Documentation / git-push.txton commit t6300: introduce test_date() helper (f95cecf)
   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] [--prune] [-v | --verbose]
  14           [-u | --set-upstream] [--signed]
  15           [--force-with-lease[=<refname>[:<expect>]]]
  16           [--no-verify] [<repository> [<refspec>...]]
  17
  18DESCRIPTION
  19-----------
  20
  21Updates remote refs using local refs, while sending objects
  22necessary to complete the given refs.
  23
  24You can make interesting things happen to a repository
  25every time you push into it, by setting up 'hooks' there.  See
  26documentation for linkgit:git-receive-pack[1].
  27
  28When the command line does not specify where to push with the
  29`<repository>` argument, `branch.*.remote` configuration for the
  30current branch is consulted to determine where to push.  If the
  31configuration is missing, it defaults to 'origin'.
  32
  33When the command line does not specify what to push with `<refspec>...`
  34arguments or `--all`, `--mirror`, `--tags` options, the command finds
  35the default `<refspec>` by consulting `remote.*.push` configuration,
  36and if it is not found, honors `push.default` configuration to decide
  37what to push (See linkgit:git-config[1] for the meaning of `push.default`).
  38
  39
  40OPTIONS[[OPTIONS]]
  41------------------
  42<repository>::
  43        The "remote" repository that is destination of a push
  44        operation.  This parameter can be either a URL
  45        (see the section <<URLS,GIT URLS>> below) or the name
  46        of a remote (see the section <<REMOTES,REMOTES>> below).
  47
  48<refspec>...::
  49        Specify what destination ref to update with what source object.
  50        The format of a <refspec> parameter is an optional plus
  51        `+`, followed by the source object <src>, followed
  52        by a colon `:`, followed by the destination ref <dst>.
  53+
  54The <src> is often the name of the branch you would want to push, but
  55it can be any arbitrary "SHA-1 expression", such as `master~4` or
  56`HEAD` (see linkgit:gitrevisions[7]).
  57+
  58The <dst> tells which ref on the remote side is updated with this
  59push. Arbitrary expressions cannot be used here, an actual ref must
  60be named.
  61If `git push [<repository>]` without any `<refspec>` argument is set to
  62update some ref at the destination with `<src>` with
  63`remote.<repository>.push` configuration variable, `:<dst>` part can
  64be omitted---such a push will update a ref that `<src>` normally updates
  65without any `<refspec>` on the command line.  Otherwise, missing
  66`:<dst>` means to update the same ref as the `<src>`.
  67+
  68The object referenced by <src> is used to update the <dst> reference
  69on the remote side.  By default this is only allowed if <dst> is not
  70a tag (annotated or lightweight), and then only if it can fast-forward
  71<dst>.  By having the optional leading `+`, you can tell Git to update
  72the <dst> ref even if it is not allowed by default (e.g., it is not a
  73fast-forward.)  This does *not* attempt to merge <src> into <dst>.  See
  74EXAMPLES below for details.
  75+
  76`tag <tag>` means the same as `refs/tags/<tag>:refs/tags/<tag>`.
  77+
  78Pushing an empty <src> allows you to delete the <dst> ref from
  79the remote repository.
  80+
  81The special refspec `:` (or `+:` to allow non-fast-forward updates)
  82directs Git to push "matching" branches: for every branch that exists on
  83the local side, the remote side is updated if a branch of the same name
  84already exists on the remote side.
  85
  86--all::
  87        Push all branches (i.e. refs under `refs/heads/`); cannot be
  88        used with other <refspec>.
  89
  90--prune::
  91        Remove remote branches that don't have a local counterpart. For example
  92        a remote branch `tmp` will be removed if a local branch with the same
  93        name doesn't exist any more. This also respects refspecs, e.g.
  94        `git push --prune remote refs/heads/*:refs/tmp/*` would
  95        make sure that remote `refs/tmp/foo` will be removed if `refs/heads/foo`
  96        doesn't exist.
  97
  98--mirror::
  99        Instead of naming each ref to push, specifies that all
 100        refs under `refs/` (which includes but is not
 101        limited to `refs/heads/`, `refs/remotes/`, and `refs/tags/`)
 102        be mirrored to the remote repository.  Newly created local
 103        refs will be pushed to the remote end, locally updated refs
 104        will be force updated on the remote end, and deleted refs
 105        will be removed from the remote end.  This is the default
 106        if the configuration option `remote.<remote>.mirror` is
 107        set.
 108
 109-n::
 110--dry-run::
 111        Do everything except actually send the updates.
 112
 113--porcelain::
 114        Produce machine-readable output.  The output status line for each ref
 115        will be tab-separated and sent to stdout instead of stderr.  The full
 116        symbolic names of the refs will be given.
 117
 118--delete::
 119        All listed refs are deleted from the remote repository. This is
 120        the same as prefixing all refs with a colon.
 121
 122--tags::
 123        All refs under `refs/tags` are pushed, in
 124        addition to refspecs explicitly listed on the command
 125        line.
 126
 127--follow-tags::
 128        Push all the refs that would be pushed without this option,
 129        and also push annotated tags in `refs/tags` that are missing
 130        from the remote but are pointing at commit-ish that are
 131        reachable from the refs being pushed.  This can also be specified
 132        with configuration variable 'push.followTags'.  For more
 133        information, see 'push.followTags' in linkgit:git-config[1].
 134
 135
 136--signed::
 137        GPG-sign the push request to update refs on the receiving
 138        side, to allow it to be checked by the hooks and/or be
 139        logged.  See linkgit:git-receive-pack[1] for the details
 140        on the receiving end.
 141
 142--[no-]atomic::
 143        Use an atomic transaction on the remote side if available.
 144        Either all refs are updated, or on error, no refs are updated.
 145        If the server does not support atomic pushes the push will fail.
 146
 147--receive-pack=<git-receive-pack>::
 148--exec=<git-receive-pack>::
 149        Path to the 'git-receive-pack' program on the remote
 150        end.  Sometimes useful when pushing to a remote
 151        repository over ssh, and you do not have the program in
 152        a directory on the default $PATH.
 153
 154--[no-]force-with-lease::
 155--force-with-lease=<refname>::
 156--force-with-lease=<refname>:<expect>::
 157        Usually, "git push" refuses to update a remote ref that is
 158        not an ancestor of the local ref used to overwrite it.
 159+
 160This option overrides this restriction if the current value of the
 161remote ref is the expected value.  "git push" fails otherwise.
 162+
 163Imagine that you have to rebase what you have already published.
 164You will have to bypass the "must fast-forward" rule in order to
 165replace the history you originally published with the rebased history.
 166If somebody else built on top of your original history while you are
 167rebasing, the tip of the branch at the remote may advance with her
 168commit, and blindly pushing with `--force` will lose her work.
 169+
 170This option allows you to say that you expect the history you are
 171updating is what you rebased and want to replace. If the remote ref
 172still points at the commit you specified, you can be sure that no
 173other people did anything to the ref. It is like taking a "lease" on
 174the ref without explicitly locking it, and the remote ref is updated
 175only if the "lease" is still valid.
 176+
 177`--force-with-lease` alone, without specifying the details, will protect
 178all remote refs that are going to be updated by requiring their
 179current value to be the same as the remote-tracking branch we have
 180for them.
 181+
 182`--force-with-lease=<refname>`, without specifying the expected value, will
 183protect the named ref (alone), if it is going to be updated, by
 184requiring its current value to be the same as the remote-tracking
 185branch we have for it.
 186+
 187`--force-with-lease=<refname>:<expect>` will protect the named ref (alone),
 188if it is going to be updated, by requiring its current value to be
 189the same as the specified value <expect> (which is allowed to be
 190different from the remote-tracking branch we have for the refname,
 191or we do not even have to have such a remote-tracking branch when
 192this form is used).
 193+
 194Note that all forms other than `--force-with-lease=<refname>:<expect>`
 195that specifies the expected current value of the ref explicitly are
 196still experimental and their semantics may change as we gain experience
 197with this feature.
 198+
 199"--no-force-with-lease" will cancel all the previous --force-with-lease on the
 200command line.
 201
 202-f::
 203--force::
 204        Usually, the command refuses to update a remote ref that is
 205        not an ancestor of the local ref used to overwrite it.
 206        Also, when `--force-with-lease` option is used, the command refuses
 207        to update a remote ref whose current value does not match
 208        what is expected.
 209+
 210This flag disables these checks, and can cause the remote repository
 211to lose commits; use it with care.
 212+
 213Note that `--force` applies to all the refs that are pushed, hence
 214using it with `push.default` set to `matching` or with multiple push
 215destinations configured with `remote.*.push` may overwrite refs
 216other than the current branch (including local refs that are
 217strictly behind their remote counterpart).  To force a push to only
 218one branch, use a `+` in front of the refspec to push (e.g `git push
 219origin +master` to force a push to the `master` branch). See the
 220`<refspec>...` section above for details.
 221
 222--repo=<repository>::
 223        This option is equivalent to the <repository> argument. If both
 224        are specified, the command-line argument takes precedence.
 225
 226-u::
 227--set-upstream::
 228        For every branch that is up to date or successfully pushed, add
 229        upstream (tracking) reference, used by argument-less
 230        linkgit:git-pull[1] and other commands. For more information,
 231        see 'branch.<name>.merge' in linkgit:git-config[1].
 232
 233--[no-]thin::
 234        These options are passed to linkgit:git-send-pack[1]. A thin transfer
 235        significantly reduces the amount of sent data when the sender and
 236        receiver share many of the same objects in common. The default is
 237        \--thin.
 238
 239-q::
 240--quiet::
 241        Suppress all output, including the listing of updated refs,
 242        unless an error occurs. Progress is not reported to the standard
 243        error stream.
 244
 245-v::
 246--verbose::
 247        Run verbosely.
 248
 249--progress::
 250        Progress status is reported on the standard error stream
 251        by default when it is attached to a terminal, unless -q
 252        is specified. This flag forces progress status even if the
 253        standard error stream is not directed to a terminal.
 254
 255--recurse-submodules=check|on-demand::
 256        Make sure all submodule commits used by the revisions to be
 257        pushed are available on a remote-tracking branch. If 'check' is
 258        used Git will verify that all submodule commits that changed in
 259        the revisions to be pushed are available on at least one remote
 260        of the submodule. If any commits are missing the push will be
 261        aborted and exit with non-zero status. If 'on-demand' is used
 262        all submodules that changed in the revisions to be pushed will
 263        be pushed. If on-demand was not able to push all necessary
 264        revisions it will also be aborted and exit with non-zero status.
 265
 266--[no-]verify::
 267        Toggle the pre-push hook (see linkgit:githooks[5]).  The
 268        default is --verify, giving the hook a chance to prevent the
 269        push.  With --no-verify, the hook is bypassed completely.
 270
 271
 272include::urls-remotes.txt[]
 273
 274OUTPUT
 275------
 276
 277The output of "git push" depends on the transport method used; this
 278section describes the output when pushing over the Git protocol (either
 279locally or via ssh).
 280
 281The status of the push is output in tabular form, with each line
 282representing the status of a single ref. Each line is of the form:
 283
 284-------------------------------
 285 <flag> <summary> <from> -> <to> (<reason>)
 286-------------------------------
 287
 288If --porcelain is used, then each line of the output is of the form:
 289
 290-------------------------------
 291 <flag> \t <from>:<to> \t <summary> (<reason>)
 292-------------------------------
 293
 294The status of up-to-date refs is shown only if --porcelain or --verbose
 295option is used.
 296
 297flag::
 298        A single character indicating the status of the ref:
 299(space);; for a successfully pushed fast-forward;
 300`+`;; for a successful forced update;
 301`-`;; for a successfully deleted ref;
 302`*`;; for a successfully pushed new ref;
 303`!`;; for a ref that was rejected or failed to push; and
 304`=`;; for a ref that was up to date and did not need pushing.
 305
 306summary::
 307        For a successfully pushed ref, the summary shows the old and new
 308        values of the ref in a form suitable for using as an argument to
 309        `git log` (this is `<old>..<new>` in most cases, and
 310        `<old>...<new>` for forced non-fast-forward updates).
 311+
 312For a failed update, more details are given:
 313+
 314--
 315rejected::
 316        Git did not try to send the ref at all, typically because it
 317        is not a fast-forward and you did not force the update.
 318
 319remote rejected::
 320        The remote end refused the update.  Usually caused by a hook
 321        on the remote side, or because the remote repository has one
 322        of the following safety options in effect:
 323        `receive.denyCurrentBranch` (for pushes to the checked out
 324        branch), `receive.denyNonFastForwards` (for forced
 325        non-fast-forward updates), `receive.denyDeletes` or
 326        `receive.denyDeleteCurrent`.  See linkgit:git-config[1].
 327
 328remote failure::
 329        The remote end did not report the successful update of the ref,
 330        perhaps because of a temporary error on the remote side, a
 331        break in the network connection, or other transient error.
 332--
 333
 334from::
 335        The name of the local ref being pushed, minus its
 336        `refs/<type>/` prefix. In the case of deletion, the
 337        name of the local ref is omitted.
 338
 339to::
 340        The name of the remote ref being updated, minus its
 341        `refs/<type>/` prefix.
 342
 343reason::
 344        A human-readable explanation. In the case of successfully pushed
 345        refs, no explanation is needed. For a failed ref, the reason for
 346        failure is described.
 347
 348Note about fast-forwards
 349------------------------
 350
 351When an update changes a branch (or more in general, a ref) that used to
 352point at commit A to point at another commit B, it is called a
 353fast-forward update if and only if B is a descendant of A.
 354
 355In a fast-forward update from A to B, the set of commits that the original
 356commit A built on top of is a subset of the commits the new commit B
 357builds on top of.  Hence, it does not lose any history.
 358
 359In contrast, a non-fast-forward update will lose history.  For example,
 360suppose you and somebody else started at the same commit X, and you built
 361a history leading to commit B while the other person built a history
 362leading to commit A.  The history looks like this:
 363
 364----------------
 365
 366      B
 367     /
 368 ---X---A
 369
 370----------------
 371
 372Further suppose that the other person already pushed changes leading to A
 373back to the original repository from which you two obtained the original
 374commit X.
 375
 376The push done by the other person updated the branch that used to point at
 377commit X to point at commit A.  It is a fast-forward.
 378
 379But if you try to push, you will attempt to update the branch (that
 380now points at A) with commit B.  This does _not_ fast-forward.  If you did
 381so, the changes introduced by commit A will be lost, because everybody
 382will now start building on top of B.
 383
 384The command by default does not allow an update that is not a fast-forward
 385to prevent such loss of history.
 386
 387If you do not want to lose your work (history from X to B) or the work by
 388the other person (history from X to A), you would need to first fetch the
 389history from the repository, create a history that contains changes done
 390by both parties, and push the result back.
 391
 392You can perform "git pull", resolve potential conflicts, and "git push"
 393the result.  A "git pull" will create a merge commit C between commits A
 394and B.
 395
 396----------------
 397
 398      B---C
 399     /   /
 400 ---X---A
 401
 402----------------
 403
 404Updating A with the resulting merge commit will fast-forward and your
 405push will be accepted.
 406
 407Alternatively, you can rebase your change between X and B on top of A,
 408with "git pull --rebase", and push the result back.  The rebase will
 409create a new commit D that builds the change between X and B on top of
 410A.
 411
 412----------------
 413
 414      B   D
 415     /   /
 416 ---X---A
 417
 418----------------
 419
 420Again, updating A with this commit will fast-forward and your push will be
 421accepted.
 422
 423There is another common situation where you may encounter non-fast-forward
 424rejection when you try to push, and it is possible even when you are
 425pushing into a repository nobody else pushes into. After you push commit
 426A yourself (in the first picture in this section), replace it with "git
 427commit --amend" to produce commit B, and you try to push it out, because
 428forgot that you have pushed A out already. In such a case, and only if
 429you are certain that nobody in the meantime fetched your earlier commit A
 430(and started building on top of it), you can run "git push --force" to
 431overwrite it. In other words, "git push --force" is a method reserved for
 432a case where you do mean to lose history.
 433
 434
 435Examples
 436--------
 437
 438`git push`::
 439        Works like `git push <remote>`, where <remote> is the
 440        current branch's remote (or `origin`, if no remote is
 441        configured for the current branch).
 442
 443`git push origin`::
 444        Without additional configuration, pushes the current branch to
 445        the configured upstream (`remote.origin.merge` configuration
 446        variable) if it has the same name as the current branch, and
 447        errors out without pushing otherwise.
 448+
 449The default behavior of this command when no <refspec> is given can be
 450configured by setting the `push` option of the remote, or the `push.default`
 451configuration variable.
 452+
 453For example, to default to pushing only the current branch to `origin`
 454use `git config remote.origin.push HEAD`.  Any valid <refspec> (like
 455the ones in the examples below) can be configured as the default for
 456`git push origin`.
 457
 458`git push origin :`::
 459        Push "matching" branches to `origin`. See
 460        <refspec> in the <<OPTIONS,OPTIONS>> section above for a
 461        description of "matching" branches.
 462
 463`git push origin master`::
 464        Find a ref that matches `master` in the source repository
 465        (most likely, it would find `refs/heads/master`), and update
 466        the same ref (e.g. `refs/heads/master`) in `origin` repository
 467        with it.  If `master` did not exist remotely, it would be
 468        created.
 469
 470`git push origin HEAD`::
 471        A handy way to push the current branch to the same name on the
 472        remote.
 473
 474`git push mothership master:satellite/master dev:satellite/dev`::
 475        Use the source ref that matches `master` (e.g. `refs/heads/master`)
 476        to update the ref that matches `satellite/master` (most probably
 477        `refs/remotes/satellite/master`) in the `mothership` repository;
 478        do the same for `dev` and `satellite/dev`.
 479+
 480This is to emulate `git fetch` run on the `mothership` using `git
 481push` that is run in the opposite direction in order to integrate
 482the work done on `satellite`, and is often necessary when you can
 483only make connection in one way (i.e. satellite can ssh into
 484mothership but mothership cannot initiate connection to satellite
 485because the latter is behind a firewall or does not run sshd).
 486+
 487After running this `git push` on the `satellite` machine, you would
 488ssh into the `mothership` and run `git merge` there to complete the
 489emulation of `git pull` that were run on `mothership` to pull changes
 490made on `satellite`.
 491
 492`git push origin HEAD:master`::
 493        Push the current branch to the remote ref matching `master` in the
 494        `origin` repository. This form is convenient to push the current
 495        branch without thinking about its local name.
 496
 497`git push origin master:refs/heads/experimental`::
 498        Create the branch `experimental` in the `origin` repository
 499        by copying the current `master` branch.  This form is only
 500        needed to create a new branch or tag in the remote repository when
 501        the local name and the remote name are different; otherwise,
 502        the ref name on its own will work.
 503
 504`git push origin :experimental`::
 505        Find a ref that matches `experimental` in the `origin` repository
 506        (e.g. `refs/heads/experimental`), and delete it.
 507
 508`git push origin +dev:master`::
 509        Update the origin repository's master branch with the dev branch,
 510        allowing non-fast-forward updates.  *This can leave unreferenced
 511        commits dangling in the origin repository.*  Consider the
 512        following situation, where a fast-forward is not possible:
 513+
 514----
 515            o---o---o---A---B  origin/master
 516                     \
 517                      X---Y---Z  dev
 518----
 519+
 520The above command would change the origin repository to
 521+
 522----
 523                      A---B  (unnamed branch)
 524                     /
 525            o---o---o---X---Y---Z  master
 526----
 527+
 528Commits A and B would no longer belong to a branch with a symbolic name,
 529and so would be unreachable.  As such, these commits would be removed by
 530a `git gc` command on the origin repository.
 531
 532GIT
 533---
 534Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite