Documentation/git-http-backend.txt

git-http-backend(1)
===================

NAME
----
git-http-backend - Server side implementation of Git over HTTP

SYNOPSIS
--------
[verse]
'git http-backend'

DESCRIPTION
-----------
A simple CGI program to serve the contents of a Git repository to Git
clients accessing the repository over http:// and https:// protocols.
The program supports clients fetching using both the smart HTTP protocol
and the backwards-compatible dumb HTTP protocol, as well as clients
pushing using the smart HTTP protocol.

It verifies that the directory has the magic file
"git-daemon-export-ok", and it will refuse to export any git directory
that hasn't explicitly been marked for export this way (unless the
GIT_HTTP_EXPORT_ALL environmental variable is set).

By default, only the `upload-pack` service is enabled, which serves
'git fetch-pack' and 'git ls-remote' clients, which are invoked from
'git fetch', 'git pull', and 'git clone'.  If the client is authenticated,
the `receive-pack` service is enabled, which serves 'git send-pack'
clients, which is invoked from 'git push'.

SERVICES
--------
These services can be enabled/disabled using the per-repository
configuration file:

http.getanyfile::
	This serves Git clients older than version 1.6.6 that are unable to use the
	upload pack service.  When enabled, clients are able to read
	any file within the repository, including objects that are
	no longer reachable from a branch but are still present.
	It is enabled by default, but a repository can disable it
	by setting this configuration item to `false`.

http.uploadpack::
	This serves 'git fetch-pack' and 'git ls-remote' clients.
	It is enabled by default, but a repository can disable it
	by setting this configuration item to `false`.

http.receivepack::
	This serves 'git send-pack' clients, allowing push.  It is
	disabled by default for anonymous users, and enabled by
	default for users authenticated by the web server.  It can be
	disabled by setting this item to `false`, or enabled for all
	users, including anonymous users, by setting it to `true`.

URL TRANSLATION
---------------
To determine the location of the repository on disk, 'git http-backend'
concatenates the environment variables PATH_INFO, which is set
automatically by the web server, and GIT_PROJECT_ROOT, which must be set
manually in the web server configuration.  If GIT_PROJECT_ROOT is not
set, 'git http-backend' reads PATH_TRANSLATED, which is also set
automatically by the web server.

EXAMPLES
--------
All of the following examples map 'http://$hostname/git/foo/bar.git'
to '/var/www/git/foo/bar.git'.

Apache 2.x::
	Ensure mod_cgi, mod_alias, and mod_env are enabled, set
	GIT_PROJECT_ROOT (or DocumentRoot) appropriately, and
	create a ScriptAlias to the CGI:
+
----------------------------------------------------------------
SetEnv GIT_PROJECT_ROOT /var/www/git
SetEnv GIT_HTTP_EXPORT_ALL
ScriptAlias /git/ /usr/libexec/git-core/git-http-backend/
----------------------------------------------------------------
+
To enable anonymous read access but authenticated write access,
require authorization with a LocationMatch directive:
+
----------------------------------------------------------------
<LocationMatch "^/git/.*/git-receive-pack$">
	AuthType Basic
	AuthName "Git Access"
	Require group committers
	...
</LocationMatch>
----------------------------------------------------------------
+
To require authentication for both reads and writes, use a Location
directive around the repository, or one of its parent directories:
+
----------------------------------------------------------------
<Location /git/private>
	AuthType Basic
	AuthName "Private Git Access"
	Require group committers
	...
</Location>
----------------------------------------------------------------
+
To serve gitweb at the same url, use a ScriptAliasMatch to only
those URLs that 'git http-backend' can handle, and forward the
rest to gitweb:
+
----------------------------------------------------------------
ScriptAliasMatch \
	"(?x)^/git/(.*/(HEAD | \
			info/refs | \
			objects/(info/[^/]+ | \
				 [0-9a-f]{2}/[0-9a-f]{38} | \
				 pack/pack-[0-9a-f]{40}\.(pack|idx)) | \
			git-(upload|receive)-pack))$" \
	/usr/libexec/git-core/git-http-backend/$1

ScriptAlias /git/ /var/www/cgi-bin/gitweb.cgi/
----------------------------------------------------------------

Accelerated static Apache 2.x::
	Similar to the above, but Apache can be used to return static
	files that are stored on disk.	On many systems this may
	be more efficient as Apache can ask the kernel to copy the
	file contents from the file system directly to the network:
+
----------------------------------------------------------------
SetEnv GIT_PROJECT_ROOT /var/www/git

AliasMatch ^/git/(.*/objects/[0-9a-f]{2}/[0-9a-f]{38})$          /var/www/git/$1
AliasMatch ^/git/(.*/objects/pack/pack-[0-9a-f]{40}.(pack|idx))$ /var/www/git/$1
ScriptAlias /git/ /usr/libexec/git-core/git-http-backend/
----------------------------------------------------------------
+
This can be combined with the gitweb configuration:
+
----------------------------------------------------------------
SetEnv GIT_PROJECT_ROOT /var/www/git

AliasMatch ^/git/(.*/objects/[0-9a-f]{2}/[0-9a-f]{38})$          /var/www/git/$1
AliasMatch ^/git/(.*/objects/pack/pack-[0-9a-f]{40}.(pack|idx))$ /var/www/git/$1
ScriptAliasMatch \
	"(?x)^/git/(.*/(HEAD | \
			info/refs | \
			objects/info/[^/]+ | \
			git-(upload|receive)-pack))$" \
	/usr/libexec/git-core/git-http-backend/$1
ScriptAlias /git/ /var/www/cgi-bin/gitweb.cgi/
----------------------------------------------------------------


ENVIRONMENT
-----------
'git http-backend' relies upon the CGI environment variables set
by the invoking web server, including:

* PATH_INFO (if GIT_PROJECT_ROOT is set, otherwise PATH_TRANSLATED)
* REMOTE_USER
* REMOTE_ADDR
* CONTENT_TYPE
* QUERY_STRING
* REQUEST_METHOD

The GIT_HTTP_EXPORT_ALL environmental variable may be passed to
'git-http-backend' to bypass the check for the "git-daemon-export-ok"
file in each repository before allowing export of that repository.

The backend process sets GIT_COMMITTER_NAME to '$REMOTE_USER' and
GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL to '$\{REMOTE_USER}@http.$\{REMOTE_ADDR\}',
ensuring that any reflogs created by 'git-receive-pack' contain some
identifying information of the remote user who performed the push.

All CGI environment variables are available to each of the hooks
invoked by the 'git-receive-pack'.

Author
------
Written by Shawn O. Pearce <spearce@spearce.org>.

Documentation
--------------
Documentation by Shawn O. Pearce <spearce@spearce.org>.

GIT
---
Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite