Documentation/git-bundle.txt - jrn/git - Git at Google

 git-bundle(1)
 =============

 NAME
 ----
 git-bundle - Move objects and refs by archive


 SYNOPSIS
 --------
 [verse]
 'git bundle' create [-q | --quiet | --progress | --all-progress] [--all-progress-implied] <file> <git-rev-list-args>
 'git bundle' verify [-q | --quiet] <file>
 'git bundle' list-heads <file> [<refname>...]
 'git bundle' unbundle <file> [<refname>...]

 DESCRIPTION
 -----------

 Some workflows require that one or more branches of development on one
 machine be replicated on another machine, but the two machines cannot
 be directly connected, and therefore the interactive Git protocols (git,
 ssh, http) cannot be used.

 The 'git bundle' command packages objects and references in an archive
 at the originating machine, which can then be imported into another
 repository using 'git fetch', 'git pull', or 'git clone',
 after moving the archive by some means (e.g., by sneakernet).

 As no
 direct connection between the repositories exists, the user must specify a
 basis for the bundle that is held by the destination repository: the
 bundle assumes that all objects in the basis are already in the
 destination repository.

 OPTIONS
 -------

 create [options] <file> <git-rev-list-args>::
 	Used to create a bundle named 'file'.  This requires the
 	'<git-rev-list-args>' arguments to define the bundle contents.
 	'options' contains the options specific to the 'git bundle create'
 	subcommand.

 verify <file>::
 	Used to check that a bundle file is valid and will apply
 	cleanly to the current repository.  This includes checks on the
 	bundle format itself as well as checking that the prerequisite
 	commits exist and are fully linked in the current repository.
 	'git bundle' prints a list of missing commits, if any, and exits
 	with a non-zero status.

 list-heads <file>::
 	Lists the references defined in the bundle.  If followed by a
 	list of references, only references matching those given are
 	printed out.

 unbundle <file>::
 	Passes the objects in the bundle to 'git index-pack'
 	for storage in the repository, then prints the names of all
 	defined references. If a list of references is given, only
 	references matching those in the list are printed. This command is
 	really plumbing, intended to be called only by 'git fetch'.

 <git-rev-list-args>::
 	A list of arguments, acceptable to 'git rev-parse' and
 	'git rev-list' (and containing a named ref, see SPECIFYING REFERENCES
 	below), that specifies the specific objects and references
 	to transport.  For example, `master~10..master` causes the
 	current master reference to be packaged along with all objects
 	added since its 10th ancestor commit.  There is no explicit
 	limit to the number of references and objects that may be
 	packaged.


 [<refname>...]::
 	A list of references used to limit the references reported as
 	available. This is principally of use to 'git fetch', which
 	expects to receive only those references asked for and not
 	necessarily everything in the pack (in this case, 'git bundle' acts
 	like 'git fetch-pack').

 --progress::
 	Progress status is reported on the standard error stream
 	by default when it is attached to a terminal, unless -q
 	is specified. This flag forces progress status even if
 	the standard error stream is not directed to a terminal.

 --all-progress::
 	When --stdout is specified then progress report is
 	displayed during the object count and compression phases
 	but inhibited during the write-out phase. The reason is
 	that in some cases the output stream is directly linked
 	to another command which may wish to display progress
 	status of its own as it processes incoming pack data.
 	This flag is like --progress except that it forces progress
 	report for the write-out phase as well even if --stdout is
 	used.

 --all-progress-implied::
 	This is used to imply --all-progress whenever progress display
 	is activated.  Unlike --all-progress this flag doesn't actually
 	force any progress display by itself.

 -q::
 --quiet::
 	This flag makes the command not to report its progress
 	on the standard error stream.

 SPECIFYING REFERENCES
 ---------------------

 'git bundle' will only package references that are shown by
 'git show-ref': this includes heads, tags, and remote heads.  References
 such as `master~1` cannot be packaged, but are perfectly suitable for
 defining the basis.  More than one reference may be packaged, and more
 than one basis can be specified.  The objects packaged are those not
 contained in the union of the given bases.  Each basis can be
 specified explicitly (e.g. `^master~10`), or implicitly (e.g.
 `master~10..master`, `--since=10.days.ago master`).

 It is very important that the basis used be held by the destination.
 It is okay to err on the side of caution, causing the bundle file
 to contain objects already in the destination, as these are ignored
 when unpacking at the destination.

 `git clone` can use any bundle created without negative refspecs
 (e.g., `new`, but not `old..new`).
 If you want to match `git clone --mirror`, which would include your
 refs such as `refs/remotes/*`, use `--all`.
 If you want to provide the same set of refs that a clone directly
 from the source repository would get, use `--branches --tags` for
 the `<git-rev-list-args>`.

 EXAMPLES
 --------

 Assume you want to transfer the history from a repository R1 on machine A
 to another repository R2 on machine B.
 For whatever reason, direct connection between A and B is not allowed,
 but we can move data from A to B via some mechanism (CD, email, etc.).
 We want to update R2 with development made on the branch master in R1.

 To bootstrap the process, you can first create a bundle that does not have
 any basis. You can use a tag to remember up to what commit you last
 processed, in order to make it easy to later update the other repository
 with an incremental bundle:

 ----------------
 machineA$ cd R1
 machineA$ git bundle create file.bundle master
 machineA$ git tag -f lastR2bundle master
 ----------------

 Then you transfer file.bundle to the target machine B. Because this
 bundle does not require any existing object to be extracted, you can
 create a new repository on machine B by cloning from it:

 ----------------
 machineB$ git clone -b master /home/me/tmp/file.bundle R2
 ----------------

 This will define a remote called "origin" in the resulting repository that
 lets you fetch and pull from the bundle. The $GIT_DIR/config file in R2 will
 have an entry like this:

 ------------------------
 [remote "origin"]
     url = /home/me/tmp/file.bundle
     fetch = refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/origin/*
 ------------------------

 To update the resulting mine.git repository, you can fetch or pull after
 replacing the bundle stored at /home/me/tmp/file.bundle with incremental
 updates.

 After working some more in the original repository, you can create an
 incremental bundle to update the other repository:

 ----------------
 machineA$ cd R1
 machineA$ git bundle create file.bundle lastR2bundle..master
 machineA$ git tag -f lastR2bundle master
 ----------------

 You then transfer the bundle to the other machine to replace
 /home/me/tmp/file.bundle, and pull from it.

 ----------------
 machineB$ cd R2
 machineB$ git pull
 ----------------

 If you know up to what commit the intended recipient repository should
 have the necessary objects, you can use that knowledge to specify the
 basis, giving a cut-off point to limit the revisions and objects that go
 in the resulting bundle. The previous example used the lastR2bundle tag
 for this purpose, but you can use any other options that you would give to
 the linkgit:git-log[1] command. Here are more examples:

 You can use a tag that is present in both:

 ----------------
 $ git bundle create mybundle v1.0.0..master
 ----------------

 You can use a basis based on time:

 ----------------
 $ git bundle create mybundle --since=10.days master
 ----------------

 You can use the number of commits:

 ----------------
 $ git bundle create mybundle -10 master
 ----------------

 You can run `git-bundle verify` to see if you can extract from a bundle
 that was created with a basis:

 ----------------
 $ git bundle verify mybundle
 ----------------

 This will list what commits you must have in order to extract from the
 bundle and will error out if you do not have them.

 A bundle from a recipient repository's point of view is just like a
 regular repository which it fetches or pulls from. You can, for example, map
 references when fetching:

 ----------------
 $ git fetch mybundle master:localRef
 ----------------

 You can also see what references it offers:

 ----------------
 $ git ls-remote mybundle
 ----------------

 GIT
 ---
 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite
	git-bundle(1)
	=============

	NAME
	----
	git-bundle - Move objects and refs by archive


	SYNOPSIS
	--------
	[verse]
	'git bundle' create [-q \| --quiet \| --progress \| --all-progress] [--all-progress-implied] <file> <git-rev-list-args>
	'git bundle' verify [-q \| --quiet] <file>
	'git bundle' list-heads <file> [<refname>...]
	'git bundle' unbundle <file> [<refname>...]

	DESCRIPTION
	-----------

	Some workflows require that one or more branches of development on one
	machine be replicated on another machine, but the two machines cannot
	be directly connected, and therefore the interactive Git protocols (git,
	ssh, http) cannot be used.

	The 'git bundle' command packages objects and references in an archive
	at the originating machine, which can then be imported into another
	repository using 'git fetch', 'git pull', or 'git clone',
	after moving the archive by some means (e.g., by sneakernet).

	As no
	direct connection between the repositories exists, the user must specify a
	basis for the bundle that is held by the destination repository: the
	bundle assumes that all objects in the basis are already in the
	destination repository.

	OPTIONS
	-------

	create [options] <file> <git-rev-list-args>::
	Used to create a bundle named 'file'. This requires the
	'<git-rev-list-args>' arguments to define the bundle contents.
	'options' contains the options specific to the 'git bundle create'
	subcommand.

	verify <file>::
	Used to check that a bundle file is valid and will apply
	cleanly to the current repository. This includes checks on the
	bundle format itself as well as checking that the prerequisite
	commits exist and are fully linked in the current repository.
	'git bundle' prints a list of missing commits, if any, and exits
	with a non-zero status.

	list-heads <file>::
	Lists the references defined in the bundle. If followed by a
	list of references, only references matching those given are
	printed out.

	unbundle <file>::
	Passes the objects in the bundle to 'git index-pack'
	for storage in the repository, then prints the names of all
	defined references. If a list of references is given, only
	references matching those in the list are printed. This command is
	really plumbing, intended to be called only by 'git fetch'.

	<git-rev-list-args>::
	A list of arguments, acceptable to 'git rev-parse' and
	'git rev-list' (and containing a named ref, see SPECIFYING REFERENCES
	below), that specifies the specific objects and references
	to transport. For example, `master~10..master` causes the
	current master reference to be packaged along with all objects
	added since its 10th ancestor commit. There is no explicit
	limit to the number of references and objects that may be
	packaged.


	[<refname>...]::
	A list of references used to limit the references reported as
	available. This is principally of use to 'git fetch', which
	expects to receive only those references asked for and not
	necessarily everything in the pack (in this case, 'git bundle' acts
	like 'git fetch-pack').

	--progress::
	Progress status is reported on the standard error stream
	by default when it is attached to a terminal, unless -q
	is specified. This flag forces progress status even if
	the standard error stream is not directed to a terminal.

	--all-progress::
	When --stdout is specified then progress report is
	displayed during the object count and compression phases
	but inhibited during the write-out phase. The reason is
	that in some cases the output stream is directly linked
	to another command which may wish to display progress
	status of its own as it processes incoming pack data.
	This flag is like --progress except that it forces progress
	report for the write-out phase as well even if --stdout is
	used.

	--all-progress-implied::
	This is used to imply --all-progress whenever progress display
	is activated. Unlike --all-progress this flag doesn't actually
	force any progress display by itself.

	-q::
	--quiet::
	This flag makes the command not to report its progress
	on the standard error stream.

	SPECIFYING REFERENCES
	---------------------

	'git bundle' will only package references that are shown by
	'git show-ref': this includes heads, tags, and remote heads. References
	such as `master~1` cannot be packaged, but are perfectly suitable for
	defining the basis. More than one reference may be packaged, and more
	than one basis can be specified. The objects packaged are those not
	contained in the union of the given bases. Each basis can be
	specified explicitly (e.g. `^master~10`), or implicitly (e.g.
	`master~10..master`, `--since=10.days.ago master`).

	It is very important that the basis used be held by the destination.
	It is okay to err on the side of caution, causing the bundle file
	to contain objects already in the destination, as these are ignored
	when unpacking at the destination.

	`git clone` can use any bundle created without negative refspecs
	(e.g., `new`, but not `old..new`).
	If you want to match `git clone --mirror`, which would include your
	refs such as `refs/remotes/*`, use `--all`.
	If you want to provide the same set of refs that a clone directly
	from the source repository would get, use `--branches --tags` for
	the `<git-rev-list-args>`.

	EXAMPLES
	--------

	Assume you want to transfer the history from a repository R1 on machine A
	to another repository R2 on machine B.
	For whatever reason, direct connection between A and B is not allowed,
	but we can move data from A to B via some mechanism (CD, email, etc.).
	We want to update R2 with development made on the branch master in R1.

	To bootstrap the process, you can first create a bundle that does not have
	any basis. You can use a tag to remember up to what commit you last
	processed, in order to make it easy to later update the other repository
	with an incremental bundle:

	----------------
	machineA$ cd R1
	machineA$ git bundle create file.bundle master
	machineA$ git tag -f lastR2bundle master
	----------------

	Then you transfer file.bundle to the target machine B. Because this
	bundle does not require any existing object to be extracted, you can
	create a new repository on machine B by cloning from it:

	----------------
	machineB$ git clone -b master /home/me/tmp/file.bundle R2
	----------------

	This will define a remote called "origin" in the resulting repository that
	lets you fetch and pull from the bundle. The $GIT_DIR/config file in R2 will
	have an entry like this:

	------------------------
	[remote "origin"]
	url = /home/me/tmp/file.bundle
	fetch = refs/heads/:refs/remotes/origin/
	------------------------

	To update the resulting mine.git repository, you can fetch or pull after
	replacing the bundle stored at /home/me/tmp/file.bundle with incremental
	updates.

	After working some more in the original repository, you can create an
	incremental bundle to update the other repository:

	----------------
	machineA$ cd R1
	machineA$ git bundle create file.bundle lastR2bundle..master
	machineA$ git tag -f lastR2bundle master
	----------------

	You then transfer the bundle to the other machine to replace
	/home/me/tmp/file.bundle, and pull from it.

	----------------
	machineB$ cd R2
	machineB$ git pull
	----------------

	If you know up to what commit the intended recipient repository should
	have the necessary objects, you can use that knowledge to specify the
	basis, giving a cut-off point to limit the revisions and objects that go
	in the resulting bundle. The previous example used the lastR2bundle tag
	for this purpose, but you can use any other options that you would give to
	the linkgit:git-log[1] command. Here are more examples:

	You can use a tag that is present in both:

	----------------
	$ git bundle create mybundle v1.0.0..master
	----------------

	You can use a basis based on time:

	----------------
	$ git bundle create mybundle --since=10.days master
	----------------

	You can use the number of commits:

	----------------
	$ git bundle create mybundle -10 master
	----------------

	You can run `git-bundle verify` to see if you can extract from a bundle
	that was created with a basis:

	----------------
	$ git bundle verify mybundle
	----------------

	This will list what commits you must have in order to extract from the
	bundle and will error out if you do not have them.

	A bundle from a recipient repository's point of view is just like a
	regular repository which it fetches or pulls from. You can, for example, map
	references when fetching:

	----------------
	$ git fetch mybundle master:localRef
	----------------

	You can also see what references it offers:

	----------------
	$ git ls-remote mybundle
	----------------

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