1GITEVERYDAY(7) Git Manual GITEVERYDAY(7)
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6 giteveryday - A useful minimum set of commands for Everyday Git
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9 Everyday Git With 20 Commands Or So
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12 Git users can broadly be grouped into four categories for the purposes
13 of describing here a small set of useful command for everyday Git.
14 • Individual Developer (Standalone) commands are essential for
16 anybody who makes a commit, even for somebody who works alone.
17 • If you work with other people, you will need commands listed in the
19 Individual Developer (Participant) section as well.
20 • People who play the Integrator role need to learn some more
22 commands in addition to the above.
23 • Repository Administration commands are for system administrators
25 who are responsible for the care and feeding of Git repositories.
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28 A standalone individual developer does not exchange patches with other
29 people, and works alone in a single repository, using the following
30 commands.
31 • git-init(1) to create a new repository.
33 • git-log(1) to see what happened.
35 • git-switch(1) and git-branch(1) to switch branches.
37 • git-add(1) to manage the index file.
39 • git-diff(1) and git-status(1) to see what you are in the middle of
41 doing.
42 • git-commit(1) to advance the current branch.
44 • git-restore(1) to undo changes.
46 • git-merge(1) to merge between local branches.
48 • git-rebase(1) to maintain topic branches.
50 • git-tag(1) to mark a known point.
52 Examples
54 Use a tarball as a starting point for a new repository.
55 $ tar zxf frotz.tar.gz
57 $ cd frotz
58 $ git init
59 $ git add . [1m(1)
60 $ git commit -m "import of frotz source tree."
61 $ git tag v2.43 [1m(2)
62 1. add everything under the current directory.
64 2. make a lightweight, unannotated tag.
65 Create a topic branch and develop.
67 $ git switch -c alsa-audio [1m(1)
69 $ edit/compile/test
70 $ git restore curses/ux_audio_oss.c [1m(2)
71 $ git add curses/ux_audio_alsa.c [1m(3)
72 $ edit/compile/test
73 $ git diff HEAD [1m(4)
74 $ git commit -a -s [1m(5)
75 $ edit/compile/test
76 $ git diff HEAD^ [1m(6)
77 $ git commit -a --amend [1m(7)
78 $ git switch master [1m(8)
79 $ git merge alsa-audio [1m(9)
80 $ git log --since='3 days ago' [1m(10)
81 $ git log v2.43.. curses/ [1m(11)
82 1. create a new topic branch.
84 2. revert your botched changes in curses/ux_audio_oss.c.
85 3. you need to tell Git if you added a new file; removal and
86 modification will be caught if you do git commit -a later.
87 4. to see what changes you are committing.
88 5. commit everything, as you have tested, with your sign-off.
89 6. look at all your changes including the previous commit.
90 7. amend the previous commit, adding all your new changes,
91 using your original message.
92 8. switch to the master branch.
93 9. merge a topic branch into your master branch.
94 10. review commit logs; other forms to limit output can be
95 combined and include -10 (to show up to 10 commits),
96 --until=2005-12-10, etc.
97 11. view only the changes that touch what’s in curses/
98 directory, since v2.43 tag.
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101 A developer working as a participant in a group project needs to learn
102 how to communicate with others, and uses these commands in addition to
103 the ones needed by a standalone developer.
104 • git-clone(1) from the upstream to prime your local repository.
106 • git-pull(1) and git-fetch(1) from "origin" to keep up-to-date with
108 the upstream.
109 • git-push(1) to shared repository, if you adopt CVS style shared
111 repository workflow.
112 • git-format-patch(1) to prepare e-mail submission, if you adopt
114 Linux kernel-style public forum workflow.
115 • git-send-email(1) to send your e-mail submission without corruption
117 by your MUA.
118 • git-request-pull(1) to create a summary of changes for your
120 upstream to pull.
121 Examples
123 Clone the upstream and work on it. Feed changes to upstream.
124 $ git clone git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/.../torvalds/linux-2.6 my2.6
126 $ cd my2.6
127 $ git switch -c mine master [1m(1)
128 $ edit/compile/test; git commit -a -s [1m(2)
129 $ git format-patch master [1m(3)
130 $ git send-email --to="person <email@example.com>" 00*.patch [1m(4)
131 $ git switch master [1m(5)
132 $ git pull [1m(6)
133 $ git log -p ORIG_HEAD.. arch/i386 include/asm-i386 [1m(7)
134 $ git ls-remote --heads http://git.kernel.org/.../jgarzik/libata-dev.git [1m(8)
135 $ git pull git://git.kernel.org/pub/.../jgarzik/libata-dev.git ALL [1m(9)
136 $ git reset --hard ORIG_HEAD [1m(10)
137 $ git gc [1m(11)
138 1. checkout a new branch mine from master.
140 2. repeat as needed.
141 3. extract patches from your branch, relative to master,
142 4. and email them.
143 5. return to master, ready to see what’s new
144 6. git pull fetches from origin by default and merges into
145 the current branch.
146 7. immediately after pulling, look at the changes done
147 upstream since last time we checked, only in the area we
148 are interested in.
149 8. check the branch names in an external repository (if not
150 known).
151 9. fetch from a specific branch ALL from a specific
152 repository and merge it.
153 10. revert the pull.
154 11. garbage collect leftover objects from reverted pull.
155 Push into another repository.
157 satellite$ git clone mothership:frotz frotz [1m(1)
159 satellite$ cd frotz
160 satellite$ git config --get-regexp '^(remote|branch)\.' [1m(2)
161 remote.origin.url mothership:frotz
162 remote.origin.fetch refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/origin/*
163 branch.master.remote origin
164 branch.master.merge refs/heads/master
165 satellite$ git config remote.origin.push \
166 +refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/satellite/* [1m(3)
167 satellite$ edit/compile/test/commit
168 satellite$ git push origin [1m(4)
169 mothership$ cd frotz
171 mothership$ git switch master
172 mothership$ git merge satellite/master [1m(5)
173 1. mothership machine has a frotz repository under your home
175 directory; clone from it to start a repository on the
176 satellite machine.
177 2. clone sets these configuration variables by default. It
178 arranges git pull to fetch and store the branches of
179 mothership machine to local remotes/origin/*
180 remote-tracking branches.
181 3. arrange git push to push all local branches to their
182 corresponding branch of the mothership machine.
183 4. push will stash all our work away on remotes/satellite/*
184 remote-tracking branches on the mothership machine. You
185 could use this as a back-up method. Likewise, you can
186 pretend that mothership "fetched" from you (useful when
187 access is one sided).
188 5. on mothership machine, merge the work done on the
189 satellite machine into the master branch.
190 Branch off of a specific tag.
192 $ git switch -c private2.6.14 v2.6.14 [1m(1)
194 $ edit/compile/test; git commit -a
195 $ git checkout master
196 $ git cherry-pick v2.6.14..private2.6.14 [1m(2)
197 1. create a private branch based on a well known (but
200 somewhat behind) tag.
201 2. forward port all changes in private2.6.14 branch to master
202 branch without a formal "merging". Or longhand
203 git format-patch -k -m --stdout v2.6.14..private2.6.14 |
205 git am -3 -k
206 An alternate participant submission mechanism is using the git
208 request-pull or pull-request mechanisms (e.g as used on GitHub
209 (www.github.com) to notify your upstream of your contribution.
210
212 A fairly central person acting as the integrator in a group project
213 receives changes made by others, reviews and integrates them and
214 publishes the result for others to use, using these commands in
215 addition to the ones needed by participants.
216 This section can also be used by those who respond to git request-pull
218 or pull-request on GitHub (www.github.com) to integrate the work of
219 others into their history. A sub-area lieutenant for a repository will
220 act both as a participant and as an integrator.
221 • git-am(1) to apply patches e-mailed in from your contributors.
223 • git-pull(1) to merge from your trusted lieutenants.
225 • git-format-patch(1) to prepare and send suggested alternative to
227 contributors.
228 • git-revert(1) to undo botched commits.
230 • git-push(1) to publish the bleeding edge.
232 Examples
234 A typical integrator’s Git day.
235 $ git status [1m(1)
237 $ git branch --no-merged master [1m(2)
238 $ mailx [1m(3)
239 & s 2 3 4 5 ./+to-apply
240 & s 7 8 ./+hold-linus
241 & q
242 $ git switch -c topic/one master
243 $ git am -3 -i -s ./+to-apply [1m(4)
244 $ compile/test
245 $ git switch -c hold/linus && git am -3 -i -s ./+hold-linus [1m(5)
246 $ git switch topic/one && git rebase master [1m(6)
247 $ git switch -C seen next [1m(7)
248 $ git merge topic/one topic/two && git merge hold/linus [1m(8)
249 $ git switch maint
250 $ git cherry-pick master~4 [1m(9)
251 $ compile/test
252 $ git tag -s -m "GIT 0.99.9x" v0.99.9x [1m(10)
253 $ git fetch ko && for branch in master maint next seen [1m(11)
254 do
255 git show-branch ko/$branch $branch [1m(12)
256 done
257 $ git push --follow-tags ko [1m(13)
258 1. see what you were in the middle of doing, if anything.
260 2. see which branches haven’t been merged into master yet.
261 Likewise for any other integration branches e.g. maint,
262 next and seen.
263 3. read mails, save ones that are applicable, and save others
266 that are not quite ready (other mail readers are
267 available).
268 4. apply them, interactively, with your sign-offs.
269 5. create topic branch as needed and apply, again with
270 sign-offs.
271 6. rebase internal topic branch that has not been merged to
272 the master or exposed as a part of a stable branch.
273 7. restart seen every time from the next.
274 8. and bundle topic branches still cooking.
275 9. backport a critical fix.
276 10. create a signed tag.
277 11. make sure master was not accidentally rewound beyond that
278 already pushed out.
279 12. In the output from git show-branch, master should have
280 everything ko/master has, and next should have everything
281 ko/next has, etc.
282 13. push out the bleeding edge, together with new tags that
283 point into the pushed history.
284 In this example, the ko shorthand points at the Git maintainer’s
286 repository at kernel.org, and looks like this:
287 (in .git/config)
289 [remote "ko"]
290 url = kernel.org:/pub/scm/git/git.git
291 fetch = refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/ko/*
292 push = refs/heads/master
293 push = refs/heads/next
294 push = +refs/heads/seen
295 push = refs/heads/maint
296
298 A repository administrator uses the following tools to set up and
299 maintain access to the repository by developers.
300 • git-daemon(1) to allow anonymous download from repository.
302 • git-shell(1) can be used as a restricted login shell for shared
304 central repository users.
305 • git-http-backend(1) provides a server side implementation of
307 Git-over-HTTP ("Smart http") allowing both fetch and push services.
308 • gitweb(1) provides a web front-end to Git repositories, which can
310 be set-up using the git-instaweb(1) script.
311 update hook howto[1] has a good example of managing a shared central
313 repository.
314 In addition there are a number of other widely deployed hosting,
316 browsing and reviewing solutions such as:
317 • gitolite, gerrit code review, cgit and others.
319 Examples
321 We assume the following in /etc/services
322 $ grep 9418 /etc/services
324 git 9418/tcp # Git Version Control System
325 Run git-daemon to serve /pub/scm from inetd.
327 $ grep git /etc/inetd.conf
329 git stream tcp nowait nobody \
330 /usr/bin/git-daemon git-daemon --inetd --export-all /pub/scm
331 The actual configuration line should be on one line.
333 Run git-daemon to serve /pub/scm from xinetd.
335 $ cat /etc/xinetd.d/git-daemon
337 # default: off
338 # description: The Git server offers access to Git repositories
339 service git
340 {
341 disable = no
342 type = UNLISTED
343 port = 9418
344 socket_type = stream
345 wait = no
346 user = nobody
347 server = /usr/bin/git-daemon
348 server_args = --inetd --export-all --base-path=/pub/scm
349 log_on_failure += USERID
350 }
351 Check your xinetd(8) documentation and setup, this is from a Fedora
353 system. Others might be different.
354 Give push/pull only access to developers using git-over-ssh.
356 e.g. those using: $ git push/pull ssh://host.xz/pub/scm/project
357 $ grep git /etc/passwd [1m(1)
359 alice:x:1000:1000::/home/alice:/usr/bin/git-shell
360 bob:x:1001:1001::/home/bob:/usr/bin/git-shell
361 cindy:x:1002:1002::/home/cindy:/usr/bin/git-shell
362 david:x:1003:1003::/home/david:/usr/bin/git-shell
363 $ grep git /etc/shells [1m(2)
364 /usr/bin/git-shell
365 1. log-in shell is set to /usr/bin/git-shell, which does not
367 allow anything but git push and git pull. The users
368 require ssh access to the machine.
369 2. in many distributions /etc/shells needs to list what is
370 used as the login shell.
371 CVS-style shared repository.
373 $ grep git /etc/group [1m(1)
375 git:x:9418:alice,bob,cindy,david
376 $ cd /home/devo.git
377 $ ls -l [1m(2)
378 lrwxrwxrwx 1 david git 17 Dec 4 22:40 HEAD -> refs/heads/master
379 drwxrwsr-x 2 david git 4096 Dec 4 22:40 branches
380 -rw-rw-r-- 1 david git 84 Dec 4 22:40 config
381 -rw-rw-r-- 1 david git 58 Dec 4 22:40 description
382 drwxrwsr-x 2 david git 4096 Dec 4 22:40 hooks
383 -rw-rw-r-- 1 david git 37504 Dec 4 22:40 index
384 drwxrwsr-x 2 david git 4096 Dec 4 22:40 info
385 drwxrwsr-x 4 david git 4096 Dec 4 22:40 objects
386 drwxrwsr-x 4 david git 4096 Nov 7 14:58 refs
387 drwxrwsr-x 2 david git 4096 Dec 4 22:40 remotes
388 $ ls -l hooks/update [1m(3)
389 -r-xr-xr-x 1 david git 3536 Dec 4 22:40 update
390 $ cat info/allowed-users [1m(4)
391 refs/heads/master alice\|cindy
392 refs/heads/doc-update bob
393 refs/tags/v[0-9]* david
394 1. place the developers into the same git group.
396 2. and make the shared repository writable by the group.
398 3. use update-hook example by Carl from Documentation/howto/
399 for branch policy control.
400 4. alice and cindy can push into master, only bob can push
401 into doc-update. david is the release manager and is the
402 only person who can create and push version tags.
403
405 Part of the git(1) suite
406
408 1. update hook howto
409 file:///usr/share/doc/git/howto/update-hook-example.html
410Git 2.31.1 2021-03-26 GITEVERYDAY(7)