diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 51a37b1af7..353d22fc9a 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ git-get-tar-commit-id
git-grep
git-hash-object
git-help
+git-http-backend
git-http-fetch
git-http-push
git-imap-send
diff --git a/Documentation/git-http-backend.txt b/Documentation/git-http-backend.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..867675fcec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/git-http-backend.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,105 @@
+git-http-backend(1)
+===================
+
+NAME
+----
+git-http-backend - Server side implementation of Git over HTTP
+
+SYNOPSIS
+--------
+[verse]
+'git-http-backend'
+
+DESCRIPTION
+-----------
+A simple CGI program to serve the contents of a Git repository to Git
+clients accessing the repository over http:// and https:// protocols.
+
+By default, only the `upload-pack` service is enabled, which serves
+'git-fetch-pack' and 'git-ls-remote' clients, which are invoked from
+'git-fetch', 'git-pull', and 'git-clone'.
+
+This is ideally suited for read-only updates, i.e., pulling from
+git repositories.
+
+URL TRANSLATION
+---------------
+'git-http-backend' relies on the invoking web server to perform
+URL to path translation, and store the repository path into the
+PATH_TRANSLATED environment variable. Most web servers will do
+this translation automatically, resolving the suffix after the
+CGI name relative to the server's document root.
+
+EXAMPLES
+--------
+
+Apache 2.x::
+ To serve all Git repositories contained within the '/git/'
+ subdirectory of the DocumentRoot, ensure mod_cgi and
+ mod_alias are enabled, and create a ScriptAlias to the CGI:
++
+----------------------------------------------------------------
+ScriptAlias /git/ /usr/libexec/git-core/git-http-backend/git/
+
+
+ Options None
+
+
+ Options ExecCGI
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------
++
+To require authentication for reads, use a Directory
+directive around the repository, or one of its parent directories:
++
+----------------------------------------------------------------
+
+ AuthType Basic
+ AuthName "Private Git Access"
+ Require group committers
+ ...
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Accelerated static Apache 2.x::
+ Similar to the above, but Apache can be used to return static
+ files that are stored on disk. On many systems this may
+ be more efficient as Apache can ask the kernel to copy the
+ file contents from the file system directly to the network:
++
+----------------------------------------------------------------
+DocumentRoot /var/www
+
+ScriptAlias /git/ /usr/libexec/git-core/git-http-backend/git/
+Alias /git_static/ /var/www/git/
+
+RewriteEngine on
+RewriteRule ^/git/(.*/objects/[0-9a-f]{2}/[0-9a-f]{38})$ /git_static/$1 [PT]
+RewriteRule ^/git/(.*/objects/pack/pack-[0-9a-f]{40}.pack)$ /git_static/$1 [PT]
+RewriteRule ^/git/(.*/objects/pack/pack-[0-9a-f]{40}.idx)$ /git_static/$1 [PT]
+----------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+ENVIRONMENT
+-----------
+'git-http-backend' relies upon the CGI environment variables set
+by the invoking web server, including:
+
+* PATH_TRANSLATED
+* REMOTE_USER
+* REMOTE_ADDR
+* CONTENT_TYPE
+* QUERY_STRING
+* REQUEST_METHOD
+
+Author
+------
+Written by Shawn O. Pearce .
+
+Documentation
+--------------
+Documentation by Shawn O. Pearce .
+
+GIT
+---
+Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index fea237bc80..271c290171 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -365,6 +365,7 @@ PROGRAMS += git-show-index$X
PROGRAMS += git-unpack-file$X
PROGRAMS += git-upload-pack$X
PROGRAMS += git-var$X
+PROGRAMS += git-http-backend$X
# List built-in command $C whose implementation cmd_$C() is not in
# builtin-$C.o but is linked in as part of some other command.
diff --git a/http-backend.c b/http-backend.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..22bec56b98
--- /dev/null
+++ b/http-backend.c
@@ -0,0 +1,289 @@
+#include "cache.h"
+#include "refs.h"
+#include "pkt-line.h"
+#include "object.h"
+#include "tag.h"
+#include "exec_cmd.h"
+
+static const char content_type[] = "Content-Type";
+static const char content_length[] = "Content-Length";
+static const char last_modified[] = "Last-Modified";
+
+static void format_write(int fd, const char *fmt, ...)
+{
+ static char buffer[1024];
+
+ va_list args;
+ unsigned n;
+
+ va_start(args, fmt);
+ n = vsnprintf(buffer, sizeof(buffer), fmt, args);
+ va_end(args);
+ if (n >= sizeof(buffer))
+ die("protocol error: impossibly long line");
+
+ safe_write(fd, buffer, n);
+}
+
+static void http_status(unsigned code, const char *msg)
+{
+ format_write(1, "Status: %u %s\r\n", code, msg);
+}
+
+static void hdr_str(const char *name, const char *value)
+{
+ format_write(1, "%s: %s\r\n", name, value);
+}
+
+static void hdr_int(const char *name, size_t value)
+{
+ format_write(1, "%s: %" PRIuMAX "\r\n", name, value);
+}
+
+static void hdr_date(const char *name, unsigned long when)
+{
+ const char *value = show_date(when, 0, DATE_RFC2822);
+ hdr_str(name, value);
+}
+
+static void hdr_nocache(void)
+{
+ hdr_str("Expires", "Fri, 01 Jan 1980 00:00:00 GMT");
+ hdr_str("Pragma", "no-cache");
+ hdr_str("Cache-Control", "no-cache, max-age=0, must-revalidate");
+}
+
+static void hdr_cache_forever(void)
+{
+ unsigned long now = time(NULL);
+ hdr_date("Date", now);
+ hdr_date("Expires", now + 31536000);
+ hdr_str("Cache-Control", "public, max-age=31536000");
+}
+
+static void end_headers(void)
+{
+ safe_write(1, "\r\n", 2);
+}
+
+static NORETURN void not_found(const char *err, ...)
+{
+ va_list params;
+
+ http_status(404, "Not Found");
+ hdr_nocache();
+ end_headers();
+
+ va_start(params, err);
+ if (err && *err)
+ vfprintf(stderr, err, params);
+ va_end(params);
+ exit(0);
+}
+
+static void send_strbuf(const char *type, struct strbuf *buf)
+{
+ hdr_int(content_length, buf->len);
+ hdr_str(content_type, type);
+ end_headers();
+ safe_write(1, buf->buf, buf->len);
+}
+
+static void send_file(const char *the_type, const char *name)
+{
+ const char *p = git_path("%s", name);
+ size_t buf_alloc = 8192;
+ char *buf = xmalloc(buf_alloc);
+ int fd;
+ struct stat sb;
+ size_t size;
+
+ fd = open(p, O_RDONLY);
+ if (fd < 0)
+ not_found("Cannot open '%s': %s", p, strerror(errno));
+ if (fstat(fd, &sb) < 0)
+ die_errno("Cannot stat '%s'", p);
+
+ size = xsize_t(sb.st_size);
+
+ hdr_int(content_length, size);
+ hdr_str(content_type, the_type);
+ hdr_date(last_modified, sb.st_mtime);
+ end_headers();
+
+ while (size) {
+ ssize_t n = xread(fd, buf, buf_alloc);
+ if (n < 0)
+ die_errno("Cannot read '%s'", p);
+ if (!n)
+ break;
+ safe_write(1, buf, n);
+ }
+ close(fd);
+ free(buf);
+}
+
+static void get_text_file(char *name)
+{
+ hdr_nocache();
+ send_file("text/plain", name);
+}
+
+static void get_loose_object(char *name)
+{
+ hdr_cache_forever();
+ send_file("application/x-git-loose-object", name);
+}
+
+static void get_pack_file(char *name)
+{
+ hdr_cache_forever();
+ send_file("application/x-git-packed-objects", name);
+}
+
+static void get_idx_file(char *name)
+{
+ hdr_cache_forever();
+ send_file("application/x-git-packed-objects-toc", name);
+}
+
+static int show_text_ref(const char *name, const unsigned char *sha1,
+ int flag, void *cb_data)
+{
+ struct strbuf *buf = cb_data;
+ struct object *o = parse_object(sha1);
+ if (!o)
+ return 0;
+
+ strbuf_addf(buf, "%s\t%s\n", sha1_to_hex(sha1), name);
+ if (o->type == OBJ_TAG) {
+ o = deref_tag(o, name, 0);
+ if (!o)
+ return 0;
+ strbuf_addf(buf, "%s\t%s^{}\n", sha1_to_hex(o->sha1), name);
+ }
+ return 0;
+}
+
+static void get_info_refs(char *arg)
+{
+ struct strbuf buf = STRBUF_INIT;
+
+ for_each_ref(show_text_ref, &buf);
+ hdr_nocache();
+ send_strbuf("text/plain", &buf);
+ strbuf_release(&buf);
+}
+
+static void get_info_packs(char *arg)
+{
+ size_t objdirlen = strlen(get_object_directory());
+ struct strbuf buf = STRBUF_INIT;
+ struct packed_git *p;
+ size_t cnt = 0;
+
+ prepare_packed_git();
+ for (p = packed_git; p; p = p->next) {
+ if (p->pack_local)
+ cnt++;
+ }
+
+ strbuf_grow(&buf, cnt * 53 + 2);
+ for (p = packed_git; p; p = p->next) {
+ if (p->pack_local)
+ strbuf_addf(&buf, "P %s\n", p->pack_name + objdirlen + 6);
+ }
+ strbuf_addch(&buf, '\n');
+
+ hdr_nocache();
+ send_strbuf("text/plain; charset=utf-8", &buf);
+ strbuf_release(&buf);
+}
+
+static NORETURN void die_webcgi(const char *err, va_list params)
+{
+ char buffer[1000];
+
+ http_status(500, "Internal Server Error");
+ hdr_nocache();
+ end_headers();
+
+ vsnprintf(buffer, sizeof(buffer), err, params);
+ fprintf(stderr, "fatal: %s\n", buffer);
+ exit(0);
+}
+
+static struct service_cmd {
+ const char *method;
+ const char *pattern;
+ void (*imp)(char *);
+} services[] = {
+ {"GET", "/HEAD$", get_text_file},
+ {"GET", "/info/refs$", get_info_refs},
+ {"GET", "/objects/info/alternates$", get_text_file},
+ {"GET", "/objects/info/http-alternates$", get_text_file},
+ {"GET", "/objects/info/packs$", get_info_packs},
+ {"GET", "/objects/[0-9a-f]{2}/[0-9a-f]{38}$", get_loose_object},
+ {"GET", "/objects/pack/pack-[0-9a-f]{40}\\.pack$", get_pack_file},
+ {"GET", "/objects/pack/pack-[0-9a-f]{40}\\.idx$", get_idx_file}
+};
+
+int main(int argc, char **argv)
+{
+ char *method = getenv("REQUEST_METHOD");
+ char *dir = getenv("PATH_TRANSLATED");
+ struct service_cmd *cmd = NULL;
+ char *cmd_arg = NULL;
+ int i;
+
+ git_extract_argv0_path(argv[0]);
+ set_die_routine(die_webcgi);
+
+ if (!method)
+ die("No REQUEST_METHOD from server");
+ if (!strcmp(method, "HEAD"))
+ method = "GET";
+ if (!dir)
+ die("No PATH_TRANSLATED from server");
+
+ for (i = 0; i < ARRAY_SIZE(services); i++) {
+ struct service_cmd *c = &services[i];
+ regex_t re;
+ regmatch_t out[1];
+
+ if (regcomp(&re, c->pattern, REG_EXTENDED))
+ die("Bogus regex in service table: %s", c->pattern);
+ if (!regexec(&re, dir, 1, out, 0)) {
+ size_t n = out[0].rm_eo - out[0].rm_so;
+
+ if (strcmp(method, c->method)) {
+ const char *proto = getenv("SERVER_PROTOCOL");
+ if (proto && !strcmp(proto, "HTTP/1.1"))
+ http_status(405, "Method Not Allowed");
+ else
+ http_status(400, "Bad Request");
+ hdr_nocache();
+ end_headers();
+ return 0;
+ }
+
+ cmd = c;
+ cmd_arg = xmalloc(n);
+ strncpy(cmd_arg, dir + out[0].rm_so + 1, n);
+ cmd_arg[n] = '\0';
+ dir[out[0].rm_so] = 0;
+ break;
+ }
+ regfree(&re);
+ }
+
+ if (!cmd)
+ not_found("Request not supported: '%s'", dir);
+
+ setup_path();
+ if (!enter_repo(dir, 0))
+ not_found("Not a git repository: '%s'", dir);
+
+ cmd->imp(cmd_arg);
+ return 0;
+}