SYNOPSIS
--------
-'git-gc' [--prune] [--aggressive] [--auto] [--quiet]
+'git gc' [--aggressive] [--auto] [--quiet]
DESCRIPTION
-----------
Runs a number of housekeeping tasks within the current repository,
such as compressing file revisions (to reduce disk space and increase
performance) and removing unreachable objects which may have been
-created from prior invocations of linkgit:git-add[1].
+created from prior invocations of 'git-add'.
Users are encouraged to run this task on a regular basis within
each repository to maintain good disk space utilization and good
-operating performance. Some git commands may automatically run
-`git-gc`; see the `--auto` flag below for details.
+operating performance.
+
+Some git commands may automatically run 'git-gc'; see the `--auto` flag
+below for details. If you know what you're doing and all you want is to
+disable this behavior permanently without further considerations, just do:
+
+----------------------
+$ git config --global gc.auto 0
+----------------------
OPTIONS
-------
---prune::
- Usually `git-gc` packs refs, expires old reflog entries,
- packs loose objects,
- and removes old 'rerere' records. Removal
- of unreferenced loose objects is an unsafe operation
- while other git operations are in progress, so it is not
- done by default. Pass this option if you want it, and only
- when you know nobody else is creating new objects in the
- repository at the same time (e.g. never use this option
- in a cron script).
-
--aggressive::
Usually 'git-gc' runs very quickly while providing good disk
space utilization and performance. This option will cause
- git-gc to more aggressively optimize the repository at the expense
+ 'git-gc' to more aggressively optimize the repository at the expense
of taking much more time. The effects of this optimization are
persistent, so this option only needs to be used occasionally; every
few hundred changesets or so.
--auto::
- With this option, `git gc` checks whether any housekeeping is
+ With this option, 'git-gc' checks whether any housekeeping is
required; if not, it exits without performing any work.
Some git commands run `git gc --auto` after performing
operations that could create many loose objects.
too many packs in the repository. If the number of loose objects
exceeds the value of the `gc.auto` configuration variable, then
all loose objects are combined into a single pack using
-`git-repack -d -l`. Setting the value of `gc.auto` to 0
+'git-repack -d -l'. Setting the value of `gc.auto` to 0
disables automatic packing of loose objects.
+
If the number of packs exceeds the value of `gc.autopacklimit`,
then existing packs (except those marked with a `.keep` file)
are consolidated into a single pack by using the `-A` option of
-`git-repack`. Setting `gc.autopacklimit` to 0 disables
+'git-repack'. Setting `gc.autopacklimit` to 0 disables
automatic consolidation of packs.
--quiet::
kept. This defaults to 15 days.
The optional configuration variable 'gc.packrefs' determines if
-`git gc` runs `git-pack-refs`. This can be set to "nobare" to enable
+'git-gc' runs 'git-pack-refs'. This can be set to "nobare" to enable
it within all non-bare repos or it can be set to a boolean value.
This defaults to true.
the documentation for the --window' option in linkgit:git-repack[1] for
more details. This defaults to 10.
-See Also
+The optional configuration variable 'gc.pruneExpire' controls how old
+the unreferenced loose objects have to be before they are pruned. The
+default is "2 weeks ago".
+
+
+Notes
+-----
+
+'git-gc' tries very hard to be safe about the garbage it collects. In
+particular, it will keep not only objects referenced by your current set
+of branches and tags, but also objects referenced by the index, remote
+tracking branches, refs saved by 'git-filter-branch' in
+refs/original/, or reflogs (which may references commits in branches
+that were later amended or rewound).
+
+If you are expecting some objects to be collected and they aren't, check
+all of those locations and decide whether it makes sense in your case to
+remove those references.
+
+SEE ALSO
--------
linkgit:git-prune[1]
linkgit:git-reflog[1]
GIT
---
-Part of the linkgit:git[7] suite
+Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite