Documentation / git-push.txton commit Merge branch 'maint-1.8.2' into maint (a717d9e)
   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] [-n | --dry-run] [--receive-pack=<git-receive-pack>]
  13           [--repo=<repository>] [-f | --force] [--prune] [-v | --verbose] [-u | --set-upstream]
  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
  26When the command line does not specify where to push with the
  27`<repository>` argument, `branch.*.remote` configuration for the
  28current branch is consulted to determine where to push.  If the
  29configuration is missing, it defaults to 'origin'.
  30
  31When the command line does not specify what to push with `<refspec>...`
  32arguments or `--all`, `--mirror`, `--tags` options, the command finds
  33the default `<refspec>` by consulting `remote.*.push` configuration,
  34and if it is not found, honors `push.default` configuration to decide
  35what to push (See gitlink:git-config[1] for the meaning of `push.default`).
  36
  37
  38OPTIONS[[OPTIONS]]
  39------------------
  40<repository>::
  41        The "remote" repository that is destination of a push
  42        operation.  This parameter can be either a URL
  43        (see the section <<URLS,GIT URLS>> below) or the name
  44        of a remote (see the section <<REMOTES,REMOTES>> below).
  45
  46<refspec>...::
  47        Specify what destination ref to update with what source object.
  48        The format of a <refspec> parameter is an optional plus
  49        `+`, followed by the source object <src>, followed
  50        by a colon `:`, followed by the destination ref <dst>.
  51+
  52The <src> is often the name of the branch you would want to push, but
  53it can be any arbitrary "SHA-1 expression", such as `master~4` or
  54`HEAD` (see linkgit:gitrevisions[7]).
  55+
  56The <dst> tells which ref on the remote side is updated with this
  57push. Arbitrary expressions cannot be used here, an actual ref must
  58be named. If `:`<dst> is omitted, the same ref as <src> will be
  59updated.
  60+
  61The object referenced by <src> is used to update the <dst> reference
  62on the remote side.  By default this is only allowed if <dst> is not
  63a tag (annotated or lightweight), and then only if it can fast-forward
  64<dst>.  By having the optional leading `+`, you can tell Git to update
  65the <dst> ref even if it is not allowed by default (e.g., it is not a
  66fast-forward.)  This does *not* attempt to merge <src> into <dst>.  See
  67EXAMPLES below for details.
  68+
  69`tag <tag>` means the same as `refs/tags/<tag>:refs/tags/<tag>`.
  70+
  71Pushing an empty <src> allows you to delete the <dst> ref from
  72the remote repository.
  73+
  74The special refspec `:` (or `+:` to allow non-fast-forward updates)
  75directs Git to push "matching" branches: for every branch that exists on
  76the local side, the remote side is updated if a branch of the same name
  77already exists on the remote side.
  78
  79--all::
  80        Instead of naming each ref to push, specifies that all
  81        refs under `refs/heads/` be pushed.
  82
  83--prune::
  84        Remove remote branches that don't have a local counterpart. For example
  85        a remote branch `tmp` will be removed if a local branch with the same
  86        name doesn't exist any more. This also respects refspecs, e.g.
  87        `git push --prune remote refs/heads/*:refs/tmp/*` would
  88        make sure that remote `refs/tmp/foo` will be removed if `refs/heads/foo`
  89        doesn't exist.
  90
  91--mirror::
  92        Instead of naming each ref to push, specifies that all
  93        refs under `refs/` (which includes but is not
  94        limited to `refs/heads/`, `refs/remotes/`, and `refs/tags/`)
  95        be mirrored to the remote repository.  Newly created local
  96        refs will be pushed to the remote end, locally updated refs
  97        will be force updated on the remote end, and deleted refs
  98        will be removed from the remote end.  This is the default
  99        if the configuration option `remote.<remote>.mirror` is
 100        set.
 101
 102-n::
 103--dry-run::
 104        Do everything except actually send the updates.
 105
 106--porcelain::
 107        Produce machine-readable output.  The output status line for each ref
 108        will be tab-separated and sent to stdout instead of stderr.  The full
 109        symbolic names of the refs will be given.
 110
 111--delete::
 112        All listed refs are deleted from the remote repository. This is
 113        the same as prefixing all refs with a colon.
 114
 115--tags::
 116        All refs under `refs/tags` are pushed, in
 117        addition to refspecs explicitly listed on the command
 118        line.
 119
 120--follow-tags::
 121        Push all the refs that would be pushed without this option,
 122        and also push annotated tags in `refs/tags` that are missing
 123        from the remote but are pointing at committish that are
 124        reachable from the refs being pushed.
 125
 126--receive-pack=<git-receive-pack>::
 127--exec=<git-receive-pack>::
 128        Path to the 'git-receive-pack' program on the remote
 129        end.  Sometimes useful when pushing to a remote
 130        repository over ssh, and you do not have the program in
 131        a directory on the default $PATH.
 132
 133-f::
 134--force::
 135        Usually, the command refuses to update a remote ref that is
 136        not an ancestor of the local ref used to overwrite it.
 137        This flag disables the check.  This can cause the
 138        remote repository to lose commits; use it with care.
 139
 140--repo=<repository>::
 141        This option is only relevant if no <repository> argument is
 142        passed in the invocation. In this case, 'git push' derives the
 143        remote name from the current branch: If it tracks a remote
 144        branch, then that remote repository is pushed to. Otherwise,
 145        the name "origin" is used. For this latter case, this option
 146        can be used to override the name "origin". In other words,
 147        the difference between these two commands
 148+
 149--------------------------
 150git push public         #1
 151git push --repo=public  #2
 152--------------------------
 153+
 154is that #1 always pushes to "public" whereas #2 pushes to "public"
 155only if the current branch does not track a remote branch. This is
 156useful if you write an alias or script around 'git push'.
 157
 158-u::
 159--set-upstream::
 160        For every branch that is up to date or successfully pushed, add
 161        upstream (tracking) reference, used by argument-less
 162        linkgit:git-pull[1] and other commands. For more information,
 163        see 'branch.<name>.merge' in linkgit:git-config[1].
 164
 165--[no-]thin::
 166        These options are passed to linkgit:git-send-pack[1]. A thin transfer
 167        significantly reduces the amount of sent data when the sender and
 168        receiver share many of the same objects in common. The default is
 169        \--thin.
 170
 171-q::
 172--quiet::
 173        Suppress all output, including the listing of updated refs,
 174        unless an error occurs. Progress is not reported to the standard
 175        error stream.
 176
 177-v::
 178--verbose::
 179        Run verbosely.
 180
 181--progress::
 182        Progress status is reported on the standard error stream
 183        by default when it is attached to a terminal, unless -q
 184        is specified. This flag forces progress status even if the
 185        standard error stream is not directed to a terminal.
 186
 187--recurse-submodules=check|on-demand::
 188        Make sure all submodule commits used by the revisions to be
 189        pushed are available on a remote-tracking branch. If 'check' is
 190        used Git will verify that all submodule commits that changed in
 191        the revisions to be pushed are available on at least one remote
 192        of the submodule. If any commits are missing the push will be
 193        aborted and exit with non-zero status. If 'on-demand' is used
 194        all submodules that changed in the revisions to be pushed will
 195        be pushed. If on-demand was not able to push all necessary
 196        revisions it will also be aborted and exit with non-zero status.
 197
 198
 199include::urls-remotes.txt[]
 200
 201OUTPUT
 202------
 203
 204The output of "git push" depends on the transport method used; this
 205section describes the output when pushing over the Git protocol (either
 206locally or via ssh).
 207
 208The status of the push is output in tabular form, with each line
 209representing the status of a single ref. Each line is of the form:
 210
 211-------------------------------
 212 <flag> <summary> <from> -> <to> (<reason>)
 213-------------------------------
 214
 215If --porcelain is used, then each line of the output is of the form:
 216
 217-------------------------------
 218 <flag> \t <from>:<to> \t <summary> (<reason>)
 219-------------------------------
 220
 221The status of up-to-date refs is shown only if --porcelain or --verbose
 222option is used.
 223
 224flag::
 225        A single character indicating the status of the ref:
 226(space);; for a successfully pushed fast-forward;
 227`+`;; for a successful forced update;
 228`-`;; for a successfully deleted ref;
 229`*`;; for a successfully pushed new ref;
 230`!`;; for a ref that was rejected or failed to push; and
 231`=`;; for a ref that was up to date and did not need pushing.
 232
 233summary::
 234        For a successfully pushed ref, the summary shows the old and new
 235        values of the ref in a form suitable for using as an argument to
 236        `git log` (this is `<old>..<new>` in most cases, and
 237        `<old>...<new>` for forced non-fast-forward updates).
 238+
 239For a failed update, more details are given:
 240+
 241--
 242rejected::
 243        Git did not try to send the ref at all, typically because it
 244        is not a fast-forward and you did not force the update.
 245
 246remote rejected::
 247        The remote end refused the update.  Usually caused by a hook
 248        on the remote side, or because the remote repository has one
 249        of the following safety options in effect:
 250        `receive.denyCurrentBranch` (for pushes to the checked out
 251        branch), `receive.denyNonFastForwards` (for forced
 252        non-fast-forward updates), `receive.denyDeletes` or
 253        `receive.denyDeleteCurrent`.  See linkgit:git-config[1].
 254
 255remote failure::
 256        The remote end did not report the successful update of the ref,
 257        perhaps because of a temporary error on the remote side, a
 258        break in the network connection, or other transient error.
 259--
 260
 261from::
 262        The name of the local ref being pushed, minus its
 263        `refs/<type>/` prefix. In the case of deletion, the
 264        name of the local ref is omitted.
 265
 266to::
 267        The name of the remote ref being updated, minus its
 268        `refs/<type>/` prefix.
 269
 270reason::
 271        A human-readable explanation. In the case of successfully pushed
 272        refs, no explanation is needed. For a failed ref, the reason for
 273        failure is described.
 274
 275Note about fast-forwards
 276------------------------
 277
 278When an update changes a branch (or more in general, a ref) that used to
 279point at commit A to point at another commit B, it is called a
 280fast-forward update if and only if B is a descendant of A.
 281
 282In a fast-forward update from A to B, the set of commits that the original
 283commit A built on top of is a subset of the commits the new commit B
 284builds on top of.  Hence, it does not lose any history.
 285
 286In contrast, a non-fast-forward update will lose history.  For example,
 287suppose you and somebody else started at the same commit X, and you built
 288a history leading to commit B while the other person built a history
 289leading to commit A.  The history looks like this:
 290
 291----------------
 292
 293      B
 294     /
 295 ---X---A
 296
 297----------------
 298
 299Further suppose that the other person already pushed changes leading to A
 300back to the original repository from which you two obtained the original
 301commit X.
 302
 303The push done by the other person updated the branch that used to point at
 304commit X to point at commit A.  It is a fast-forward.
 305
 306But if you try to push, you will attempt to update the branch (that
 307now points at A) with commit B.  This does _not_ fast-forward.  If you did
 308so, the changes introduced by commit A will be lost, because everybody
 309will now start building on top of B.
 310
 311The command by default does not allow an update that is not a fast-forward
 312to prevent such loss of history.
 313
 314If you do not want to lose your work (history from X to B) nor the work by
 315the other person (history from X to A), you would need to first fetch the
 316history from the repository, create a history that contains changes done
 317by both parties, and push the result back.
 318
 319You can perform "git pull", resolve potential conflicts, and "git push"
 320the result.  A "git pull" will create a merge commit C between commits A
 321and B.
 322
 323----------------
 324
 325      B---C
 326     /   /
 327 ---X---A
 328
 329----------------
 330
 331Updating A with the resulting merge commit will fast-forward and your
 332push will be accepted.
 333
 334Alternatively, you can rebase your change between X and B on top of A,
 335with "git pull --rebase", and push the result back.  The rebase will
 336create a new commit D that builds the change between X and B on top of
 337A.
 338
 339----------------
 340
 341      B   D
 342     /   /
 343 ---X---A
 344
 345----------------
 346
 347Again, updating A with this commit will fast-forward and your push will be
 348accepted.
 349
 350There is another common situation where you may encounter non-fast-forward
 351rejection when you try to push, and it is possible even when you are
 352pushing into a repository nobody else pushes into. After you push commit
 353A yourself (in the first picture in this section), replace it with "git
 354commit --amend" to produce commit B, and you try to push it out, because
 355forgot that you have pushed A out already. In such a case, and only if
 356you are certain that nobody in the meantime fetched your earlier commit A
 357(and started building on top of it), you can run "git push --force" to
 358overwrite it. In other words, "git push --force" is a method reserved for
 359a case where you do mean to lose history.
 360
 361
 362Examples
 363--------
 364
 365`git push`::
 366        Works like `git push <remote>`, where <remote> is the
 367        current branch's remote (or `origin`, if no remote is
 368        configured for the current branch).
 369
 370`git push origin`::
 371        Without additional configuration, works like
 372        `git push origin :`.
 373+
 374The default behavior of this command when no <refspec> is given can be
 375configured by setting the `push` option of the remote, or the `push.default`
 376configuration variable.
 377+
 378For example, to default to pushing only the current branch to `origin`
 379use `git config remote.origin.push HEAD`.  Any valid <refspec> (like
 380the ones in the examples below) can be configured as the default for
 381`git push origin`.
 382
 383`git push origin :`::
 384        Push "matching" branches to `origin`. See
 385        <refspec> in the <<OPTIONS,OPTIONS>> section above for a
 386        description of "matching" branches.
 387
 388`git push origin master`::
 389        Find a ref that matches `master` in the source repository
 390        (most likely, it would find `refs/heads/master`), and update
 391        the same ref (e.g. `refs/heads/master`) in `origin` repository
 392        with it.  If `master` did not exist remotely, it would be
 393        created.
 394
 395`git push origin HEAD`::
 396        A handy way to push the current branch to the same name on the
 397        remote.
 398
 399`git push mothership master:satellite/master dev:satellite/dev`::
 400        Use the source ref that matches `master` (e.g. `refs/heads/master`)
 401        to update the ref that matches `satellite/master` (most probably
 402        `refs/remotes/satellite/master`) in the `mothership` repository;
 403        do the same for `dev` and `satellite/dev`.
 404+
 405This is to emulate `git fetch` run on the `mothership` using `git
 406push` that is run in the opposite direction in order to integrate
 407the work done on `satellite`, and is often necessary when you can
 408only make connection in one way (i.e. satellite can ssh into
 409mothership but mothership cannot initiate connection to satellite
 410because the latter is behind a firewall or does not run sshd).
 411+
 412After running this `git push` on the `satellite` machine, you would
 413ssh into the `mothership` and run `git merge` there to complete the
 414emulation of `git pull` that were run on `mothership` to pull changes
 415made on `satellite`.
 416
 417`git push origin HEAD:master`::
 418        Push the current branch to the remote ref matching `master` in the
 419        `origin` repository. This form is convenient to push the current
 420        branch without thinking about its local name.
 421
 422`git push origin master:refs/heads/experimental`::
 423        Create the branch `experimental` in the `origin` repository
 424        by copying the current `master` branch.  This form is only
 425        needed to create a new branch or tag in the remote repository when
 426        the local name and the remote name are different; otherwise,
 427        the ref name on its own will work.
 428
 429`git push origin :experimental`::
 430        Find a ref that matches `experimental` in the `origin` repository
 431        (e.g. `refs/heads/experimental`), and delete it.
 432
 433`git push origin +dev:master`::
 434        Update the origin repository's master branch with the dev branch,
 435        allowing non-fast-forward updates.  *This can leave unreferenced
 436        commits dangling in the origin repository.*  Consider the
 437        following situation, where a fast-forward is not possible:
 438+
 439----
 440            o---o---o---A---B  origin/master
 441                     \
 442                      X---Y---Z  dev
 443----
 444+
 445The above command would change the origin repository to
 446+
 447----
 448                      A---B  (unnamed branch)
 449                     /
 450            o---o---o---X---Y---Z  master
 451----
 452+
 453Commits A and B would no longer belong to a branch with a symbolic name,
 454and so would be unreachable.  As such, these commits would be removed by
 455a `git gc` command on the origin repository.
 456
 457GIT
 458---
 459Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite