NAME
----
-git-repack - Script used to pack a repository from a collection of
-objects into pack files.
+git-repack - Pack unpacked objects in a repository
SYNOPSIS
-----------
This script is used to combine all objects that do not currently
-reside in a "pack", into a pack.
+reside in a "pack", into a pack. It can also be used to re-organise
+existing packs into a single, more efficient pack.
A pack is a collection of objects, individually compressed, with
delta compression applied, stored in a single file, with an
-a::
Instead of incrementally packing the unpacked objects,
- pack everything available into a single pack.
+ pack everything referenced into a single pack.
Especially useful when packing a repository that is used
- for a private development and there no need to worry
+ for private development and there is no need to worry
about people fetching via dumb protocols from it. Use
- with '-d'.
+ with '-d'. This will clean up the objects that `git prune`
+ leaves behind, but `git fsck --full` shows as
+ dangling.
-d::
After packing, if the newly created packs make some
`git update-server-info`.
--window=[N], --depth=[N]::
- These two options affects how the objects contained in the pack are
+ These two options affect how the objects contained in the pack are
stored using delta compression. The objects are first internally
sorted by type, size and optionally names and compared against the
other objects within `--window` to see if using delta compression saves
space. `--depth` limits the maximum delta depth; making it too deep
affects the performance on the unpacker side, because delta data needs
to be applied that many times to get to the necessary object.
+ The default value for --window is 10 and --depth is 50.
+
+
+Configuration
+-------------
+
+When configuration variable `repack.UseDeltaBaseOffset` is set
+for the repository, the command passes `--delta-base-offset`
+option to `git-pack-objects`; this typically results in slightly
+smaller packs, but the generated packs are incompatible with
+versions of git older than (and including) v1.4.3; do not set
+the variable in a repository that older version of git needs to
+be able to read (this includes repositories from which packs can
+be copied out over http or rsync, and people who obtained packs
+that way can try to use older git with it).
Author