git-clone.txt

git-clone(1)
============

NAME
----
git-clone - Clones a repository.


SYNOPSIS
--------
[verse]
'git-clone' [-l [-s]] [-q] [-n] [--bare] [-o <name>] [-u <upload-pack>]
	  <repository> [<directory>]

DESCRIPTION
-----------
Clones a repository into a newly created directory.  All remote
branch heads are copied under `$GIT_DIR/refs/heads/`, except
that the remote `master` is also copied to `origin` branch.

In addition, `$GIT_DIR/remotes/origin` file is set up to have
this line:

	Pull: master:origin

This is to help the typical workflow of working off of the
remote `master` branch.  Every time `git pull` without argument
is run, the progress on the remote `master` branch is tracked by
copying it into the local `origin` branch, and merged into the
branch you are currently working on.  Remote branches other than
`master` are also added there to be tracked.


OPTIONS
-------
--local::
-l::
	When the repository to clone from is on a local machine,
	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.

--shared::
-s::
	When the repository to clone is on the local machine,
	instead of using hard links, automatically setup
	.git/objects/info/alternatives to share the objects
	with the source repository.  The resulting repository
	starts out without any object of its own.

--quiet::
-q::
	Operate quietly.  This flag is passed to "rsync" and
	"git-clone-pack" commands when given.

-n::
	No checkout of HEAD is performed after the clone is complete.

--bare::
	Make a 'bare' GIT repository.  That is, instead of
	creating `<directory>` and placing the administrative
	files in `<directory>/.git`, make the `<directory>`
	itself the `$GIT_DIR`. This implies `-n` option.  When
	this option is used, neither the `origin` branch nor the
	default	`remotes/origin` file is created.

-o <name>::
	Instead of using the branch name 'origin' to keep track
	of the upstream repository, use <name> instead.  Note
	that the shorthand name stored in `remotes/origin` is
	not affected, but the local branch name to pull the
	remote `master` branch into is.

--upload-pack <upload-pack>::
-u <upload-pack>::
	When given, and the repository to clone from is handled
	by 'git-clone-pack', '--exec=<upload-pack>' is passed to
	the command to specify non-default path for the command
	run on the other end.

<repository>::
	The (possibly remote) repository to clone from.  It can
	be any URL git-fetch supports.

<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.

Examples
~~~~~~~~

Clone from upstream::
+
------------
$ git clone git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/.../linux-2.6 my2.6
$ cd my2.6
$ make
------------


Make a local clone that borrows from the current directory, without checking things out::
+
------------
$ git clone -l -s -n . ../copy
$ cd copy
$ git show-branch
------------


Create a bare repository to publish your changes to the public::
+
------------
$ git clone --bare -l /home/proj/.git /pub/scm/proj.git
------------


Create a repository on the kernel.org machine that borrows from Linus::
+
------------
$ git clone --bare -l -s /pub/scm/.../torvalds/linux-2.6.git \
    /pub/scm/.../me/subsys-2.6.git
------------


Author
------
Written by Linus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org>


Documentation
--------------
Documentation by Junio C Hamano and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.


GIT
---
Part of the gitlink:git[7] suite