Documentation / git-push.txton commit push: switch default from "matching" to "simple" (b2ed944)
   1git-push(1)
   2===========
   3
   4NAME
   5----
   6git-push - Update remote refs along with associated objects
   7
   8
   9SYNOPSIS
  10--------
  11[verse]
  12'git push' [--all | --mirror | --tags] [-n | --dry-run] [--receive-pack=<git-receive-pack>]
  13           [--repo=<repository>] [-f | --force] [--prune] [-v | --verbose] [-u | --set-upstream]
  14           [<repository> [<refspec>...]]
  15
  16DESCRIPTION
  17-----------
  18
  19Updates remote refs using local refs, while sending objects
  20necessary to complete the given refs.
  21
  22You can make interesting things happen to a repository
  23every time you push into it, by setting up 'hooks' there.  See
  24documentation for linkgit:git-receive-pack[1].
  25
  26
  27OPTIONS[[OPTIONS]]
  28------------------
  29<repository>::
  30        The "remote" repository that is destination of a push
  31        operation.  This parameter can be either a URL
  32        (see the section <<URLS,GIT URLS>> below) or the name
  33        of a remote (see the section <<REMOTES,REMOTES>> below).
  34
  35<refspec>...::
  36        The format of a <refspec> parameter is an optional plus
  37        `+`, followed by the source ref <src>, followed
  38        by a colon `:`, followed by the destination ref <dst>.
  39        It is used to specify what <src> object the <dst> ref
  40        in the remote repository is to be updated to.  If no
  41        <refspec> is specified on the command line, and if no
  42        <refspec> is configured for the <repository>,
  43        the behavior of the command is controlled by the `push.default`
  44        configuration variable, and if it is unset, the `simple`
  45        behaviour is used (see lingit:git-config[1] and look
  46        for `push.default`).
  47+
  48The <src> is often the name of the branch you would want to push, but
  49it can be any arbitrary "SHA-1 expression", such as `master~4` or
  50`HEAD` (see linkgit:gitrevisions[7]).
  51+
  52The <dst> tells which ref on the remote side is updated with this
  53push. Arbitrary expressions cannot be used here, an actual ref must
  54be named. If `:`<dst> is omitted, the same ref as <src> will be
  55updated.
  56+
  57The object referenced by <src> is used to update the <dst> reference
  58on the remote side, but by default this is only allowed if the
  59update can fast-forward <dst>.  By having the optional leading `+`,
  60you can tell git to update the <dst> ref even when the update is not a
  61fast-forward.  This does *not* attempt to merge <src> into <dst>.  See
  62EXAMPLES below for details.
  63+
  64`tag <tag>` means the same as `refs/tags/<tag>:refs/tags/<tag>`.
  65+
  66Pushing an empty <src> allows you to delete the <dst> ref from
  67the remote repository.
  68+
  69The special refspec `:` (or `+:` to allow non-fast-forward updates)
  70directs git to push "matching" branches: for every branch that exists on
  71the local side, the remote side is updated if a branch of the same name
  72already exists on the remote side.
  73
  74--all::
  75        Push all branches (i.e. refs under `refs/heads/`); cannot be
  76        used with other <refspec>.
  77
  78--prune::
  79        Remove remote branches that don't have a local counterpart. For example
  80        a remote branch `tmp` will be removed if a local branch with the same
  81        name doesn't exist any more. This also respects refspecs, e.g.
  82        `git push --prune remote refs/heads/*:refs/tmp/*` would
  83        make sure that remote `refs/tmp/foo` will be removed if `refs/heads/foo`
  84        doesn't exist.
  85
  86--mirror::
  87        Instead of naming each ref to push, specifies that all
  88        refs under `refs/` (which includes but is not
  89        limited to `refs/heads/`, `refs/remotes/`, and `refs/tags/`)
  90        be mirrored to the remote repository.  Newly created local
  91        refs will be pushed to the remote end, locally updated refs
  92        will be force updated on the remote end, and deleted refs
  93        will be removed from the remote end.  This is the default
  94        if the configuration option `remote.<remote>.mirror` is
  95        set.
  96
  97-n::
  98--dry-run::
  99        Do everything except actually send the updates.
 100
 101--porcelain::
 102        Produce machine-readable output.  The output status line for each ref
 103        will be tab-separated and sent to stdout instead of stderr.  The full
 104        symbolic names of the refs will be given.
 105
 106--delete::
 107        All listed refs are deleted from the remote repository. This is
 108        the same as prefixing all refs with a colon.
 109
 110--tags::
 111        All refs under `refs/tags` are pushed, in
 112        addition to refspecs explicitly listed on the command
 113        line.
 114
 115--receive-pack=<git-receive-pack>::
 116--exec=<git-receive-pack>::
 117        Path to the 'git-receive-pack' program on the remote
 118        end.  Sometimes useful when pushing to a remote
 119        repository over ssh, and you do not have the program in
 120        a directory on the default $PATH.
 121
 122-f::
 123--force::
 124        Usually, the command refuses to update a remote ref that is
 125        not an ancestor of the local ref used to overwrite it.
 126        This flag disables the check.  This can cause the
 127        remote repository to lose commits; use it with care.
 128
 129--repo=<repository>::
 130        This option is only relevant if no <repository> argument is
 131        passed in the invocation. In this case, 'git push' derives the
 132        remote name from the current branch: If it tracks a remote
 133        branch, then that remote repository is pushed to. Otherwise,
 134        the name "origin" is used. For this latter case, this option
 135        can be used to override the name "origin". In other words,
 136        the difference between these two commands
 137+
 138--------------------------
 139git push public         #1
 140git push --repo=public  #2
 141--------------------------
 142+
 143is that #1 always pushes to "public" whereas #2 pushes to "public"
 144only if the current branch does not track a remote branch. This is
 145useful if you write an alias or script around 'git push'.
 146
 147-u::
 148--set-upstream::
 149        For every branch that is up to date or successfully pushed, add
 150        upstream (tracking) reference, used by argument-less
 151        linkgit:git-pull[1] and other commands. For more information,
 152        see 'branch.<name>.merge' in linkgit:git-config[1].
 153
 154--thin::
 155--no-thin::
 156        These options are passed to linkgit:git-send-pack[1]. A thin transfer
 157        significantly reduces the amount of sent data when the sender and
 158        receiver share many of the same objects in common. The default is
 159        \--thin.
 160
 161-q::
 162--quiet::
 163        Suppress all output, including the listing of updated refs,
 164        unless an error occurs. Progress is not reported to the standard
 165        error stream.
 166
 167-v::
 168--verbose::
 169        Run verbosely.
 170
 171--progress::
 172        Progress status is reported on the standard error stream
 173        by default when it is attached to a terminal, unless -q
 174        is specified. This flag forces progress status even if the
 175        standard error stream is not directed to a terminal.
 176
 177--recurse-submodules=check|on-demand::
 178        Make sure all submodule commits used by the revisions to be
 179        pushed are available on a remote-tracking branch. If 'check' is
 180        used git will verify that all submodule commits that changed in
 181        the revisions to be pushed are available on at least one remote
 182        of the submodule. If any commits are missing the push will be
 183        aborted and exit with non-zero status. If 'on-demand' is used
 184        all submodules that changed in the revisions to be pushed will
 185        be pushed. If on-demand was not able to push all necessary
 186        revisions it will also be aborted and exit with non-zero status.
 187
 188
 189include::urls-remotes.txt[]
 190
 191OUTPUT
 192------
 193
 194The output of "git push" depends on the transport method used; this
 195section describes the output when pushing over the git protocol (either
 196locally or via ssh).
 197
 198The status of the push is output in tabular form, with each line
 199representing the status of a single ref. Each line is of the form:
 200
 201-------------------------------
 202 <flag> <summary> <from> -> <to> (<reason>)
 203-------------------------------
 204
 205If --porcelain is used, then each line of the output is of the form:
 206
 207-------------------------------
 208 <flag> \t <from>:<to> \t <summary> (<reason>)
 209-------------------------------
 210
 211The status of up-to-date refs is shown only if --porcelain or --verbose
 212option is used.
 213
 214flag::
 215        A single character indicating the status of the ref:
 216(space);; for a successfully pushed fast-forward;
 217`+`;; for a successful forced update;
 218`-`;; for a successfully deleted ref;
 219`*`;; for a successfully pushed new ref;
 220`!`;; for a ref that was rejected or failed to push; and
 221`=`;; for a ref that was up to date and did not need pushing.
 222
 223summary::
 224        For a successfully pushed ref, the summary shows the old and new
 225        values of the ref in a form suitable for using as an argument to
 226        `git log` (this is `<old>..<new>` in most cases, and
 227        `<old>...<new>` for forced non-fast-forward updates).
 228+
 229For a failed update, more details are given:
 230+
 231--
 232rejected::
 233        Git did not try to send the ref at all, typically because it
 234        is not a fast-forward and you did not force the update.
 235
 236remote rejected::
 237        The remote end refused the update.  Usually caused by a hook
 238        on the remote side, or because the remote repository has one
 239        of the following safety options in effect:
 240        `receive.denyCurrentBranch` (for pushes to the checked out
 241        branch), `receive.denyNonFastForwards` (for forced
 242        non-fast-forward updates), `receive.denyDeletes` or
 243        `receive.denyDeleteCurrent`.  See linkgit:git-config[1].
 244
 245remote failure::
 246        The remote end did not report the successful update of the ref,
 247        perhaps because of a temporary error on the remote side, a
 248        break in the network connection, or other transient error.
 249--
 250
 251from::
 252        The name of the local ref being pushed, minus its
 253        `refs/<type>/` prefix. In the case of deletion, the
 254        name of the local ref is omitted.
 255
 256to::
 257        The name of the remote ref being updated, minus its
 258        `refs/<type>/` prefix.
 259
 260reason::
 261        A human-readable explanation. In the case of successfully pushed
 262        refs, no explanation is needed. For a failed ref, the reason for
 263        failure is described.
 264
 265Note about fast-forwards
 266------------------------
 267
 268When an update changes a branch (or more in general, a ref) that used to
 269point at commit A to point at another commit B, it is called a
 270fast-forward update if and only if B is a descendant of A.
 271
 272In a fast-forward update from A to B, the set of commits that the original
 273commit A built on top of is a subset of the commits the new commit B
 274builds on top of.  Hence, it does not lose any history.
 275
 276In contrast, a non-fast-forward update will lose history.  For example,
 277suppose you and somebody else started at the same commit X, and you built
 278a history leading to commit B while the other person built a history
 279leading to commit A.  The history looks like this:
 280
 281----------------
 282
 283      B
 284     /
 285 ---X---A
 286
 287----------------
 288
 289Further suppose that the other person already pushed changes leading to A
 290back to the original repository from which you two obtained the original
 291commit X.
 292
 293The push done by the other person updated the branch that used to point at
 294commit X to point at commit A.  It is a fast-forward.
 295
 296But if you try to push, you will attempt to update the branch (that
 297now points at A) with commit B.  This does _not_ fast-forward.  If you did
 298so, the changes introduced by commit A will be lost, because everybody
 299will now start building on top of B.
 300
 301The command by default does not allow an update that is not a fast-forward
 302to prevent such loss of history.
 303
 304If you do not want to lose your work (history from X to B) nor the work by
 305the other person (history from X to A), you would need to first fetch the
 306history from the repository, create a history that contains changes done
 307by both parties, and push the result back.
 308
 309You can perform "git pull", resolve potential conflicts, and "git push"
 310the result.  A "git pull" will create a merge commit C between commits A
 311and B.
 312
 313----------------
 314
 315      B---C
 316     /   /
 317 ---X---A
 318
 319----------------
 320
 321Updating A with the resulting merge commit will fast-forward and your
 322push will be accepted.
 323
 324Alternatively, you can rebase your change between X and B on top of A,
 325with "git pull --rebase", and push the result back.  The rebase will
 326create a new commit D that builds the change between X and B on top of
 327A.
 328
 329----------------
 330
 331      B   D
 332     /   /
 333 ---X---A
 334
 335----------------
 336
 337Again, updating A with this commit will fast-forward and your push will be
 338accepted.
 339
 340There is another common situation where you may encounter non-fast-forward
 341rejection when you try to push, and it is possible even when you are
 342pushing into a repository nobody else pushes into. After you push commit
 343A yourself (in the first picture in this section), replace it with "git
 344commit --amend" to produce commit B, and you try to push it out, because
 345forgot that you have pushed A out already. In such a case, and only if
 346you are certain that nobody in the meantime fetched your earlier commit A
 347(and started building on top of it), you can run "git push --force" to
 348overwrite it. In other words, "git push --force" is a method reserved for
 349a case where you do mean to lose history.
 350
 351
 352Examples
 353--------
 354
 355`git push`::
 356        Works like `git push <remote>`, where <remote> is the
 357        current branch's remote (or `origin`, if no remote is
 358        configured for the current branch).
 359
 360`git push origin`::
 361        Without additional configuration, pushes the current branch to
 362        the configured upstream (`remote.origin.merge` configuration
 363        variable) if it has the same name as the current branch, and
 364        errors out without pushing otherwise.
 365+
 366The default behavior of this command when no <refspec> is given can be
 367configured by setting the `push` option of the remote, or the `push.default`
 368configuration variable.
 369+
 370For example, to default to pushing only the current branch to `origin`
 371use `git config remote.origin.push HEAD`.  Any valid <refspec> (like
 372the ones in the examples below) can be configured as the default for
 373`git push origin`.
 374
 375`git push origin :`::
 376        Push "matching" branches to `origin`. See
 377        <refspec> in the <<OPTIONS,OPTIONS>> section above for a
 378        description of "matching" branches.
 379
 380`git push origin master`::
 381        Find a ref that matches `master` in the source repository
 382        (most likely, it would find `refs/heads/master`), and update
 383        the same ref (e.g. `refs/heads/master`) in `origin` repository
 384        with it.  If `master` did not exist remotely, it would be
 385        created.
 386
 387`git push origin HEAD`::
 388        A handy way to push the current branch to the same name on the
 389        remote.
 390
 391`git push mothership master:satellite/master dev:satellite/dev`::
 392        Use the source ref that matches `master` (e.g. `refs/heads/master`)
 393        to update the ref that matches `satellite/master` (most probably
 394        `refs/remotes/satellite/master`) in the `mothership` repository;
 395        do the same for `dev` and `satellite/dev`.
 396+
 397This is to emulate `git fetch` run on the `mothership` using `git
 398push` that is run in the opposite direction in order to integrate
 399the work done on `satellite`, and is often necessary when you can
 400only make connection in one way (i.e. satellite can ssh into
 401mothership but mothership cannot initiate connection to satellite
 402because the latter is behind a firewall or does not run sshd).
 403+
 404After running this `git push` on the `satellite` machine, you would
 405ssh into the `mothership` and run `git merge` there to complete the
 406emulation of `git pull` that were run on `mothership` to pull changes
 407made on `satellite`.
 408
 409`git push origin HEAD:master`::
 410        Push the current branch to the remote ref matching `master` in the
 411        `origin` repository. This form is convenient to push the current
 412        branch without thinking about its local name.
 413
 414`git push origin master:refs/heads/experimental`::
 415        Create the branch `experimental` in the `origin` repository
 416        by copying the current `master` branch.  This form is only
 417        needed to create a new branch or tag in the remote repository when
 418        the local name and the remote name are different; otherwise,
 419        the ref name on its own will work.
 420
 421`git push origin :experimental`::
 422        Find a ref that matches `experimental` in the `origin` repository
 423        (e.g. `refs/heads/experimental`), and delete it.
 424
 425`git push origin +dev:master`::
 426        Update the origin repository's master branch with the dev branch,
 427        allowing non-fast-forward updates.  *This can leave unreferenced
 428        commits dangling in the origin repository.*  Consider the
 429        following situation, where a fast-forward is not possible:
 430+
 431----
 432            o---o---o---A---B  origin/master
 433                     \
 434                      X---Y---Z  dev
 435----
 436+
 437The above command would change the origin repository to
 438+
 439----
 440                      A---B  (unnamed branch)
 441                     /
 442            o---o---o---X---Y---Z  master
 443----
 444+
 445Commits A and B would no longer belong to a branch with a symbolic name,
 446and so would be unreachable.  As such, these commits would be removed by
 447a `git gc` command on the origin repository.
 448
 449GIT
 450---
 451Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite