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

 git-repack(1)
 =============

 NAME
 ----
 git-repack - Pack unpacked objects in a repository


 SYNOPSIS
 --------
 [verse]
 'git repack' [-a] [-A] [-d] [-f] [-F] [-l] [-n] [-q] [-b] [-m] [--window=<n>] [--depth=<n>] [--threads=<n>] [--keep-pack=<pack-name>] [--write-midx]

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

 This command is used to combine all objects that do not currently
 reside in a "pack", into a pack.  It can also be used to re-organize
 existing packs into a single, more efficient pack.

 A pack is a collection of objects, individually compressed, with
 delta compression applied, stored in a single file, with an
 associated index file.

 Packs are used to reduce the load on mirror systems, backup
 engines, disk storage, etc.

 OPTIONS
 -------

 -a::
 	Instead of incrementally packing the unpacked objects,
 	pack everything referenced into a single pack.
 	Especially useful when packing a repository that is used
 	for private development. Use
 	with `-d`.  This will clean up the objects that `git prune`
 	leaves behind, but `git fsck --full --dangling` shows as
 	dangling.
 +
 Note that users fetching over dumb protocols will have to fetch the
 whole new pack in order to get any contained object, no matter how many
 other objects in that pack they already have locally.
 +
 Promisor packfiles are repacked separately: if there are packfiles that
 have an associated ".promisor" file, these packfiles will be repacked
 into another separate pack, and an empty ".promisor" file corresponding
 to the new separate pack will be written.

 -A::
 	Same as `-a`, unless `-d` is used.  Then any unreachable
 	objects in a previous pack become loose, unpacked objects,
 	instead of being left in the old pack.  Unreachable objects
 	are never intentionally added to a pack, even when repacking.
 	This option prevents unreachable objects from being immediately
 	deleted by way of being left in the old pack and then
 	removed.  Instead, the loose unreachable objects
 	will be pruned according to normal expiry rules
 	with the next 'git gc' invocation. See linkgit:git-gc[1].

 -d::
 	After packing, if the newly created packs make some
 	existing packs redundant, remove the redundant packs.
 	Also run  'git prune-packed' to remove redundant
 	loose object files.

 -l::
 	Pass the `--local` option to 'git pack-objects'. See
 	linkgit:git-pack-objects[1].

 -f::
 	Pass the `--no-reuse-delta` option to `git-pack-objects`, see
 	linkgit:git-pack-objects[1].

 -F::
 	Pass the `--no-reuse-object` option to `git-pack-objects`, see
 	linkgit:git-pack-objects[1].

 -q::
 	Pass the `-q` option to 'git pack-objects'. See
 	linkgit:git-pack-objects[1].

 -n::
 	Do not update the server information with
 	'git update-server-info'.  This option skips
 	updating local catalog files needed to publish
 	this repository (or a direct copy of it)
 	over HTTP or FTP.  See linkgit:git-update-server-info[1].

 --window=<n>::
 --depth=<n>::
 	These two options affect how the objects contained in the pack are
 	stored using delta compression. The objects are first internally
 	sorted by type, size and optionally names and compared against the
 	other objects within `--window` to see if using delta compression saves
 	space. `--depth` limits the maximum delta depth; making it too deep
 	affects the performance on the unpacker side, because delta data needs
 	to be applied that many times to get to the necessary object.
 +
 The default value for --window is 10 and --depth is 50. The maximum
 depth is 4095.

 --threads=<n>::
 	This option is passed through to `git pack-objects`.

 --window-memory=<n>::
 	This option provides an additional limit on top of `--window`;
 	the window size will dynamically scale down so as to not take
 	up more than '<n>' bytes in memory.  This is useful in
 	repositories with a mix of large and small objects to not run
 	out of memory with a large window, but still be able to take
 	advantage of the large window for the smaller objects.  The
 	size can be suffixed with "k", "m", or "g".
 	`--window-memory=0` makes memory usage unlimited.  The default
 	is taken from the `pack.windowMemory` configuration variable.
 	Note that the actual memory usage will be the limit multiplied
 	by the number of threads used by linkgit:git-pack-objects[1].

 --max-pack-size=<n>::
 	Maximum size of each output pack file. The size can be suffixed with
 	"k", "m", or "g". The minimum size allowed is limited to 1 MiB.
 	If specified, multiple packfiles may be created, which also
 	prevents the creation of a bitmap index.
 	The default is unlimited, unless the config variable
 	`pack.packSizeLimit` is set. Note that this option may result in
 	a larger and slower repository; see the discussion in
 	`pack.packSizeLimit`.

 -b::
 --write-bitmap-index::
 	Write a reachability bitmap index as part of the repack. This
 	only makes sense when used with `-a`, `-A` or `-m`, as the bitmaps
 	must be able to refer to all reachable objects. This option
 	overrides the setting of `repack.writeBitmaps`. This option
 	has no effect if multiple packfiles are created, unless writing a
 	MIDX (in which case a multi-pack bitmap is created).

 --pack-kept-objects::
 	Include objects in `.keep` files when repacking.  Note that we
 	still do not delete `.keep` packs after `pack-objects` finishes.
 	This means that we may duplicate objects, but this makes the
 	option safe to use when there are concurrent pushes or fetches.
 	This option is generally only useful if you are writing bitmaps
 	with `-b` or `repack.writeBitmaps`, as it ensures that the
 	bitmapped packfile has the necessary objects.

 --keep-pack=<pack-name>::
 	Exclude the given pack from repacking. This is the equivalent
 	of having `.keep` file on the pack. `<pack-name>` is the
 	pack file name without leading directory (e.g. `pack-123.pack`).
 	The option could be specified multiple times to keep multiple
 	packs.

 --unpack-unreachable=<when>::
 	When loosening unreachable objects, do not bother loosening any
 	objects older than `<when>`. This can be used to optimize out
 	the write of any objects that would be immediately pruned by
 	a follow-up `git prune`.

 -k::
 --keep-unreachable::
 	When used with `-ad`, any unreachable objects from existing
 	packs will be appended to the end of the packfile instead of
 	being removed. In addition, any unreachable loose objects will
 	be packed (and their loose counterparts removed).

 -i::
 --delta-islands::
 	Pass the `--delta-islands` option to `git-pack-objects`, see
 	linkgit:git-pack-objects[1].

 -g=<factor>::
 --geometric=<factor>::
 	Arrange resulting pack structure so that each successive pack
 	contains at least `<factor>` times the number of objects as the
 	next-largest pack.
 +
 `git repack` ensures this by determining a "cut" of packfiles that need
 to be repacked into one in order to ensure a geometric progression. It
 picks the smallest set of packfiles such that as many of the larger
 packfiles (by count of objects contained in that pack) may be left
 intact.
 +
 Unlike other repack modes, the set of objects to pack is determined
 uniquely by the set of packs being "rolled-up"; in other words, the
 packs determined to need to be combined in order to restore a geometric
 progression.
 +
 When `--unpacked` is specified, loose objects are implicitly included in
 this "roll-up", without respect to their reachability. This is subject
 to change in the future. This option (implying a drastically different
 repack mode) is not guaranteed to work with all other combinations of
 option to `git repack`.
 +
 When writing a multi-pack bitmap, `git repack` selects the largest resulting
 pack as the preferred pack for object selection by the MIDX (see
 linkgit:git-multi-pack-index[1]).

 -m::
 --write-midx::
 	Write a multi-pack index (see linkgit:git-multi-pack-index[1])
 	containing the non-redundant packs.

 CONFIGURATION
 -------------

 Various configuration variables affect packing, see
 linkgit:git-config[1] (search for "pack" and "delta").

 By default, the command passes `--delta-base-offset` option to
 'git pack-objects'; this typically results in slightly smaller packs,
 but the generated packs are incompatible with versions of Git older than
 version 1.4.4. If you need to share your repository with such ancient Git
 versions, either directly or via the dumb http protocol, then you
 need to set the configuration variable `repack.UseDeltaBaseOffset` to
 "false" and repack. Access from old Git versions over the native protocol
 is unaffected by this option as the conversion is performed on the fly
 as needed in that case.

 Delta compression is not used on objects larger than the
 `core.bigFileThreshold` configuration variable and on files with the
 attribute `delta` set to false.

 SEE ALSO
 --------
 linkgit:git-pack-objects[1]
 linkgit:git-prune-packed[1]

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

	NAME
	----
	git-repack - Pack unpacked objects in a repository


	SYNOPSIS
	--------
	[verse]
	'git repack' [-a] [-A] [-d] [-f] [-F] [-l] [-n] [-q] [-b] [-m] [--window=<n>] [--depth=<n>] [--threads=<n>] [--keep-pack=<pack-name>] [--write-midx]

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

	This command is used to combine all objects that do not currently
	reside in a "pack", into a pack. It can also be used to re-organize
	existing packs into a single, more efficient pack.

	A pack is a collection of objects, individually compressed, with
	delta compression applied, stored in a single file, with an
	associated index file.

	Packs are used to reduce the load on mirror systems, backup
	engines, disk storage, etc.

	OPTIONS
	-------

	-a::
	Instead of incrementally packing the unpacked objects,
	pack everything referenced into a single pack.
	Especially useful when packing a repository that is used
	for private development. Use
	with `-d`. This will clean up the objects that `git prune`
	leaves behind, but `git fsck --full --dangling` shows as
	dangling.
	+
	Note that users fetching over dumb protocols will have to fetch the
	whole new pack in order to get any contained object, no matter how many
	other objects in that pack they already have locally.
	+
	Promisor packfiles are repacked separately: if there are packfiles that
	have an associated ".promisor" file, these packfiles will be repacked
	into another separate pack, and an empty ".promisor" file corresponding
	to the new separate pack will be written.

	-A::
	Same as `-a`, unless `-d` is used. Then any unreachable
	objects in a previous pack become loose, unpacked objects,
	instead of being left in the old pack. Unreachable objects
	are never intentionally added to a pack, even when repacking.
	This option prevents unreachable objects from being immediately
	deleted by way of being left in the old pack and then
	removed. Instead, the loose unreachable objects
	will be pruned according to normal expiry rules
	with the next 'git gc' invocation. See linkgit:git-gc[1].

	-d::
	After packing, if the newly created packs make some
	existing packs redundant, remove the redundant packs.
	Also run 'git prune-packed' to remove redundant
	loose object files.

	-l::
	Pass the `--local` option to 'git pack-objects'. See
	linkgit:git-pack-objects[1].

	-f::
	Pass the `--no-reuse-delta` option to `git-pack-objects`, see
	linkgit:git-pack-objects[1].

	-F::
	Pass the `--no-reuse-object` option to `git-pack-objects`, see
	linkgit:git-pack-objects[1].

	-q::
	Pass the `-q` option to 'git pack-objects'. See
	linkgit:git-pack-objects[1].

	-n::
	Do not update the server information with
	'git update-server-info'. This option skips
	updating local catalog files needed to publish
	this repository (or a direct copy of it)
	over HTTP or FTP. See linkgit:git-update-server-info[1].

	--window=<n>::
	--depth=<n>::
	These two options affect how the objects contained in the pack are
	stored using delta compression. The objects are first internally
	sorted by type, size and optionally names and compared against the
	other objects within `--window` to see if using delta compression saves
	space. `--depth` limits the maximum delta depth; making it too deep
	affects the performance on the unpacker side, because delta data needs
	to be applied that many times to get to the necessary object.
	+
	The default value for --window is 10 and --depth is 50. The maximum
	depth is 4095.

	--threads=<n>::
	This option is passed through to `git pack-objects`.

	--window-memory=<n>::
	This option provides an additional limit on top of `--window`;
	the window size will dynamically scale down so as to not take
	up more than '<n>' bytes in memory. This is useful in
	repositories with a mix of large and small objects to not run
	out of memory with a large window, but still be able to take
	advantage of the large window for the smaller objects. The
	size can be suffixed with "k", "m", or "g".
	`--window-memory=0` makes memory usage unlimited. The default
	is taken from the `pack.windowMemory` configuration variable.
	Note that the actual memory usage will be the limit multiplied
	by the number of threads used by linkgit:git-pack-objects[1].

	--max-pack-size=<n>::
	Maximum size of each output pack file. The size can be suffixed with
	"k", "m", or "g". The minimum size allowed is limited to 1 MiB.
	If specified, multiple packfiles may be created, which also
	prevents the creation of a bitmap index.
	The default is unlimited, unless the config variable
	`pack.packSizeLimit` is set. Note that this option may result in
	a larger and slower repository; see the discussion in
	`pack.packSizeLimit`.

	-b::
	--write-bitmap-index::
	Write a reachability bitmap index as part of the repack. This
	only makes sense when used with `-a`, `-A` or `-m`, as the bitmaps
	must be able to refer to all reachable objects. This option
	overrides the setting of `repack.writeBitmaps`. This option
	has no effect if multiple packfiles are created, unless writing a
	MIDX (in which case a multi-pack bitmap is created).

	--pack-kept-objects::
	Include objects in `.keep` files when repacking. Note that we
	still do not delete `.keep` packs after `pack-objects` finishes.
	This means that we may duplicate objects, but this makes the
	option safe to use when there are concurrent pushes or fetches.
	This option is generally only useful if you are writing bitmaps
	with `-b` or `repack.writeBitmaps`, as it ensures that the
	bitmapped packfile has the necessary objects.

	--keep-pack=<pack-name>::
	Exclude the given pack from repacking. This is the equivalent
	of having `.keep` file on the pack. `<pack-name>` is the
	pack file name without leading directory (e.g. `pack-123.pack`).
	The option could be specified multiple times to keep multiple
	packs.

	--unpack-unreachable=<when>::
	When loosening unreachable objects, do not bother loosening any
	objects older than `<when>`. This can be used to optimize out
	the write of any objects that would be immediately pruned by
	a follow-up `git prune`.

	-k::
	--keep-unreachable::
	When used with `-ad`, any unreachable objects from existing
	packs will be appended to the end of the packfile instead of
	being removed. In addition, any unreachable loose objects will
	be packed (and their loose counterparts removed).

	-i::
	--delta-islands::
	Pass the `--delta-islands` option to `git-pack-objects`, see
	linkgit:git-pack-objects[1].

	-g=<factor>::
	--geometric=<factor>::
	Arrange resulting pack structure so that each successive pack
	contains at least `<factor>` times the number of objects as the
	next-largest pack.
	+
	`git repack` ensures this by determining a "cut" of packfiles that need
	to be repacked into one in order to ensure a geometric progression. It
	picks the smallest set of packfiles such that as many of the larger
	packfiles (by count of objects contained in that pack) may be left
	intact.
	+
	Unlike other repack modes, the set of objects to pack is determined
	uniquely by the set of packs being "rolled-up"; in other words, the
	packs determined to need to be combined in order to restore a geometric
	progression.
	+
	When `--unpacked` is specified, loose objects are implicitly included in
	this "roll-up", without respect to their reachability. This is subject
	to change in the future. This option (implying a drastically different
	repack mode) is not guaranteed to work with all other combinations of
	option to `git repack`.
	+
	When writing a multi-pack bitmap, `git repack` selects the largest resulting
	pack as the preferred pack for object selection by the MIDX (see
	linkgit:git-multi-pack-index[1]).

	-m::
	--write-midx::
	Write a multi-pack index (see linkgit:git-multi-pack-index[1])
	containing the non-redundant packs.

	CONFIGURATION
	-------------

	Various configuration variables affect packing, see
	linkgit:git-config[1] (search for "pack" and "delta").

	By default, the command passes `--delta-base-offset` option to
	'git pack-objects'; this typically results in slightly smaller packs,
	but the generated packs are incompatible with versions of Git older than
	version 1.4.4. If you need to share your repository with such ancient Git
	versions, either directly or via the dumb http protocol, then you
	need to set the configuration variable `repack.UseDeltaBaseOffset` to
	"false" and repack. Access from old Git versions over the native protocol
	is unaffected by this option as the conversion is performed on the fly
	as needed in that case.

	Delta compression is not used on objects larger than the
	`core.bigFileThreshold` configuration variable and on files with the
	attribute `delta` set to false.

	SEE ALSO
	--------
	linkgit:git-pack-objects[1]
	linkgit:git-prune-packed[1]

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