[verse]
'git clone' [--template=<template_directory>]
[-l] [-s] [--no-hardlinks] [-q] [-n] [--bare] [--mirror]
- [-o <name>] [-u <upload-pack>] [--reference <repository>]
- [--depth <depth>] [--] <repository> [<directory>]
+ [-o <name>] [-b <name>] [-u <upload-pack>] [--reference <repository>]
+ [--depth <depth>] [--recursive] [--] <repository> [<directory>]
DESCRIPTION
-----------
Clones a repository into a newly created directory, creates
remote-tracking branches for each branch in the cloned repository
-(visible using `git branch -r`), and creates and checks out an initial
-branch equal to the cloned repository's currently active branch.
+(visible using `git branch -r`), and creates and checks out an
+initial branch that is forked from the cloned repository's
+currently active branch.
After the clone, a plain `git fetch` without arguments will update
all the remote-tracking branches, and a `git pull` without
--local::
-l::
When the repository to clone from is on a local machine,
- this flag bypasses normal "git aware" transport
+ this flag bypasses the 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
-s::
When the repository to clone is on the local machine,
instead of using hard links, automatically setup
- .git/objects/info/alternates to share the objects
+ `.git/objects/info/alternates` to share the objects
with the source repository. The resulting repository
starts out without any object of its own.
+
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')
+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.
-
-
++
+Note that running `git repack` without the `-l` option in a repository
+cloned with `-s` will copy objects from the source repository into a pack
+in the cloned repository, removing the disk space savings of `clone -s`.
+It is safe, however, to run `git gc`, which uses the `-l` option by
+default.
++
+If you want to break the dependency of a repository cloned with `-s` on
+its source repository, you can simply run `git repack -a` to copy all
+objects from the source repository into a pack in the cloned repository.
--reference <repository>::
- If the reference repository is on the local machine
- automatically setup .git/objects/info/alternates to
+ 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 fewer objects to be copied from the repository
being cloned, reducing network and local storage costs.
+
-*NOTE*: see NOTE to --shared option.
+*NOTE*: see the NOTE for the `--shared` option.
--quiet::
-q::
--verbose::
-v::
- Display the progressbar, even in case the standard output is not
+ Display the progress bar, even in case the standard output is not
a terminal.
--no-checkout::
configuration variables are created.
--mirror::
- Set up a mirror of the remote repository. This implies --bare.
+ 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
- of the upstream repository, use <name>.
+ Instead of using the remote name `origin` to keep track
+ of the upstream repository, use `<name>`.
+
+--branch <name>::
+-b <name>::
+ Instead of pointing the newly created HEAD to the branch pointed
+ to by the cloned repository's HEAD, point to `<name>` branch
+ instead. In a non-bare repository, this is the branch that will
+ be checked out.
--upload-pack <upload-pack>::
-u <upload-pack>::
with a long history, and would want to send in fixes
as patches.
+--recursive::
+ After the clone is created, initialize all submodules within,
+ using their default settings. This is equivalent to running
+ `git submodule update --init --recursive` immediately after
+ the clone is finished. This option is ignored if the cloned
+ repository does not have a worktree/checkout (i.e. if any of
+ `--no-checkout`/`-n`, `--bare`, or `--mirror` is given)
+
<repository>::
The (possibly remote) repository to clone from. See the
<<URLS,URLS>> section below for more information on specifying
<directory>::
The name of a new directory to clone into. The "humanish"
part of the source repository is used if no directory is
- explicitly given ("repo" for "/path/to/repo.git" and "foo"
- for "host.xz:foo/.git"). Cloning into an existing directory
- is not allowed.
+ explicitly given (`repo` for `/path/to/repo.git` and `foo`
+ for `host.xz:foo/.git`). Cloning into an existing directory
+ is only allowed if the directory is empty.
:git-clone: 1
include::urls.txt[]