SYNOPSIS
--------
[verse]
-'git-clone' [--template=<template_directory>] [-l [-s]] [-q] [-n] [--bare]
+'git clone' [--template=<template_directory>]
+ [-l] [-s] [--no-hardlinks] [-q] [-n] [--bare] [--mirror]
[-o <name>] [-u <upload-pack>] [--reference <repository>]
- [--depth <depth>] <repository> [<directory>]
+ [--depth <depth>] [--] <repository> [<directory>]
DESCRIPTION
-----------
this flag bypasses normal "git aware" transport
mechanism and clones the repository by making a copy of
HEAD and everything under objects and refs directories.
- The files under .git/objects/ directory are hardlinked
- to save space when possible.
+ The files under `.git/objects/` directory are hardlinked
+ to save space when possible. This is now the default when
+ the source repository is specified with `/path/to/repo`
+ syntax, so it essentially is a no-op option. To force
+ copying instead of hardlinking (which may be desirable
+ if you are trying to make a back-up of your repository),
+ but still avoid the usual "git aware" transport
+ mechanism, `--no-hardlinks` can be used.
+
+--no-hardlinks::
+ Optimize the cloning process from a repository on a
+ local filesystem by copying files under `.git/objects`
+ directory.
--shared::
-s::
.git/objects/info/alternates to share the objects
with the source repository. The resulting repository
starts out without any object of its own.
++
+*NOTE*: this is a possibly dangerous operation; do *not* use
+it unless you understand what it does. If you clone your
+repository using this option and then delete branches (or use any
+other git command that makes any existing commit unreferenced) in the
+source repository, some objects may become unreferenced (or dangling).
+These objects may be removed by normal git operations (such as 'git-commit')
+which automatically call `git gc --auto`. (See linkgit:git-gc[1].)
+If these objects are removed and were referenced by the cloned repository,
+then the cloned repository will become corrupt.
+
+
--reference <repository>::
If the reference repository is on the local machine
automatically setup .git/objects/info/alternates to
obtain objects from the reference repository. Using
an already existing repository as an alternate will
- require less objects to be copied from the repository
+ require fewer objects to be copied from the repository
being cloned, reducing network and local storage costs.
++
+*NOTE*: see NOTE to --shared option.
--quiet::
-q::
- Operate quietly. This flag is passed to "rsync" and
- "git-fetch-pack" commands when given.
+ Operate quietly. This flag is also passed to the `rsync'
+ command when given.
+
+--verbose::
+-v::
+ Display the progressbar, even in case the standard output is not
+ a terminal.
+--no-checkout::
-n::
No checkout of HEAD is performed after the clone is complete.
used, neither remote-tracking branches nor the related
configuration variables are created.
+--mirror::
+ Set up a mirror of the remote repository. This implies --bare.
+
--origin <name>::
-o <name>::
Instead of using the remote name 'origin' to keep track
--upload-pack <upload-pack>::
-u <upload-pack>::
- When given, and the repository to clone from is handled
- by 'git-fetch-pack', '--exec=<upload-pack>' is passed to
- the command to specify non-default path for the command
+ When given, and the repository to clone from is accessed
+ via ssh, this specifies a non-default path for the command
run on the other end.
--template=<template_directory>::
--depth <depth>::
Create a 'shallow' clone with a history truncated to the
- specified number of revs. A shallow repository has
+ specified number of revisions. A shallow repository has a
number of limitations (you cannot clone or fetch from
it, nor push from nor into it), but is adequate if you
- want to only look at near the tip of a large project
- with a long history, and would want to send in a fixes
+ are only interested in the recent history of a large project
+ with a long history, and would want to send in fixes
as patches.
<repository>::
for "host.xz:foo/.git"). Cloning into an existing directory
is not allowed.
+:git-clone: 1
include::urls.txt[]
Examples
GIT
---
-Part of the gitlink:git[7] suite
+Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite