1git-init(1) 2=========== 3 4NAME 5---- 6git-init - Create an empty Git repository or reinitialize an existing one 7 8 9SYNOPSIS 10-------- 11[verse] 12'git init' [-q | --quiet] [--bare] [--template=<template_directory>] 13 [--separate-git-dir <git dir>] 14 [--shared[=<permissions>]] [directory] 15 16 17DESCRIPTION 18----------- 19 20This command creates an empty Git repository - basically a `.git` 21directory with subdirectories for `objects`, `refs/heads`, 22`refs/tags`, and template files. An initial `HEAD` file that 23references the HEAD of the master branch is also created. 24 25If the `$GIT_DIR` environment variable is set then it specifies a path 26to use instead of `./.git` for the base of the repository. 27 28If the object storage directory is specified via the 29`$GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY` environment variable then the sha1 directories 30are created underneath - otherwise the default `$GIT_DIR/objects` 31directory is used. 32 33Running 'git init' in an existing repository is safe. It will not 34overwrite things that are already there. The primary reason for 35rerunning 'git init' is to pick up newly added templates (or to move 36the repository to another place if --separate-git-dir is given). 37 38OPTIONS 39------- 40 41-- 42 43-q:: 44--quiet:: 45 46Only print error and warning messages; all other output will be suppressed. 47 48--bare:: 49 50Create a bare repository. If GIT_DIR environment is not set, it is set to the 51current working directory. 52 53--template=<template_directory>:: 54 55Specify the directory from which templates will be used. (See the "TEMPLATE 56DIRECTORY" section below.) 57 58--separate-git-dir=<git dir>:: 59 60Instead of initializing the repository where it is supposed to be, 61place a filesytem-agnostic Git symbolic link there, pointing to the 62specified path, and initialize a Git repository at the path. The 63result is Git repository can be separated from working tree. If this 64is reinitialization, the repository will be moved to the specified 65path. 66 67--shared[=(false|true|umask|group|all|world|everybody|0xxx)]:: 68 69Specify that the Git repository is to be shared amongst several users. This 70allows users belonging to the same group to push into that 71repository. When specified, the config variable "core.sharedRepository" is 72set so that files and directories under `$GIT_DIR` are created with the 73requested permissions. When not specified, Git will use permissions reported 74by umask(2). 75 76The option can have the following values, defaulting to 'group' if no value 77is given: 78 79 - 'umask' (or 'false'): Use permissions reported by umask(2). The default, 80 when `--shared` is not specified. 81 82 - 'group' (or 'true'): Make the repository group-writable, (and g+sx, since 83 the git group may be not the primary group of all users). 84 This is used to loosen the permissions of an otherwise safe umask(2) value. 85 Note that the umask still applies to the other permission bits (e.g. if 86 umask is '0022', using 'group' will not remove read privileges from other 87 (non-group) users). See '0xxx' for how to exactly specify the repository 88 permissions. 89 90 - 'all' (or 'world' or 'everybody'): Same as 'group', but make the repository 91 readable by all users. 92 93 - '0xxx': '0xxx' is an octal number and each file will have mode '0xxx'. 94 '0xxx' will override users' umask(2) value (and not only loosen permissions 95 as 'group' and 'all' does). '0640' will create a repository which is 96 group-readable, but not group-writable or accessible to others. '0660' will 97 create a repo that is readable and writable to the current user and group, 98 but inaccessible to others. 99 100By default, the configuration flag `receive.denyNonFastForwards` is enabled 101in shared repositories, so that you cannot force a non fast-forwarding push 102into it. 103 104If you name a (possibly non-existent) directory at the end of the command 105line, the command is run inside the directory (possibly after creating it). 106 107-- 108 109TEMPLATE DIRECTORY 110------------------ 111 112The template directory contains files and directories that will be copied to 113the `$GIT_DIR` after it is created. 114 115The template directory used will be (in order): 116 117 - The argument given with the `--template` option. 118 119 - The contents of the `$GIT_TEMPLATE_DIR` environment variable. 120 121 - The `init.templatedir` configuration variable. 122 123 - The default template directory: `/usr/share/git-core/templates`. 124 125The default template directory includes some directory structure, some 126suggested "exclude patterns", and copies of sample "hook" files. 127The suggested patterns and hook files are all modifiable and extensible. 128 129EXAMPLES 130-------- 131 132Start a new Git repository for an existing code base:: 133+ 134---------------- 135$ cd /path/to/my/codebase 136$ git init <1> 137$ git add . <2> 138---------------- 139+ 140<1> Create a /path/to/my/codebase/.git directory. 141<2> Add all existing files to the index. 142 143GIT 144--- 145Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite