09743417a2
The previous behavior was introduced in commit 74ec19d4be
("pseudorefs: create and use pseudoref update and delete functions",
Jul 31, 2015), with the justification "alternate ref backends still
need to store pseudorefs in GIT_DIR".
Refs such as REBASE_HEAD are read through the ref backend. This can
only work consistently if they are written through the ref backend as
well. Tooling that works directly on files under .git should be
updated to use git commands to read refs instead.
The following behaviors change:
* Updates to pseudorefs (eg. ORIG_HEAD) with
core.logAllRefUpdates=always will create reflogs for the pseudoref.
* non-HEAD pseudoref symrefs are also dereferenced on deletion. Update
t1405 accordingly.
Signed-off-by: Han-Wen Nienhuys <hanwen@google.com>
Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
180 lines
6.0 KiB
Plaintext
180 lines
6.0 KiB
Plaintext
git-update-ref(1)
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=================
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NAME
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----
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git-update-ref - Update the object name stored in a ref safely
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SYNOPSIS
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--------
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[verse]
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'git update-ref' [-m <reason>] [--no-deref] (-d <ref> [<oldvalue>] | [--create-reflog] <ref> <newvalue> [<oldvalue>] | --stdin [-z])
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DESCRIPTION
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-----------
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Given two arguments, stores the <newvalue> in the <ref>, possibly
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dereferencing the symbolic refs. E.g. `git update-ref HEAD
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<newvalue>` updates the current branch head to the new object.
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Given three arguments, stores the <newvalue> in the <ref>,
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possibly dereferencing the symbolic refs, after verifying that
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the current value of the <ref> matches <oldvalue>.
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E.g. `git update-ref refs/heads/master <newvalue> <oldvalue>`
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updates the master branch head to <newvalue> only if its current
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value is <oldvalue>. You can specify 40 "0" or an empty string
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as <oldvalue> to make sure that the ref you are creating does
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not exist.
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It also allows a "ref" file to be a symbolic pointer to another
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ref file by starting with the four-byte header sequence of
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"ref:".
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More importantly, it allows the update of a ref file to follow
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these symbolic pointers, whether they are symlinks or these
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"regular file symbolic refs". It follows *real* symlinks only
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if they start with "refs/": otherwise it will just try to read
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them and update them as a regular file (i.e. it will allow the
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filesystem to follow them, but will overwrite such a symlink to
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somewhere else with a regular filename).
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If --no-deref is given, <ref> itself is overwritten, rather than
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the result of following the symbolic pointers.
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In general, using
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git update-ref HEAD "$head"
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should be a _lot_ safer than doing
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echo "$head" > "$GIT_DIR/HEAD"
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both from a symlink following standpoint *and* an error checking
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standpoint. The "refs/" rule for symlinks means that symlinks
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that point to "outside" the tree are safe: they'll be followed
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for reading but not for writing (so we'll never write through a
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ref symlink to some other tree, if you have copied a whole
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archive by creating a symlink tree).
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With `-d` flag, it deletes the named <ref> after verifying it
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still contains <oldvalue>.
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With `--stdin`, update-ref reads instructions from standard input and
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performs all modifications together. Specify commands of the form:
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update SP <ref> SP <newvalue> [SP <oldvalue>] LF
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create SP <ref> SP <newvalue> LF
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delete SP <ref> [SP <oldvalue>] LF
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verify SP <ref> [SP <oldvalue>] LF
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option SP <opt> LF
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start LF
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prepare LF
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commit LF
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abort LF
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With `--create-reflog`, update-ref will create a reflog for each ref
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even if one would not ordinarily be created.
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Quote fields containing whitespace as if they were strings in C source
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code; i.e., surrounded by double-quotes and with backslash escapes.
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Use 40 "0" characters or the empty string to specify a zero value. To
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specify a missing value, omit the value and its preceding SP entirely.
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Alternatively, use `-z` to specify in NUL-terminated format, without
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quoting:
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update SP <ref> NUL <newvalue> NUL [<oldvalue>] NUL
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create SP <ref> NUL <newvalue> NUL
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delete SP <ref> NUL [<oldvalue>] NUL
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verify SP <ref> NUL [<oldvalue>] NUL
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option SP <opt> NUL
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start NUL
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prepare NUL
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commit NUL
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abort NUL
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In this format, use 40 "0" to specify a zero value, and use the empty
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string to specify a missing value.
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In either format, values can be specified in any form that Git
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recognizes as an object name. Commands in any other format or a
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repeated <ref> produce an error. Command meanings are:
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update::
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Set <ref> to <newvalue> after verifying <oldvalue>, if given.
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Specify a zero <newvalue> to ensure the ref does not exist
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after the update and/or a zero <oldvalue> to make sure the
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ref does not exist before the update.
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create::
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Create <ref> with <newvalue> after verifying it does not
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exist. The given <newvalue> may not be zero.
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delete::
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Delete <ref> after verifying it exists with <oldvalue>, if
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given. If given, <oldvalue> may not be zero.
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verify::
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Verify <ref> against <oldvalue> but do not change it. If
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<oldvalue> is zero or missing, the ref must not exist.
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option::
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Modify behavior of the next command naming a <ref>.
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The only valid option is `no-deref` to avoid dereferencing
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a symbolic ref.
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start::
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Start a transaction. In contrast to a non-transactional session, a
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transaction will automatically abort if the session ends without an
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explicit commit.
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prepare::
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Prepare to commit the transaction. This will create lock files for all
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queued reference updates. If one reference could not be locked, the
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transaction will be aborted.
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commit::
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Commit all reference updates queued for the transaction, ending the
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transaction.
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abort::
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Abort the transaction, releasing all locks if the transaction is in
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prepared state.
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If all <ref>s can be locked with matching <oldvalue>s
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simultaneously, all modifications are performed. Otherwise, no
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modifications are performed. Note that while each individual
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<ref> is updated or deleted atomically, a concurrent reader may
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still see a subset of the modifications.
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LOGGING UPDATES
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---------------
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If config parameter "core.logAllRefUpdates" is true and the ref is one
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under "refs/heads/", "refs/remotes/", "refs/notes/", or a pseudoref
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like HEAD or ORIG_HEAD; or the file "$GIT_DIR/logs/<ref>" exists then
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`git update-ref` will append a line to the log file
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"$GIT_DIR/logs/<ref>" (dereferencing all symbolic refs before creating
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the log name) describing the change in ref value. Log lines are
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formatted as:
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oldsha1 SP newsha1 SP committer LF
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Where "oldsha1" is the 40 character hexadecimal value previously
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stored in <ref>, "newsha1" is the 40 character hexadecimal value of
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<newvalue> and "committer" is the committer's name, email address
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and date in the standard Git committer ident format.
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Optionally with -m:
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oldsha1 SP newsha1 SP committer TAB message LF
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Where all fields are as described above and "message" is the
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value supplied to the -m option.
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An update will fail (without changing <ref>) if the current user is
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unable to create a new log file, append to the existing log file
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or does not have committer information available.
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GIT
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---
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Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite
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