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1 '\" t
2 .\" Title: git-init
3 .\" Author: [FIXME: author] [see http://www.docbook.org/tdg5/en/html/author]
4 .\" Generator: DocBook XSL Stylesheets v1.79.2 <http://docbook.sf.net/>
5 .\" Date: 2025-01-23
6 .\" Manual: Git Manual
7 .\" Source: Git 2.48.1.91.g5f8f7081f7
8 .\" Language: English
9 .\"
10 .TH "GIT\-INIT" "1" "2025-01-23" "Git 2\&.48\&.1\&.91\&.g5f8f708" "Git Manual"
11 .\" -----------------------------------------------------------------
12 .\" * Define some portability stuff
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14 .\" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
15 .\" http://bugs.debian.org/507673
16 .\" http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/groff/2009-02/msg00013.html
17 .\" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
18 .ie \n(.g .ds Aq \(aq
19 .el .ds Aq '
20 .\" -----------------------------------------------------------------
21 .\" * set default formatting
22 .\" -----------------------------------------------------------------
23 .\" disable hyphenation
24 .nh
25 .\" disable justification (adjust text to left margin only)
26 .ad l
27 .\" -----------------------------------------------------------------
28 .\" * MAIN CONTENT STARTS HERE *
29 .\" -----------------------------------------------------------------
30 .SH "NAME"
31 git-init \- Create an empty Git repository or reinitialize an existing one
32 .SH "SYNOPSIS"
33 .sp
34 .nf
35 \fBgit\fR \fBinit\fR [\fB\-q\fR | \fB\-\-quiet\fR] [\fB\-\-bare\fR] [\fB\-\-template=\fR\fI<template\-directory>\fR]
36 [\fB\-\-separate\-git\-dir\fR \fI<git\-dir>\fR] [\fB\-\-object\-format=\fR\fI<format>\fR]
37 [\fB\-\-ref\-format=\fR\fI<format>\fR]
38 [\fB\-b\fR \fI<branch\-name>\fR | \fB\-\-initial\-branch=\fR\fI<branch\-name>\fR]
39 [\fB\-\-shared\fR[\fB=\fR\fI<permissions>\fR]] [\fI<directory>\fR]
40 .fi
41 .SH "DESCRIPTION"
42 .sp
43 This command creates an empty Git repository \- basically a \&.\fBgit\fR directory with subdirectories for \fBobjects\fR, \fBrefs/heads\fR, \fBrefs/tags\fR, and template files\&. An initial branch without any commits will be created (see the \fB\-\-initial\-branch\fR option below for its name)\&.
44 .sp
45 If the \fBGIT_DIR\fR environment variable is set then it specifies a path to use instead of \&.\fB/\&.git\fR for the base of the repository\&.
46 .sp
47 If the object storage directory is specified via the \fBGIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY\fR environment variable then the sha1 directories are created underneath; otherwise, the default \fB$GIT_DIR/objects\fR directory is used\&.
48 .sp
49 Running \fBgit\fR \fBinit\fR in an existing repository is safe\&. It will not overwrite things that are already there\&. The primary reason for rerunning \fBgit\fR \fBinit\fR is to pick up newly added templates (or to move the repository to another place if \fB\-\-separate\-git\-dir\fR is given)\&.
50 .SH "OPTIONS"
51 .PP
52 \fB\-q\fR, \fB\-\-quiet\fR
53 .RS 4
54 Only print error and warning messages; all other output will be suppressed\&.
55 .RE
56 .PP
57 \fB\-\-bare\fR
58 .RS 4
59 Create a bare repository\&. If
60 \fBGIT_DIR\fR
61 environment is not set, it is set to the current working directory\&.
62 .RE
63 .PP
64 \fB\-\-object\-format=\fR\fI<format>\fR
65 .RS 4
66 Specify the given object
67 \fI<format>\fR
68 (hash algorithm) for the repository\&. The valid values are
69 \fBsha1\fR
70 and (if enabled)
71 \fBsha256\fR\&.
72 \fBsha1\fR
73 is the default\&.
74 .sp
75 Note: At present, there is no interoperability between SHA\-256 repositories and SHA\-1 repositories\&.
76 .RE
77 .sp
78 Historically, we warned that SHA\-256 repositories may later need backward incompatible changes when we introduce such interoperability features\&. Today, we only expect compatible changes\&. Furthermore, if such changes prove to be necessary, it can be expected that SHA\-256 repositories created with today\(cqs Git will be usable by future versions of Git without data loss\&.
79 .PP
80 \fB\-\-ref\-format=\fR\fI<format>\fR
81 .RS 4
82 Specify the given ref storage
83 \fI<format>\fR
84 for the repository\&. The valid values are:
85 .sp
86 .RS 4
87 .ie n \{\
88 \h'-04'\(bu\h'+03'\c
89 .\}
90 .el \{\
91 .sp -1
92 .IP \(bu 2.3
93 .\}
94 \fBfiles\fR
95 for loose files with packed\-refs\&. This is the default\&.
96 .RE
97 .sp
98 .RS 4
99 .ie n \{\
100 \h'-04'\(bu\h'+03'\c
101 .\}
102 .el \{\
103 .sp -1
104 .IP \(bu 2.3
105 .\}
106 \fBreftable\fR
107 for the reftable format\&. This format is experimental and its internals are subject to change\&.
108 .RE
109 .RE
110 .PP
111 \fB\-\-template=\fR\fI<template\-directory>\fR
112 .RS 4
113 Specify the directory from which templates will be used\&. (See the "TEMPLATE DIRECTORY" section below\&.)
114 .RE
115 .PP
116 \fB\-\-separate\-git\-dir=\fR\fI<git\-dir>\fR
117 .RS 4
118 Instead of initializing the repository as a directory to either
119 \fB$GIT_DIR\fR
120 or \&.\fB/\&.git/\fR, create a text file there containing the path to the actual repository\&. This file acts as a filesystem\-agnostic Git symbolic link to the repository\&.
121 .sp
122 If this is a reinitialization, the repository will be moved to the specified path\&.
123 .RE
124 .PP
125 \fB\-b\fR \fI<branch\-name>\fR, \fB\-\-initial\-branch=\fR\fI<branch\-name>\fR
126 .RS 4
127 Use
128 \fI<branch\-name>\fR
129 for the initial branch in the newly created repository\&. If not specified, fall back to the default name (currently
130 \fBmaster\fR, but this is subject to change in the future; the name can be customized via the
131 \fBinit\&.defaultBranch\fR
132 configuration variable)\&.
133 .RE
134 .PP
135 \fB\-\-shared\fR[\fB=\fR(\fBfalse\fR|\fBtrue\fR|\fBumask\fR|\fBgroup\fR|\fBall\fR|\fBworld\fR|\fBeverybody\fR|\fI<perm>\fR)]
136 .RS 4
137 Specify that the Git repository is to be shared amongst several users\&. This allows users belonging to the same group to push into that repository\&. When specified, the config variable
138 \fBcore\&.sharedRepository\fR
139 is set so that files and directories under
140 \fB$GIT_DIR\fR
141 are created with the requested permissions\&. When not specified, Git will use permissions reported by
142 \fBumask\fR(2)\&.
143 .sp
144 The option can have the following values, defaulting to
145 \fBgroup\fR
146 if no value is given:
147 .PP
148 \fBumask\fR, \fBfalse\fR
149 .RS 4
150 Use permissions reported by
151 \fBumask\fR(2)\&. The default, when
152 \fB\-\-shared\fR
153 is not specified\&.
154 .RE
155 .PP
156 \fBgroup\fR, \fBtrue\fR
157 .RS 4
158 Make the repository group\-writable, (and
159 \fBg+sx\fR, since the git group may not be the primary group of all users)\&. This is used to loosen the permissions of an otherwise safe
160 \fBumask\fR(2) value\&. Note that the umask still applies to the other permission bits (e\&.g\&. if umask is
161 \fB0022\fR, using
162 \fBgroup\fR
163 will not remove read privileges from other (non\-group) users)\&. See
164 \fB0xxx\fR
165 for how to exactly specify the repository permissions\&.
166 .RE
167 .PP
168 \fBall\fR, \fBworld\fR, \fBeverybody\fR
169 .RS 4
170 Same as
171 \fBgroup\fR, but make the repository readable by all users\&.
172 .RE
173 .PP
174 \fI<perm>\fR
175 .RS 4
176 \fI<perm>\fR
177 is a 3\-digit octal number prefixed with
178 \fB0\fR
179 and each file will have mode
180 \fI<perm>\fR\&.
181 \fI<perm>\fR
182 will override users\*(Aq
183 \fBumask\fR(2) value (and not only loosen permissions as
184 \fBgroup\fR
185 and
186 \fBall\fR
187 do)\&.
188 \fB0640\fR
189 will create a repository which is group\-readable, but not group\-writable or accessible to others\&.
190 \fB0660\fR
191 will create a repo that is readable and writable to the current user and group, but inaccessible to others (directories and executable files get their
192 \fBx\fR
193 bit from the
194 \fBr\fR
195 bit for corresponding classes of users)\&.
196 .RE
197 .RE
198 .sp
199 By default, the configuration flag \fBreceive\&.denyNonFastForwards\fR is enabled in shared repositories, so that you cannot force a non fast\-forwarding push into it\&.
200 .sp
201 If you provide a \fI<directory>\fR, the command is run inside it\&. If this directory does not exist, it will be created\&.
202 .SH "TEMPLATE DIRECTORY"
203 .sp
204 Files and directories in the template directory whose name do not start with a dot will be copied to the \fB$GIT_DIR\fR after it is created\&.
205 .sp
206 The template directory will be one of the following (in order):
207 .sp
208 .RS 4
209 .ie n \{\
210 \h'-04'\(bu\h'+03'\c
211 .\}
212 .el \{\
213 .sp -1
214 .IP \(bu 2.3
215 .\}
216 the argument given with the
217 \fB\-\-template\fR
218 option;
219 .RE
220 .sp
221 .RS 4
222 .ie n \{\
223 \h'-04'\(bu\h'+03'\c
224 .\}
225 .el \{\
226 .sp -1
227 .IP \(bu 2.3
228 .\}
229 the contents of the
230 \fB$GIT_TEMPLATE_DIR\fR
231 environment variable;
232 .RE
233 .sp
234 .RS 4
235 .ie n \{\
236 \h'-04'\(bu\h'+03'\c
237 .\}
238 .el \{\
239 .sp -1
240 .IP \(bu 2.3
241 .\}
242 the
243 \fBinit\&.templateDir\fR
244 configuration variable; or
245 .RE
246 .sp
247 .RS 4
248 .ie n \{\
249 \h'-04'\(bu\h'+03'\c
250 .\}
251 .el \{\
252 .sp -1
253 .IP \(bu 2.3
254 .\}
255 the default template directory:
256 \fB/usr/share/git\-core/templates\fR\&.
257 .RE
258 .sp
259 The default template directory includes some directory structure, suggested "exclude patterns" (see \fBgitignore\fR(5)), and sample hook files\&.
260 .sp
261 The sample hooks are all disabled by default\&. To enable one of the sample hooks rename it by removing its \&.\fBsample\fR suffix\&.
262 .sp
263 See \fBgithooks\fR(5) for more general info on hook execution\&.
264 .SH "EXAMPLES"
265 .PP
266 Start a new Git repository for an existing code base
267 .RS 4
268 .sp
269 .if n \{\
270 .RS 4
271 .\}
272 .nf
273 $ cd /path/to/my/codebase
274 $ git init \fB(1)\fR
275 $ git add \&. \fB(2)\fR
276 $ git commit \fB(3)\fR
277 .fi
278 .if n \{\
279 .RE
280 .\}
281 .TS
282 tab(:);
283 r lw(\n(.lu*75u/100u).
284 \fB1.\fR\h'-2n':T{
285 Create a
286 \fB/path/to/my/codebase/\&.git\fR
287 directory\&.
288 T}
289 \fB2.\fR\h'-2n':T{
290 Add all existing files to the index\&.
291 T}
292 \fB3.\fR\h'-2n':T{
293 Record the pristine state as the first commit in the history\&.
294 T}
295 .TE
296 .RE
297 .SH "CONFIGURATION"
298 .sp
299 Everything below this line in this section is selectively included from the \fBgit-config\fR(1) documentation\&. The content is the same as what\(cqs found there:
300 .PP
301 \fBinit\&.templateDir\fR
302 .RS 4
303 Specify the directory from which templates will be copied\&.
304 .RE
305 .PP
306 \fBinit\&.defaultBranch\fR
307 .RS 4
308 Allows overriding the default branch name e\&.g\&. when initializing a new repository\&.
309 .RE
310 .PP
311 \fBinit\&.defaultObjectFormat\fR
312 .RS 4
313 Allows overriding the default object format for new repositories\&. See
314 \fB\-\-object\-format=\fR
315 in
316 \fBgit-init\fR(1)\&. Both the command line option and the
317 \fBGIT_DEFAULT_HASH\fR
318 environment variable take precedence over this config\&.
319 .RE
320 .PP
321 \fBinit\&.defaultRefFormat\fR
322 .RS 4
323 Allows overriding the default ref storage format for new repositories\&. See
324 \fB\-\-ref\-format=\fR
325 in
326 \fBgit-init\fR(1)\&. Both the command line option and the
327 \fBGIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\fR
328 environment variable take precedence over this config\&.
329 .RE
330 .SH "GIT"
331 .sp
332 Part of the \fBgit\fR(1) suite