Documentation / git-push.txton commit Merge branch 'jh/fast-import-notes' (e9bba53)
   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] [-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
  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:gitrevisions[7]).
  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 `refs/heads/` be pushed.
  73
  74--mirror::
  75        Instead of naming each ref to push, specifies that all
  76        refs under `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--delete::
  95        All listed refs are deleted from the remote repository. This is
  96        the same as prefixing all refs with a colon.
  97
  98--tags::
  99        All refs under `refs/tags` are pushed, in
 100        addition to refspecs explicitly listed on the command
 101        line.
 102
 103--receive-pack=<git-receive-pack>::
 104--exec=<git-receive-pack>::
 105        Path to the 'git-receive-pack' program on the remote
 106        end.  Sometimes useful when pushing to a remote
 107        repository over ssh, and you do not have the program in
 108        a directory on the default $PATH.
 109
 110-f::
 111--force::
 112        Usually, the command refuses to update a remote ref that is
 113        not an ancestor of the local ref used to overwrite it.
 114        This flag disables the check.  This can cause the
 115        remote repository to lose commits; use it with care.
 116
 117--repo=<repository>::
 118        This option is only relevant if no <repository> argument is
 119        passed in the invocation. In this case, 'git push' derives the
 120        remote name from the current branch: If it tracks a remote
 121        branch, then that remote repository is pushed to. Otherwise,
 122        the name "origin" is used. For this latter case, this option
 123        can be used to override the name "origin". In other words,
 124        the difference between these two commands
 125+
 126--------------------------
 127git push public         #1
 128git push --repo=public  #2
 129--------------------------
 130+
 131is that #1 always pushes to "public" whereas #2 pushes to "public"
 132only if the current branch does not track a remote branch. This is
 133useful if you write an alias or script around 'git push'.
 134
 135-u::
 136--set-upstream::
 137        For every branch that is up to date or successfully pushed, add
 138        upstream (tracking) reference, used by argument-less
 139        linkgit:git-pull[1] and other commands. For more information,
 140        see 'branch.<name>.merge' in linkgit:git-config[1].
 141
 142--thin::
 143--no-thin::
 144        These options are passed to linkgit:git-send-pack[1]. A thin transfer
 145        significantly reduces the amount of sent data when the sender and
 146        receiver share many of the same objects in common. The default is
 147        \--thin.
 148
 149-q::
 150--quiet::
 151        Suppress all output, including the listing of updated refs,
 152        unless an error occurs. Progress is not reported to the standard
 153        error stream.
 154
 155-v::
 156--verbose::
 157        Run verbosely.
 158
 159--progress::
 160        Progress status is reported on the standard error stream
 161        by default when it is attached to a terminal, unless -q
 162        is specified. This flag forces progress status even if the
 163        standard error stream is not directed to a terminal.
 164
 165--recurse-submodules=check::
 166        Check whether all submodule commits used by the revisions to be
 167        pushed are available on a remote tracking branch. Otherwise the
 168        push will be aborted and the command will exit with non-zero status.
 169
 170
 171include::urls-remotes.txt[]
 172
 173OUTPUT
 174------
 175
 176The output of "git push" depends on the transport method used; this
 177section describes the output when pushing over the git protocol (either
 178locally or via ssh).
 179
 180The status of the push is output in tabular form, with each line
 181representing the status of a single ref. Each line is of the form:
 182
 183-------------------------------
 184 <flag> <summary> <from> -> <to> (<reason>)
 185-------------------------------
 186
 187If --porcelain is used, then each line of the output is of the form:
 188
 189-------------------------------
 190 <flag> \t <from>:<to> \t <summary> (<reason>)
 191-------------------------------
 192
 193The status of up-to-date refs is shown only if --porcelain or --verbose
 194option is used.
 195
 196flag::
 197        A single character indicating the status of the ref:
 198(space);; for a successfully pushed fast-forward;
 199`{plus}`;; for a successful forced update;
 200`-`;; for a successfully deleted ref;
 201`*`;; for a successfully pushed new ref;
 202`!`;; for a ref that was rejected or failed to push; and
 203`=`;; for a ref that was up to date and did not need pushing.
 204
 205summary::
 206        For a successfully pushed ref, the summary shows the old and new
 207        values of the ref in a form suitable for using as an argument to
 208        `git log` (this is `<old>..<new>` in most cases, and
 209        `<old>\...<new>` for forced non-fast-forward updates).
 210+
 211For a failed update, more details are given:
 212+
 213--
 214rejected::
 215        Git did not try to send the ref at all, typically because it
 216        is not a fast-forward and you did not force the update.
 217
 218remote rejected::
 219        The remote end refused the update.  Usually caused by a hook
 220        on the remote side, or because the remote repository has one
 221        of the following safety options in effect:
 222        `receive.denyCurrentBranch` (for pushes to the checked out
 223        branch), `receive.denyNonFastForwards` (for forced
 224        non-fast-forward updates), `receive.denyDeletes` or
 225        `receive.denyDeleteCurrent`.  See linkgit:git-config[1].
 226
 227remote failure::
 228        The remote end did not report the successful update of the ref,
 229        perhaps because of a temporary error on the remote side, a
 230        break in the network connection, or other transient error.
 231--
 232
 233from::
 234        The name of the local ref being pushed, minus its
 235        `refs/<type>/` prefix. In the case of deletion, the
 236        name of the local ref is omitted.
 237
 238to::
 239        The name of the remote ref being updated, minus its
 240        `refs/<type>/` prefix.
 241
 242reason::
 243        A human-readable explanation. In the case of successfully pushed
 244        refs, no explanation is needed. For a failed ref, the reason for
 245        failure is described.
 246
 247Note about fast-forwards
 248------------------------
 249
 250When an update changes a branch (or more in general, a ref) that used to
 251point at commit A to point at another commit B, it is called a
 252fast-forward update if and only if B is a descendant of A.
 253
 254In a fast-forward update from A to B, the set of commits that the original
 255commit A built on top of is a subset of the commits the new commit B
 256builds on top of.  Hence, it does not lose any history.
 257
 258In contrast, a non-fast-forward update will lose history.  For example,
 259suppose you and somebody else started at the same commit X, and you built
 260a history leading to commit B while the other person built a history
 261leading to commit A.  The history looks like this:
 262
 263----------------
 264
 265      B
 266     /
 267 ---X---A
 268
 269----------------
 270
 271Further suppose that the other person already pushed changes leading to A
 272back to the original repository you two obtained the original commit X.
 273
 274The push done by the other person updated the branch that used to point at
 275commit X to point at commit A.  It is a fast-forward.
 276
 277But if you try to push, you will attempt to update the branch (that
 278now points at A) with commit B.  This does _not_ fast-forward.  If you did
 279so, the changes introduced by commit A will be lost, because everybody
 280will now start building on top of B.
 281
 282The command by default does not allow an update that is not a fast-forward
 283to prevent such loss of history.
 284
 285If you do not want to lose your work (history from X to B) nor the work by
 286the other person (history from X to A), you would need to first fetch the
 287history from the repository, create a history that contains changes done
 288by both parties, and push the result back.
 289
 290You can perform "git pull", resolve potential conflicts, and "git push"
 291the result.  A "git pull" will create a merge commit C between commits A
 292and B.
 293
 294----------------
 295
 296      B---C
 297     /   /
 298 ---X---A
 299
 300----------------
 301
 302Updating A with the resulting merge commit will fast-forward and your
 303push will be accepted.
 304
 305Alternatively, you can rebase your change between X and B on top of A,
 306with "git pull --rebase", and push the result back.  The rebase will
 307create a new commit D that builds the change between X and B on top of
 308A.
 309
 310----------------
 311
 312      B   D
 313     /   /
 314 ---X---A
 315
 316----------------
 317
 318Again, updating A with this commit will fast-forward and your push will be
 319accepted.
 320
 321There is another common situation where you may encounter non-fast-forward
 322rejection when you try to push, and it is possible even when you are
 323pushing into a repository nobody else pushes into. After you push commit
 324A yourself (in the first picture in this section), replace it with "git
 325commit --amend" to produce commit B, and you try to push it out, because
 326forgot that you have pushed A out already. In such a case, and only if
 327you are certain that nobody in the meantime fetched your earlier commit A
 328(and started building on top of it), you can run "git push --force" to
 329overwrite it. In other words, "git push --force" is a method reserved for
 330a case where you do mean to lose history.
 331
 332
 333Examples
 334--------
 335
 336`git push`::
 337        Works like `git push <remote>`, where <remote> is the
 338        current branch's remote (or `origin`, if no remote is
 339        configured for the current branch).
 340
 341`git push origin`::
 342        Without additional configuration, works like
 343        `git push origin :`.
 344+
 345The default behavior of this command when no <refspec> is given can be
 346configured by setting the `push` option of the remote.
 347+
 348For example, to default to pushing only the current branch to `origin`
 349use `git config remote.origin.push HEAD`.  Any valid <refspec> (like
 350the ones in the examples below) can be configured as the default for
 351`git push origin`.
 352
 353`git push origin :`::
 354        Push "matching" branches to `origin`. See
 355        <refspec> in the <<OPTIONS,OPTIONS>> section above for a
 356        description of "matching" branches.
 357
 358`git push origin master`::
 359        Find a ref that matches `master` in the source repository
 360        (most likely, it would find `refs/heads/master`), and update
 361        the same ref (e.g. `refs/heads/master`) in `origin` repository
 362        with it.  If `master` did not exist remotely, it would be
 363        created.
 364
 365`git push origin HEAD`::
 366        A handy way to push the current branch to the same name on the
 367        remote.
 368
 369`git push origin master:satellite/master dev:satellite/dev`::
 370        Use the source ref that matches `master` (e.g. `refs/heads/master`)
 371        to update the ref that matches `satellite/master` (most probably
 372        `refs/remotes/satellite/master`) in the `origin` repository, then
 373        do the same for `dev` and `satellite/dev`.
 374
 375`git push origin HEAD:master`::
 376        Push the current branch to the remote ref matching `master` in the
 377        `origin` repository. This form is convenient to push the current
 378        branch without thinking about its local name.
 379
 380`git push origin master:refs/heads/experimental`::
 381        Create the branch `experimental` in the `origin` repository
 382        by copying the current `master` branch.  This form is only
 383        needed to create a new branch or tag in the remote repository when
 384        the local name and the remote name are different; otherwise,
 385        the ref name on its own will work.
 386
 387`git push origin :experimental`::
 388        Find a ref that matches `experimental` in the `origin` repository
 389        (e.g. `refs/heads/experimental`), and delete it.
 390
 391`git push origin {plus}dev:master`::
 392        Update the origin repository's master branch with the dev branch,
 393        allowing non-fast-forward updates.  *This can leave unreferenced
 394        commits dangling in the origin repository.*  Consider the
 395        following situation, where a fast-forward is not possible:
 396+
 397----
 398            o---o---o---A---B  origin/master
 399                     \
 400                      X---Y---Z  dev
 401----
 402+
 403The above command would change the origin repository to
 404+
 405----
 406                      A---B  (unnamed branch)
 407                     /
 408            o---o---o---X---Y---Z  master
 409----
 410+
 411Commits A and B would no longer belong to a branch with a symbolic name,
 412and so would be unreachable.  As such, these commits would be removed by
 413a `git gc` command on the origin repository.
 414
 415GIT
 416---
 417Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite