GITEVERYDAY(7) Git Manual GITEVERYDAY(7)

NAME

giteveryday - A useful minimum set of commands for Everyday Git

SYNOPSIS

Everyday Git With 20 Commands Or So

DESCRIPTION

Git users can broadly be grouped into four categories for the
purposes of describing here a small set of useful commands for
everyday Git.

+o Individual Developer (Standalone) commands are essential for
anybody who makes a commit, even for somebody who works alone.

+o If you work with other people, you will need commands listed in
the Individual Developer (Participant) section as well.

+o People who play the Integrator role need to learn some more
commands in addition to the above.

+o Repository Administration commands are for system administrators
who are responsible for the care and feeding of Git repositories.

INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPER (STANDALONE)
A standalone individual developer does not exchange patches with
other people, and works alone in a single repository, using the
following commands.

+o git-init(1) to create a new repository.

+o git-log(1) to see what happened.

+o git-switch(1) and git-branch(1) to switch branches.

+o git-add(1) to manage the index file.

+o git-diff(1) and git-status(1) to see what you are in the middle
of doing.

+o git-commit(1) to advance the current branch.

+o git-restore(1) to undo changes.

+o git-merge(1) to merge between local branches.

+o git-rebase(1) to maintain topic branches.

+o git-tag(1) to mark a known point.

Examples

Use a tarball as a starting point for a new repository.

$ tar zxf frotz.tar.gz
$ cd frotz
$ git init
$ git add . (1)
$ git commit -m "import of frotz source tree."
$ git tag v2.43 (2)

1. add everything under the
current directory.
2. make a lightweight,
unannotated tag.

Create a topic branch and develop.

$ git switch -c alsa-audio (1)
$ edit/compile/test
$ git restore curses/ux_audio_oss.c (2)
$ git add curses/ux_audio_alsa.c (3)
$ edit/compile/test
$ git diff HEAD (4)
$ git commit -a -s (5)
$ edit/compile/test
$ git diff HEAD^ (6)
$ git commit -a --amend (7)
$ git switch master (8)
$ git merge alsa-audio (9)
$ git log --since='3 days ago' (10)
$ git log v2.43.. curses/ (11)

1. create a new topic
branch.
2. revert your botched
changes in
curses/ux_audio_oss.c.
3. you need to tell Git if
you added a new file;
removal and modification
will be caught if you do
git commit -a later.
4. to see what changes you
are committing.
5. commit everything, as you
have tested, with your
sign-off.
6. look at all your changes
including the previous
commit.
7. amend the previous
commit, adding all your
new changes, using your
original message.
8. switch to the master
branch.
9. merge a topic branch into
your master branch.
10. review commit logs; other
forms to limit output can
be combined and include
-10 (to show up to 10
commits),
--until=2005-12-10, etc.
11. view only the changes
that touch what's in
curses/ directory, since
v2.43 tag.

INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPER (PARTICIPANT)
A developer working as a participant in a group project needs to
learn how to communicate with others, and uses these commands in
addition to the ones needed by a standalone developer.

+o git-clone(1) from the upstream to prime your local repository.

+o git-pull(1) and git-fetch(1) from "origin" to keep up-to-date
with the upstream.

+o git-push(1) to shared repository, if you adopt CVS style shared
repository workflow.

+o git-format-patch(1) to prepare e-mail submission, if you adopt
Linux kernel-style public forum workflow.

+o git-send-email(1) to send your e-mail submission without
corruption by your MUA.

+o git-request-pull(1) to create a summary of changes for your
upstream to pull.

Examples

Clone the upstream and work on it. Feed changes to upstream.

$ git clone git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/.../torvalds/linux-2.6 my2.6
$ cd my2.6
$ git switch -c mine master (1)
$ edit/compile/test; git commit -a -s (2)
$ git format-patch master (3)
$ git send-email --to="person <email@example.com>" 00*.patch (4)
$ git switch master (5)
$ git pull (6)
$ git log -p ORIG_HEAD.. arch/i386 include/asm-i386 (7)
$ git ls-remote --heads http://git.kernel.org/.../jgarzik/libata-dev.git (8)
$ git pull git://git.kernel.org/pub/.../jgarzik/libata-dev.git ALL (9)
$ git reset --hard ORIG_HEAD (10)
$ git gc (11)

1. checkout a new branch
mine from master.
2. repeat as needed.
3. extract patches from your
branch, relative to
master,
4. and email them.
5. return to master, ready
to see what's new
6. git pull fetches from
origin by default and
merges into the current
branch.
7. immediately after
pulling, look at the
changes done upstream
since last time we
checked, only in the area
we are interested in.
8. check the branch names in
an external repository
(if not known).
9. fetch from a specific
branch ALL from a
specific repository and
merge it.
10. revert the pull.
11. garbage collect leftover
objects from reverted
pull.

Push into another repository.

satellite$ git clone mothership:frotz frotz (1)
satellite$ cd frotz
satellite$ git config --get-regexp '^(remote|branch)\.' (2)
remote.origin.url mothership:frotz
remote.origin.fetch refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/origin/*
branch.master.remote origin
branch.master.merge refs/heads/master
satellite$ git config remote.origin.push \
+refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/satellite/* (3)
satellite$ edit/compile/test/commit
satellite$ git push origin (4)

mothership$ cd frotz
mothership$ git switch master
mothership$ git merge satellite/master (5)

1. mothership machine has a
frotz repository under
your home directory;
clone from it to start a
repository on the
satellite machine.
2. clone sets these
configuration variables
by default. It arranges
git pull to fetch and
store the branches of
mothership machine to
local remotes/origin/*
remote-tracking branches.
3. arrange git push to push
all local branches to
their corresponding
branch of the mothership
machine.
4. push will stash all our
work away on
remotes/satellite/*
remote-tracking branches
on the mothership
machine. You could use
this as a back-up method.
Likewise, you can pretend
that mothership "fetched"
from you (useful when
access is one sided).
5. on mothership machine,
merge the work done on
the satellite machine
into the master branch.

Branch off of a specific tag.

$ git switch -c private2.6.14 v2.6.14 (1)
$ edit/compile/test; git commit -a
$ git checkout master
$ git cherry-pick v2.6.14..private2.6.14 (2)

1. create a private branch
based on a well known
(but somewhat behind)
tag.
2. forward port all changes
in private2.6.14 branch
to master branch without
a formal "merging". Or
longhand git
format-patch -k -m
--stdout
v2.6.14..private2.6.14 |
git am -3 -k

An alternate participant submission mechanism is using the git
request-pull or pull-request mechanisms (e.g. as used on GitHub
(www.github.com) to notify your upstream of your contribution.

INTEGRATOR

A fairly central person acting as the integrator in a group project
receives changes made by others, reviews and integrates them and
publishes the result for others to use, using these commands in
addition to the ones needed by participants.

This section can also be used by those who respond to git
request-pull or pull-request on GitHub (www.github.com) to integrate
the work of others into their history. A sub-area lieutenant for a
repository will act both as a participant and as an integrator.

+o git-am(1) to apply patches e-mailed in from your contributors.

+o git-pull(1) to merge from your trusted lieutenants.

+o git-format-patch(1) to prepare and send suggested alternative to
contributors.

+o git-revert(1) to undo botched commits.

+o git-push(1) to publish the bleeding edge.

Examples

A typical integrator's Git day.

$ git status (1)
$ git branch --no-merged master (2)
$ mailx (3)
& s 2 3 4 5 ./+to-apply
& s 7 8 ./+hold-linus
& q
$ git switch -c topic/one master
$ git am -3 -i -s ./+to-apply (4)
$ compile/test
$ git switch -c hold/linus && git am -3 -i -s ./+hold-linus (5)
$ git switch topic/one && git rebase master (6)
$ git switch -C seen next (7)
$ git merge topic/one topic/two && git merge hold/linus (8)
$ git switch maint
$ git cherry-pick master~4 (9)
$ compile/test
$ git tag -s -m "GIT 0.99.9x" v0.99.9x (10)
$ git fetch ko && for branch in master maint next seen (11)
do
git show-branch ko/$branch $branch (12)
done
$ git push --follow-tags ko (13)

1. see what you were in the
middle of doing, if
anything.
2. see which branches
haven't been merged into
master yet. Likewise for
any other integration
branches e.g. maint, next
and seen.
3. read mails, save ones
that are applicable, and
save others that are not
quite ready (other mail
readers are available).
4. apply them,
interactively, with your
sign-offs.
5. create topic branch as
needed and apply, again
with sign-offs.
6. rebase internal topic
branch that has not been
merged to the master or
exposed as a part of a
stable branch.
7. restart seen every time
from the next.
8. and bundle topic branches
still cooking.
9. backport a critical fix.
10. create a signed tag.
11. make sure master was not
accidentally rewound
beyond that already
pushed out.
12. In the output from git
show-branch, master
should have everything
ko/master has, and next
should have everything
ko/next has, etc.
13. push out the bleeding
edge, together with new
tags that point into the
pushed history.

In this example, the ko shorthand points at the Git maintainer's
repository at kernel.org, and looks like this:

(in .git/config)
[remote "ko"]
url = kernel.org:/pub/scm/git/git.git
fetch = refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/ko/*
push = refs/heads/master
push = refs/heads/next
push = +refs/heads/seen
push = refs/heads/maint

REPOSITORY ADMINISTRATION

A repository administrator uses the following tools to set up and
maintain access to the repository by developers.

+o git-daemon(1) to allow anonymous download from repository.

+o git-shell(1) can be used as a restricted login shell for shared
central repository users.

+o git-http-backend(1) provides a server side implementation of
Git-over-HTTP ("Smart http") allowing both fetch and push
services.

+o gitweb(1) provides a web front-end to Git repositories, which can
be set-up using the git-instaweb(1) script.

update hook howto[1] has a good example of managing a shared central
repository.

In addition there are a number of other widely deployed hosting,
browsing and reviewing solutions such as:

+o gitolite, gerrit code review, cgit and others.

Examples

We assume the following in /etc/services

$ grep 9418 /etc/services
git 9418/tcp # Git Version Control System

Run git-daemon to serve /pub/scm from inetd.

$ grep git /etc/inetd.conf
git stream tcp nowait nobody \
/usr/bin/git-daemon git-daemon --inetd --export-all /pub/scm

The actual configuration line should be on one line.

Run git-daemon to serve /pub/scm from xinetd.

$ cat /etc/xinetd.d/git-daemon
# default: off
# description: The Git server offers access to Git repositories
service git
{
disable = no
type = UNLISTED
port = 9418
socket_type = stream
wait = no
user = nobody
server = /usr/bin/git-daemon
server_args = --inetd --export-all --base-path=/pub/scm
log_on_failure += USERID
}

Check your xinetd(8) documentation and setup, this is from a
Fedora system. Others might be different.

Give push/pull only access to developers using git-over-ssh.
e.g. those using: $ git push/pull ssh://host.xz/pub/scm/project

$ grep git /etc/passwd (1)
alice:x:1000:1000::/home/alice:/usr/bin/git-shell
bob:x:1001:1001::/home/bob:/usr/bin/git-shell
cindy:x:1002:1002::/home/cindy:/usr/bin/git-shell
david:x:1003:1003::/home/david:/usr/bin/git-shell
$ grep git /etc/shells (2)
/usr/bin/git-shell

1. log-in shell is set to
/usr/bin/git-shell, which
does not allow anything
but git push and git
pull. The users require
ssh access to the
machine.
2. in many distributions
/etc/shells needs to list
what is used as the login
shell.

CVS-style shared repository.

$ grep git /etc/group (1)
git:x:9418:alice,bob,cindy,david
$ cd /home/devo.git
$ ls -l (2)
lrwxrwxrwx 1 david git 17 Dec 4 22:40 HEAD -> refs/heads/master
drwxrwsr-x 2 david git 4096 Dec 4 22:40 branches
-rw-rw-r-- 1 david git 84 Dec 4 22:40 config
-rw-rw-r-- 1 david git 58 Dec 4 22:40 description
drwxrwsr-x 2 david git 4096 Dec 4 22:40 hooks
-rw-rw-r-- 1 david git 37504 Dec 4 22:40 index
drwxrwsr-x 2 david git 4096 Dec 4 22:40 info
drwxrwsr-x 4 david git 4096 Dec 4 22:40 objects
drwxrwsr-x 4 david git 4096 Nov 7 14:58 refs
drwxrwsr-x 2 david git 4096 Dec 4 22:40 remotes
$ ls -l hooks/update (3)
-r-xr-xr-x 1 david git 3536 Dec 4 22:40 update
$ cat info/allowed-users (4)
refs/heads/master alice\|cindy
refs/heads/doc-update bob
refs/tags/v[0-9]* david

1. place the developers into
the same git group.
2. and make the shared
repository writable by
the group.
3. use update-hook example
by Carl from
Documentation/howto/ for
branch policy control.
4. alice and cindy can push
into master, only bob can
push into doc-update.
david is the release
manager and is the only
person who can create and
push version tags.

GIT

Part of the git(1) suite

NOTES

1. update hook howto
git-htmldocs/howto/update-hook-example.html

Git 2.48.1 2025-01-13 GITEVERYDAY(7)