" on
 192the ref without explicitly locking it, and the remote ref is updated
 193only if the "lease" is still valid.
 194+
 195`--force-with-lease` alone, without specifying the details, will protect
 196all remote refs that are going to be updated by requiring their
 197current value to be the same as the remote-tracking branch we have
 198for them.
 199+
 200`--force-with-lease=<refname>`, without specifying the expected value, will
 201protect the named ref (alone), if it is going to be updated, by
 202requiring its current value to be the same as the remote-tracking
 203branch we have for it.
 204+
 205`--force-with-lease=<refname>:<expect>` will protect the named ref (alone),
 206if it is going to be updated, by requiring its current value to be
 207the same as the specified value `<expect>` (which is allowed to be
 208different from the remote-tracking branch we have for the refname,
 209or we do not even have to have such a remote-tracking branch when
 210this form is used).  If `<expect>` is the empty string, then the named ref
 211must not already exist.
 212+
 213Note that all forms other than `--force-with-lease=<refname>:<expect>`
 214that specifies the expected current value of the ref explicitly are
 215still experimental and their semantics may change as we gain experience
 216with this feature.
 217+
 218"--no-force-with-lease" will cancel all the previous --force-with-lease on the
 219command line.
 220
 221-f::
 222--force::
 223        Usually, the command refuses to update a remote ref that is
 224        not an ancestor of the local ref used to overwrite it.
 225        Also, when `--force-with-lease` option is used, the command refuses
 226        to update a remote ref whose current value does not match
 227        what is expected.
 228+
 229This flag disables these checks, and can cause the remote repository
 230to lose commits; use it with care.
 231+
 232Note that `--force` applies to all the refs that are pushed, hence
 233using it with `push.default` set to `matching` or with multiple push
 234destinations configured with `remote.*.push` may overwrite refs
 235other than the current branch (including local refs that are
 236strictly behind their remote counterpart).  To force a push to only
 237one branch, use a `+` in front of the refspec to push (e.g `git push
 238origin +master` to force a push to the `master` branch). See the
 239`<refspec>...` section above for details.
 240
 241--repo=<repository>::
 242        This option is equivalent to the <repository> argument. If both
 243        are specified, the command-line argument takes precedence.
 244
 245-u::
 246--set-upstream::
 247        For every branch that is up to date or successfully pushed, add
 248        upstream (tracking) reference, used by argument-less
 249        linkgit:git-pull[1] and other commands. For more information,
 250        see `branch.<name>.merge` in linkgit:git-config[1].
 251
 252--[no-]thin::
 253        These options are passed to linkgit:git-send-pack[1]. A thin transfer
 254        significantly reduces the amount of sent data when the sender and
 255        receiver share many of the same objects in common. The default is
 256        \--thin.
 257
 258-q::
 259--quiet::
 260        Suppress all output, including the listing of updated refs,
 261        unless an error occurs. Progress is not reported to the standard
 262        error stream.
 263
 264-v::
 265--verbose::
 266        Run verbosely.
 267
 268--progress::
 269        Progress status is reported on the standard error stream
 270        by default when it is attached to a terminal, unless -q
 271        is specified. This flag forces progress status even if the
 272        standard error stream is not directed to a terminal.
 273
 274--no-recurse-submodules::
 275--recurse-submodules=check|on-demand|no::
 276        May be used to make sure all submodule commits used by the
 277        revisions to be pushed are available on a remote-tracking branch.
 278        If 'check' is used Git will verify that all submodule commits that
 279        changed in the revisions to be pushed are available on at least one
 280        remote of the submodule. If any commits are missing the push will
 281        be aborted and exit with non-zero status. If 'on-demand' is used
 282        all submodules that changed in the revisions to be pushed will be
 283        pushed. If on-demand was not able to push all necessary revisions
 284        it will also be aborted and exit with non-zero status. A value of
 285        'no' or using `--no-recurse-submodules` can be used to override the
 286        push.recurseSubmodules configuration variable when no submodule
 287        recursion is required.
 288
 289--[no-]verify::
 290        Toggle the pre-push hook (see linkgit:githooks[5]).  The
 291        default is --verify, giving the hook a chance to prevent the
 292        push.  With --no-verify, the hook is bypassed completely.
 293
 294-4::
 295--ipv4::
 296        Use IPv4 addresses only, ignoring IPv6 addresses.
 297
 298-6::
 299--ipv6::
 300        Use IPv6 addresses only, ignoring IPv4 addresses.
 301
 302include::urls-remotes.txt[]
 303
 304OUTPUT
 305------
 306
 307The output of "git push" depends on the transport method used; this
 308section describes the output when pushing over the Git protocol (either
 309locally or via ssh).
 310
 311The status of the push is output in tabular form, with each line
 312representing the status of a single ref. Each line is of the form:
 313
 314-------------------------------
 315 <flag> <summary> <from> -> <to> (<reason>)
 316-------------------------------
 317
 318If --porcelain is used, then each line of the output is of the form:
 319
 320-------------------------------
 321 <flag> \t <from>:<to> \t <summary> (<reason>)
 322-------------------------------
 323
 324The status of up-to-date refs is shown only if --porcelain or --verbose
 325option is used.
 326
 327flag::
 328        A single character indicating the status of the ref:
 329(space);; for a successfully pushed fast-forward;
 330`+`;; for a successful forced update;
 331`-`;; for a successfully deleted ref;
 332`*`;; for a successfully pushed new ref;
 333`!`;; for a ref that was rejected or failed to push; and
 334`=`;; for a ref that was up to date and did not need pushing.
 335
 336summary::
 337        For a successfully pushed ref, the summary shows the old and new
 338        values of the ref in a form suitable for using as an argument to
 339        `git log` (this is `<old>..<new>` in most cases, and
 340        `<old>...<new>` for forced non-fast-forward updates).
 341+
 342For a failed update, more details are given:
 343+
 344--
 345rejected::
 346        Git did not try to send the ref at all, typically because it
 347        is not a fast-forward and you did not force the update.
 348
 349remote rejected::
 350        The remote end refused the update.  Usually caused by a hook
 351        on the remote side, or because the remote repository has one
 352        of the following safety options in effect:
 353        `receive.denyCurrentBranch` (for pushes to the checked out
 354        branch), `receive.denyNonFastForwards` (for forced
 355        non-fast-forward updates), `receive.denyDeletes` or
 356        `receive.denyDeleteCurrent`.  See linkgit:git-config[1].
 357
 358remote failure::
 359        The remote end did not report the successful update of the ref,
 360        perhaps because of a temporary error on the remote side, a
 361        break in the network connection, or other transient error.
 362--
 363
 364from::
 365        The name of the local ref being pushed, minus its
 366        `refs/<type>/` prefix. In the case of deletion, the
 367        name of the local ref is omitted.
 368
 369to::
 370        The name of the remote ref being updated, minus its
 371        `refs/<type>/` prefix.
 372
 373reason::
 374        A human-readable explanation. In the case of successfully pushed
 375        refs, no explanation is needed. For a failed ref, the reason for
 376        failure is described.
 377
 378Note about fast-forwards
 379------------------------
 380
 381When an update changes a branch (or more in general, a ref) that used to
 382point at commit A to point at another commit B, it is called a
 383fast-forward update if and only if B is a descendant of A.
 384
 385In a fast-forward update from A to B, the set of commits that the original
 386commit A built on top of is a subset of the commits the new commit B
 387builds on top of.  Hence, it does not lose any history.
 388
 389In contrast, a non-fast-forward update will lose history.  For example,
 390suppose you and somebody else started at the same commit X, and you built
 391a history leading to commit B while the other person built a history
 392leading to commit A.  The history looks like this:
 393
 394----------------
 395
 396      B
 397     /
 398 ---X---A
 399
 400----------------
 401
 402Further suppose that the other person already pushed changes leading to A
 403back to the original repository from which you two obtained the original
 404commit X.
 405
 406The push done by the other person updated the branch that used to point at
 407commit X to point at commit A.  It is a fast-forward.
 408
 409But if you try to push, you will attempt to update the branch (that
 410now points at A) with commit B.  This does _not_ fast-forward.  If you did
 411so, the changes introduced by commit A will be lost, because everybody
 412will now start building on top of B.
 413
 414The command by default does not allow an update that is not a fast-forward
 415to prevent such loss of history.
 416
 417If you do not want to lose your work (history from X to B) or the work by
 418the other person (history from X to A), you would need to first fetch the
 419history from the repository, create a history that contains changes done
 420by both parties, and push the result back.
 421
 422You can perform "git pull", resolve potential conflicts, and "git push"
 423the result.  A "git pull" will create a merge commit C between commits A
 424and B.
 425
 426----------------
 427
 428      B---C
 429     /   /
 430 ---X---A
 431
 432----------------
 433
 434Updating A with the resulting merge commit will fast-forward and your
 435push will be accepted.
 436
 437Alternatively, you can rebase your change between X and B on top of A,
 438with "git pull --rebase", and push the result back.  The rebase will
 439create a new commit D that builds the change between X and B on top of
 440A.
 441
 442----------------
 443
 444      B   D
 445     /   /
 446 ---X---A
 447
 448----------------
 449
 450Again, updating A with this commit will fast-forward and your push will be
 451accepted.
 452
 453There is another common situation where you may encounter non-fast-forward
 454rejection when you try to push, and it is possible even when you are
 455pushing into a repository nobody else pushes into. After you push commit
 456A yourself (in the first picture in this section), replace it with "git
 457commit --amend" to produce commit B, and you try to push it out, because
 458forgot that you have pushed A out already. In such a case, and only if
 459you are certain that nobody in the meantime fetched your earlier commit A
 460(and started building on top of it), you can run "git push --force" to
 461overwrite it. In other words, "git push --force" is a method reserved for
 462a case where you do mean to lose history.
 463
 464
 465Examples
 466--------
 467
 468`git push`::
 469        Works like `git push <remote>`, where <remote> is the
 470        current branch's remote (or `origin`, if no remote is
 471        configured for the current branch).
 472
 473`git push origin`::
 474        Without additional configuration, pushes the current branch to
 475        the configured upstream (`remote.origin.merge` configuration
 476        variable) if it has the same name as the current branch, and
 477        errors out without pushing otherwise.
 478+
 479The default behavior of this command when no <refspec> is given can be
 480configured by setting the `push` option of the remote, or the `push.default`
 481configuration variable.
 482+
 483For example, to default to pushing only the current branch to `origin`
 484use `git config remote.origin.push HEAD`.  Any valid <refspec> (like
 485the ones in the examples below) can be configured as the default for
 486`git push origin`.
 487
 488`git push origin :`::
 489        Push "matching" branches to `origin`. See
 490        <refspec> in the <<OPTIONS,OPTIONS>> section above for a
 491        description of "matching" branches.
 492
 493`git push origin master`::
 494        Find a ref that matches `master` in the source repository
 495        (most likely, it would find `refs/heads/master`), and update
 496        the same ref (e.g. `refs/heads/master`) in `origin` repository
 497        with it.  If `master` did not exist remotely, it would be
 498        created.
 499
 500`git push origin HEAD`::
 501        A handy way to push the current branch to the same name on the
 502        remote.
 503
 504`git push mothership master:satellite/master dev:satellite/dev`::
 505        Use the source ref that matches `master` (e.g. `refs/heads/master`)
 506        to update the ref that matches `satellite/master` (most probably
 507        `refs/remotes/satellite/master`) in the `mothership` repository;
 508        do the same for `dev` and `satellite/dev`.
 509+
 510This is to emulate `git fetch` run on the `mothership` using `git
 511push` that is run in the opposite direction in order to integrate
 512the work done on `satellite`, and is often necessary when you can
 513only make connection in one way (i.e. satellite can ssh into
 514mothership but mothership cannot initiate connection to satellite
 515because the latter is behind a firewall or does not run sshd).
 516+
 517After running this `git push` on the `satellite` machine, you would
 518ssh into the `mothership` and run `git merge` there to complete the
 519emulation of `git pull` that were run on `mothership` to pull changes
 520made on `satellite`.
 521
 522`git push origin HEAD:master`::
 523        Push the current branch to the remote ref matching `master` in the
 524        `origin` repository. This form is convenient to push the current
 525        branch without thinking about its local name.
 526
 527`git push origin master:refs/heads/experimental`::
 528        Create the branch `experimental` in the `origin` repository
 529        by copying the current `master` branch.  This form is only
 530        needed to create a new branch or tag in the remote repository when
 531        the local name and the remote name are different; otherwise,
 532        the ref name on its own will work.
 533
 534`git push origin :experimental`::
 535        Find a ref that matches `experimental` in the `origin` repository
 536        (e.g. `refs/heads/experimental`), and delete it.
 537
 538`git push origin +dev:master`::
 539        Update the origin repository's master branch with the dev branch,
 540        allowing non-fast-forward updates.  *This can leave unreferenced
 541        commits dangling in the origin repository.*  Consider the
 542        following situation, where a fast-forward is not possible:
 543+
 544----
 545            o---o---o---A---B  origin/master
 546                     \
 547                      X---Y---Z  dev
 548----
 549+
 550The above command would change the origin repository to
 551+
 552----
 553                      A---B  (unnamed branch)
 554                     /
 555            o---o---o---X---Y---Z  master
 556----
 557+
 558Commits A and B would no longer belong to a branch with a symbolic name,
 559and so would be unreachable.  As such, these commits would be removed by
 560a `git gc` command on the origin repository.
 561
 562GIT
 563---
 564Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite