With no arguments, shows the status of existing submodules.
Several subcommands are available to perform operations on the
submodules.
add [-b <branch>] [-f |
--force] [--name <name>] [--reference
<repository>] [--ref-format <format>]
[--depth <depth>] [--] <repository>
[<path>]
Add the given repository as a submodule at the given path
to the changeset to be committed next to the current project: the current
project is termed the "superproject".
<repository> is the URL of the new submodule’s
origin repository. This may be either an absolute URL, or (if it
begins with ./ or ../), the location relative to the
superproject’s default remote repository (Please note that to specify
a repository foo.git which is located right next to a superproject
bar.git, you’ll have to use ../foo.git instead
of ./foo.git - as one might expect when following the rules for
relative URLs - because the evaluation of relative URLs in Git is identical
to that of relative directories).
The default remote is the remote of the remote-tracking branch of
the current branch. If no such remote-tracking branch exists or the
HEAD is detached, origin is assumed to be the default remote.
If the superproject doesn’t have a default remote configured the
superproject is its own authoritative upstream and the current working
directory is used instead.
The optional argument <path> is the relative location
for the cloned submodule to exist in the superproject. If
<path> is not given, the canonical part of the source
repository is used (repo for /path/to/repo.git and foo
for host.xz:foo/.git). If <path> exists and is already a
valid Git repository, then it is staged for commit without cloning. The
<path> is also used as the submodule’s logical name in
its configuration entries unless --name <name> is used
to specify a logical name.
The given URL is recorded into .gitmodules for use by
subsequent users cloning the superproject. If the URL is given relative to
the superproject’s repository, the presumption is the superproject
and submodule repositories will be kept together in the same relative
location, and only the superproject’s URL needs to be provided.
git-submodule will correctly locate the submodule using the relative URL in
.gitmodules.
If --ref-format <format> is specified, the ref
storage format of newly cloned submodules will be set accordingly.
status [--cached] [--recursive] [--]
[<path>...]
Show the status of the submodules. This will print the
SHA-1 of the currently checked out commit for each submodule, along with the
submodule path and the output of
git-describe(1) for the SHA-1. Each
SHA-1 will possibly be prefixed with
- if the submodule is not
initialized,
+ if the currently checked out submodule commit does not
match the SHA-1 found in the index of the containing repository and
U
if the submodule has merge conflicts.
If --cached is specified, this command will instead print
the SHA-1 recorded in the superproject for each submodule.
If --recursive is specified, this command will recurse into
nested submodules, and show their status as well.
If you are only interested in changes of the currently initialized
submodules with respect to the commit recorded in the index or the
HEAD, git-status(1) and git-diff(1) will provide that
information too (and can also report changes to a submodule’s work
tree).
init [--] [<path>...]
Initialize the submodules recorded in the index (which
were added and committed elsewhere) by setting
submodule.$name.url in
.
git/config, using the same setting from .
gitmodules as a
template. If the URL is relative, it will be resolved using the default
remote. If there is no default remote, the current repository will be assumed
to be upstream.
Optional <path> arguments limit which submodules will
be initialized. If no path is specified and submodule.active has been
configured, submodules configured to be active will be initialized,
otherwise all submodules are initialized.
It will also copy the value of submodule.$name.update, if
present in the .gitmodules file, to .git/config, but (1) this
command does not alter existing information in .git/config, and (2)
submodule.$name.update that is set to a custom command is not
copied for security reasons.
You can then customize the submodule clone URLs in
.git/config for your local setup and proceed to git
submodule update; you can also just use git
submodule update --init without the explicit
init step if you do not intend to customize any submodule
locations.
See the add subcommand for the definition of default remote.
deinit [-f | --force]
(--all|[--] <path>...)
Unregister the given submodules, i.e. remove the whole
submodule.$name section from .git/config together with their work tree.
Further calls to
git submodule update,
git
submodule foreach and
git submodule sync
will skip any unregistered submodules until they are initialized again, so use
this command if you don’t want to have a local checkout of the
submodule in your working tree anymore.
When the command is run without pathspec, it errors out, instead
of deinit-ing everything, to prevent mistakes.
If --force is specified, the submodule’s working
tree will be removed even if it contains local modifications.
If you really want to remove a submodule from the repository and
commit that use git-rm(1) instead. See gitsubmodules(7) for
removal options.
update [--init] [--remote] [-N |
--no-fetch] [--[no-]recommend-shallow]
[-f | --force] [--checkout | --rebase |
--merge] [--reference=<repository>]
[--ref-format=<format>]
[--depth=<depth>] [--recursive] [--jobs
<n>] [--[no-]single-branch]
[--filter=<filter-spec>] [--]
[<path>...]
Update the registered submodules to match what the
superproject expects by cloning missing submodules, fetching missing commits
in submodules and updating the working tree of the submodules. The
"updating" can be done in several ways depending on command line
options and the value of
submodule.<name>.update
configuration variable. The command line option takes precedence over the
configuration variable. If neither is given, a
checkout is performed.
(note: what is in .
gitmodules file is irrelevant at this point; see
git submodule init above for how .
gitmodules is
used). The
update procedures supported both from the command line as
well as through the
submodule.<name>.update
configuration are:
checkout
the commit recorded in the superproject will be checked
out in the submodule on a detached
HEAD.
If --force is specified, the submodule will be checked out
(using git checkout --force), even if the commit
specified in the index of the containing repository already matches the
commit checked out in the submodule.
rebase
the current branch of the submodule will be rebased onto
the commit recorded in the superproject.
merge
the commit recorded in the superproject will be merged
into the current branch in the submodule.
The following update procedures have additional limitations:
!<custom-command>
mechanism for running arbitrary commands with the commit
ID as an argument. Specifically, if the
submodule.<name>.update configuration variable is
set to !<custom-command>, the object name of the commit recorded
in the superproject for the submodule is appended to the
<custom-command> string and executed. Note that this mechanism is
not supported in the .gitmodules file or on the command line.
none
the submodule is not updated. This update procedure is
not allowed on the command line.
If the submodule is not yet initialized, and you just want to use
the setting as stored in .gitmodules, you can automatically
initialize the submodule with the --init option.
If --recursive is specified, this command will recurse into
the registered submodules, and update any nested submodules within.
If --ref-format <format> is specified, the ref
storage format of newly cloned submodules will be set accordingly.
If --filter <filter-spec> is specified, the
given partial clone filter will be applied to the submodule. See
git-rev-list(1) for details on filter specifications.
set-branch (-b|--branch)
<branch> [--] <path>, set-branch
(-d|--default) [--] <path>
Set the default remote tracking branch for the submodule.
The --branch option allows the remote branch to be specified. The
--default option removes the
submodule.<name>.branch configuration key, which
causes the tracking branch to default to the remote HEAD.
set-url [--] <path>
<newurl>
Set the URL of the specified submodule to
<newurl>. Then, it will automatically synchronize the
submodule’s new remote URL configuration.
summary [--cached | --files]
[(-n|--summary-limit) <n>] [commit]
[--] [<path>...]
Show commit summary between the given commit (defaults to
HEAD) and working tree/index. For a submodule in question, a series of
commits in the submodule between the given super project commit and the index
or working tree (switched by
--cached) are shown. If the option
--files is given, show the series of commits in the submodule between
the index of the super project and the working tree of the submodule (this
option doesn’t allow to use the
--cached option or to provide an
explicit commit).
Using the --submodule=log option with git-diff(1)
will provide that information too.
foreach [--recursive] <command>
Evaluate an arbitrary shell
<command> in
each checked out submodule. The command has access to the variables
$name,
$sm_path,
$displaypath,
$sha1 and
$toplevel:
$name
the name of the relevant submodule section in
.gitmodules
$sm_path
the path of the submodule as recorded in the immediate
superproject
$displaypath
the relative path from the current working directory to
the submodules root directory
$sha1
the commit as recorded in the immediate
superproject
$toplevel
the absolute path to the top-level of the immediate
superproject.
Note that to avoid conflicts with $PATH on Windows, the
$path variable is now a deprecated synonym of $sm_path
variable. Any submodules defined in the superproject but not checked out are
ignored by this command. Unless given --quiet, foreach prints the
name of each submodule before evaluating the command. If --recursive
is given, submodules are traversed recursively (i.e. the given shell command
is evaluated in nested submodules as well). A non-zero return from the
command in any submodule causes the processing to terminate. This can be
overridden by adding ||: to the end of the command.
As an example, the command below will show the path and currently
checked out commit for each submodule:
git submodule foreach 'echo $sm_path `git rev-parse HEAD`'
sync [--recursive] [--]
[<path>...]
Synchronize submodules' remote URL configuration setting
to the value specified in .
gitmodules. It will only affect those
submodules which already have a URL entry in .
git/config (that is the
case when they are initialized or freshly added). This is useful when
submodule URLs change upstream and you need to update your local repositories
accordingly.
git submodule sync synchronizes all
submodules while git submodule sync -- A
synchronizes submodule A only.
If --recursive is specified, this command will recurse into
the registered submodules, and sync any nested submodules within.
absorbgitdirs
If a git directory of a submodule is inside the
submodule, move the git directory of the submodule into its
superproject’s
$GIT_DIR/modules path and then connect the git
directory and its working directory by setting the
core.worktree and
adding a .
git file pointing to the git directory embedded in the
superprojects git directory.
A repository that was cloned independently and later added as a
submodule or old setups have the submodules git directory inside the
submodule instead of embedded into the superprojects git directory.
This command is recursive by default.
-q, --quiet
Only print error messages.
--progress
Report progress status 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. It is only valid for add and update
commands.
--all
Unregister all submodules in the working tree. This
option is only valid for the deinit command.
-b<branch>,
--branch=<branch>
Branch of repository to add as submodule. The name of the
branch is recorded as submodule.<name>.branch in
.gitmodules for update --remote. A special value of . is
used to indicate that the name of the branch in the submodule should be the
same name as the current branch in the current repository. If the option is
not specified, it defaults to the remote HEAD.
-f, --force
Force the command to proceed, even if it would otherwise
fail. This option is only valid for
add,
deinit and
update commands.
add
allow adding an otherwise ignored submodule path. This
option is also used to bypass a check that the submodule’s name is not
already in use. By default, git submodule add will fail
if the proposed name (which is derived from the path) is already registered
for another submodule in the repository. Using --force allows the
command to proceed by automatically generating a unique name by appending a
number to the conflicting name (e.g., if a submodule named child
exists, it will try child1, and so on).
deinit
the submodule working trees will be removed even if they
contain local changes.
update
(only effective with the checkout procedure), throw away
local changes in submodules when switching to a different commit; and always
run a checkout operation in the submodule, even if the commit listed in the
index of the containing repository matches the commit checked out in the
submodule.
--cached
Use the index to determine the commit instead of the
HEAD. This option is only valid for status and summary
commands.
--files
Make the summary command compare the commit in the
index with that in the submodule HEAD.
-n<n>,
--summary-limit=<n>
Limit the summary size (number of commits shown in
total) to <n>. Giving 0 will disable the summary; a negative
number means unlimited (the default). This limit only applies to modified
submodules. The size is always limited to 1 for added/deleted/typechanged
submodules.
--remote
Instead of using the superproject’s recorded SHA-1
to update the submodule, use the status of the submodule’s
remote-tracking branch. This option is only valid for the
update
command. The remote used is branch’s remote
(
branch.<name>.remote), defaulting to
origin. The remote branch used defaults to the remote
HEAD, but
the branch name may be overridden by setting the
submodule.<name>.branch option in either
.
gitmodules or .
git/config (with .
git/config taking
precedence).
This works for any of the supported update procedures
(--checkout, --rebase, etc.). The only change is the source of
the target SHA-1. For example, submodule update
--remote --merge will merge upstream submodule changes into
the submodules, while submodule update --merge will
merge superproject gitlink changes into the submodules.
In order to ensure a current tracking branch state, update
--remote fetches the submodule’s remote repository before
calculating the SHA-1. If you don’t want to fetch, you should use
submodule update --remote --no-fetch.
Use this option to integrate changes from the upstream subproject
with your submodule’s current HEAD. Alternatively, you can run
git pull from the submodule, which is equivalent except for
the remote branch name: update --remote uses the default
upstream repository and submodule.<name>.branch,
while git pull uses the submodule’s
branch.<name>.merge. Prefer
submodule.<name>.branch if you want to distribute
the default upstream branch with the superproject and
branch.<name>.merge if you want a more native
feel while working in the submodule itself.
-N, --no-fetch
Don’t fetch new objects from the remote site. This
option is only valid for the update command.
--checkout
Checkout the commit recorded in the superproject on a
detached HEAD in the submodule. This option is only valid for the
update command. This is the default behavior, the main use of this
option is to override submodule.<name>.update when
set to a value other than checkout. If the key
submodule.<name>.update is either not explicitly
set or set to checkout, this option is implicit.
--merge
Merge the commit recorded in the superproject into the
current branch of the submodule. This option is only valid for the
update command. If this option is given, the submodule’s
HEAD will not be detached. If a merge failure prevents this process,
you will have to resolve the resulting conflicts within the submodule with the
usual conflict resolution tools. If the key
submodule.<name>.update is set to merge,
this option is implicit.
--rebase
Rebase the current branch onto the commit recorded in the
superproject. This option is only valid for the update command. The
submodule’s HEAD will not be detached. If a merge failure
prevents this process, you will have to resolve these failures with
git-rebase(1). If the key
submodule.<name>.update is set to rebase,
this option is implicit.
--init
Initialize all submodules for which git
submodule init has not been called so far before updating. This
option is only valid for the update command.
--name=<name>
Set the submodule’s name to the given string
instead of defaulting to its path. <name> must be valid as a
directory name and may not end with a /.
--reference=<repository>
Pass the local
<repository> as a reference
when cloning the submodule. This option is only valid for
add and
update commands. These commands sometimes need to clone a remote
repository. In this case, this option will be passed to the
git-clone(1) command.
Note
Do
not use this option unless you have read the note for
git-clone(1)'s
--reference,
--shared, and
--dissociate options carefully.
--dissociate
After using a reference repository to clone from, do not
rely on it anymore. This option is only valid for
add and
update
commands. These commands sometimes need to clone a remote repository. In this
case, this option will be passed to the
git-clone(1) command.
Note
See the NOTE above for the
--reference option.
--recursive
Traverse submodules recursively. This option is only
valid for foreach, update, status and sync
commands. The operation is performed not only in the submodules of the current
repo, but also in any nested submodules inside those submodules (and so
on).
--depth=<depth>
Create a shallow clone with a history truncated to
the <depth> revisions. This option is valid for add and
update commands. See git-clone(1)
--recommend-shallow, --no-recommend-shallow
Recommend or not shallow cloning of submodules. This
option is only valid for the update command. The initial clone of a
submodule will use the recommended
submodule.<name>.shallow as provided by the
.gitmodules file by default. To ignore the suggestions use
--no-recommend-shallow.
-j<n>, --jobs=<n>
Clone new submodules in parallel with <n>
jobs. This option is only valid for the update command. Defaults to the
submodule.fetchJobs option.
--single-branch, --no-single-branch
Clone only one branch during update: HEAD or one
specified by --branch. This option is only valid for the update
command.
<path>...
Paths to submodule(s). When specified this will restrict
the command to only operate on the submodules found at the specified paths.
(This argument is required with add).