6 git-clone - Clone a repository into a new directory
12 'git clone' [--template=<template_directory>]
13 [-l] [-s] [--no-hardlinks] [-q] [-n] [--bare] [--mirror]
14 [-o <name>] [-b <name>] [-u <upload-pack>] [--reference <repository>]
15 [--dissociate] [--separate-git-dir <git dir>]
16 [--depth <depth>] [--[no-]single-branch] [--no-tags]
17 [--recurse-submodules[=<pathspec>]] [--[no-]shallow-submodules]
18 [--[no-]remote-submodules] [--jobs <n>] [--sparse] [--] <repository>
24 Clones a repository into a newly created directory, creates
25 remote-tracking branches for each branch in the cloned repository
26 (visible using `git branch --remotes`), and creates and checks out an
27 initial branch that is forked from the cloned repository's
28 currently active branch.
30 After the clone, a plain `git fetch` without arguments will update
31 all the remote-tracking branches, and a `git pull` without
32 arguments will in addition merge the remote master branch into the
33 current master branch, if any (this is untrue when "--single-branch"
36 This default configuration is achieved by creating references to
37 the remote branch heads under `refs/remotes/origin` and
38 by initializing `remote.origin.url` and `remote.origin.fetch`
39 configuration variables.
46 When the repository to clone from is on a local machine,
47 this flag bypasses the normal "Git aware" transport
48 mechanism and clones the repository by making a copy of
49 HEAD and everything under objects and refs directories.
50 The files under `.git/objects/` directory are hardlinked
51 to save space when possible.
53 If the repository is specified as a local path (e.g., `/path/to/repo`),
54 this is the default, and --local is essentially a no-op. If the
55 repository is specified as a URL, then this flag is ignored (and we
56 never use the local optimizations). Specifying `--no-local` will
57 override the default when `/path/to/repo` is given, using the regular
58 Git transport instead.
61 Force the cloning process from a repository on a local
62 filesystem to copy the files under the `.git/objects`
63 directory instead of using hardlinks. This may be desirable
64 if you are trying to make a back-up of your repository.
68 When the repository to clone is on the local machine,
69 instead of using hard links, automatically setup
70 `.git/objects/info/alternates` to share the objects
71 with the source repository. The resulting repository
72 starts out without any object of its own.
74 *NOTE*: this is a possibly dangerous operation; do *not* use
75 it unless you understand what it does. If you clone your
76 repository using this option and then delete branches (or use any
77 other Git command that makes any existing commit unreferenced) in the
78 source repository, some objects may become unreferenced (or dangling).
79 These objects may be removed by normal Git operations (such as `git commit`)
80 which automatically call `git gc --auto`. (See linkgit:git-gc[1].)
81 If these objects are removed and were referenced by the cloned repository,
82 then the cloned repository will become corrupt.
84 Note that running `git repack` without the `--local` option in a repository
85 cloned with `--shared` will copy objects from the source repository into a pack
86 in the cloned repository, removing the disk space savings of `clone --shared`.
87 It is safe, however, to run `git gc`, which uses the `--local` option by
90 If you want to break the dependency of a repository cloned with `--shared` on
91 its source repository, you can simply run `git repack -a` to copy all
92 objects from the source repository into a pack in the cloned repository.
94 --reference[-if-able] <repository>::
95 If the reference repository is on the local machine,
96 automatically setup `.git/objects/info/alternates` to
97 obtain objects from the reference repository. Using
98 an already existing repository as an alternate will
99 require fewer objects to be copied from the repository
100 being cloned, reducing network and local storage costs.
101 When using the `--reference-if-able`, a non existing
102 directory is skipped with a warning instead of aborting
105 *NOTE*: see the NOTE for the `--shared` option, and also the
106 `--dissociate` option.
109 Borrow the objects from reference repositories specified
110 with the `--reference` options only to reduce network
111 transfer, and stop borrowing from them after a clone is made
112 by making necessary local copies of borrowed objects. This
113 option can also be used when cloning locally from a
114 repository that already borrows objects from another
115 repository--the new repository will borrow objects from the
116 same repository, and this option can be used to stop the
121 Operate quietly. Progress is not reported to the standard
126 Run verbosely. Does not affect the reporting of progress status
127 to the standard error stream.
130 Progress status is reported on the standard error stream
131 by default when it is attached to a terminal, unless `--quiet`
132 is specified. This flag forces progress status even if the
133 standard error stream is not directed to a terminal.
135 --server-option=<option>::
136 Transmit the given string to the server when communicating using
137 protocol version 2. The given string must not contain a NUL or LF
138 character. The server's handling of server options, including
139 unknown ones, is server-specific.
140 When multiple `--server-option=<option>` are given, they are all
141 sent to the other side in the order listed on the command line.
145 No checkout of HEAD is performed after the clone is complete.
148 Make a 'bare' Git repository. That is, instead of
149 creating `<directory>` and placing the administrative
150 files in `<directory>/.git`, make the `<directory>`
151 itself the `$GIT_DIR`. This obviously implies the `--no-checkout`
152 because there is nowhere to check out the working tree.
153 Also the branch heads at the remote are copied directly
154 to corresponding local branch heads, without mapping
155 them to `refs/remotes/origin/`. When this option is
156 used, neither remote-tracking branches nor the related
157 configuration variables are created.
160 Initialize the sparse-checkout file so the working
161 directory starts with only the files in the root
162 of the repository. The sparse-checkout file can be
163 modified to grow the working directory as needed.
166 Set up a mirror of the source repository. This implies `--bare`.
167 Compared to `--bare`, `--mirror` not only maps local branches of the
168 source to local branches of the target, it maps all refs (including
169 remote-tracking branches, notes etc.) and sets up a refspec configuration such
170 that all these refs are overwritten by a `git remote update` in the
175 Instead of using the remote name `origin` to keep track
176 of the upstream repository, use `<name>`.
180 Instead of pointing the newly created HEAD to the branch pointed
181 to by the cloned repository's HEAD, point to `<name>` branch
182 instead. In a non-bare repository, this is the branch that will
184 `--branch` can also take tags and detaches the HEAD at that commit
185 in the resulting repository.
188 --upload-pack <upload-pack>::
189 When given, and the repository to clone from is accessed
190 via ssh, this specifies a non-default path for the command
191 run on the other end.
193 --template=<template_directory>::
194 Specify the directory from which templates will be used;
195 (See the "TEMPLATE DIRECTORY" section of linkgit:git-init[1].)
198 --config <key>=<value>::
199 Set a configuration variable in the newly-created repository;
200 this takes effect immediately after the repository is
201 initialized, but before the remote history is fetched or any
202 files checked out. The key is in the same format as expected by
203 linkgit:git-config[1] (e.g., `core.eol=true`). If multiple
204 values are given for the same key, each value will be written to
205 the config file. This makes it safe, for example, to add
206 additional fetch refspecs to the origin remote.
208 Due to limitations of the current implementation, some configuration
209 variables do not take effect until after the initial fetch and checkout.
210 Configuration variables known to not take effect are:
211 `remote.<name>.mirror` and `remote.<name>.tagOpt`. Use the
212 corresponding `--mirror` and `--no-tags` options instead.
215 Create a 'shallow' clone with a history truncated to the
216 specified number of commits. Implies `--single-branch` unless
217 `--no-single-branch` is given to fetch the histories near the
218 tips of all branches. If you want to clone submodules shallowly,
219 also pass `--shallow-submodules`.
221 --shallow-since=<date>::
222 Create a shallow clone with a history after the specified time.
224 --shallow-exclude=<revision>::
225 Create a shallow clone with a history, excluding commits
226 reachable from a specified remote branch or tag. This option
227 can be specified multiple times.
229 --[no-]single-branch::
230 Clone only the history leading to the tip of a single branch,
231 either specified by the `--branch` option or the primary
232 branch remote's `HEAD` points at.
233 Further fetches into the resulting repository will only update the
234 remote-tracking branch for the branch this option was used for the
235 initial cloning. If the HEAD at the remote did not point at any
236 branch when `--single-branch` clone was made, no remote-tracking
240 Don't clone any tags, and set
241 `remote.<remote>.tagOpt=--no-tags` in the config, ensuring
242 that future `git pull` and `git fetch` operations won't follow
243 any tags. Subsequent explicit tag fetches will still work,
244 (see linkgit:git-fetch[1]).
246 Can be used in conjunction with `--single-branch` to clone and
247 maintain a branch with no references other than a single cloned
248 branch. This is useful e.g. to maintain minimal clones of the default
249 branch of some repository for search indexing.
251 --recurse-submodules[=<pathspec]::
252 After the clone is created, initialize and clone submodules
253 within based on the provided pathspec. If no pathspec is
254 provided, all submodules are initialized and cloned.
255 This option can be given multiple times for pathspecs consisting
256 of multiple entries. The resulting clone has `submodule.active` set to
257 the provided pathspec, or "." (meaning all submodules) if no
258 pathspec is provided.
260 Submodules are initialized and cloned using their default settings. This is
261 equivalent to running
262 `git submodule update --init --recursive <pathspec>` immediately after
263 the clone is finished. This option is ignored if the cloned repository does
264 not have a worktree/checkout (i.e. if any of `--no-checkout`/`-n`, `--bare`,
265 or `--mirror` is given)
267 --[no-]shallow-submodules::
268 All submodules which are cloned will be shallow with a depth of 1.
270 --[no-]remote-submodules::
271 All submodules which are cloned will use the status of the submodule's
272 remote-tracking branch to update the submodule, rather than the
273 superproject's recorded SHA-1. Equivalent to passing `--remote` to
274 `git submodule update`.
276 --separate-git-dir=<git dir>::
277 Instead of placing the cloned repository where it is supposed
278 to be, place the cloned repository at the specified directory,
279 then make a filesystem-agnostic Git symbolic link to there.
280 The result is Git repository can be separated from working
285 The number of submodules fetched at the same time.
286 Defaults to the `submodule.fetchJobs` option.
289 The (possibly remote) repository to clone from. See the
290 <<URLS,GIT URLS>> section below for more information on specifying
294 The name of a new directory to clone into. The "humanish"
295 part of the source repository is used if no directory is
296 explicitly given (`repo` for `/path/to/repo.git` and `foo`
297 for `host.xz:foo/.git`). Cloning into an existing directory
298 is only allowed if the directory is empty.
306 * Clone from upstream:
309 $ git clone git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/.../linux.git my-linux
315 * Make a local clone that borrows from the current directory, without checking things out:
318 $ git clone -l -s -n . ../copy
324 * Clone from upstream while borrowing from an existing local directory:
327 $ git clone --reference /git/linux.git \
328 git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/.../linux.git \
334 * Create a bare repository to publish your changes to the public:
337 $ git clone --bare -l /home/proj/.git /pub/scm/proj.git
343 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite