git-init

(1)

Create an empty Git repository or reinitialize an existing one

User commands 8 optionsgit-man 1:2.47.3-0+deb13u1

git init [-q | --quiet] [--bare] [--template=<template-directory>] [--separate-git-dir <git-dir>] [--object-format=<format>] [--ref-format=<format>] [-b <branch-name> | --initial-branch=<branch-name>] [--shared[=<permissions>]] [<directory>]

Options

-q--quiet

Only print error and warning messages; all other output will be suppressed.

--bare

Create a bare repository. If GIT_DIR environment is not set, it is set to the current working directory.

--object-format<format>

Specify the given object <format> (hash algorithm) for the repository. The valid values are sha1 and (if enabled) sha256. sha1 is the default. Note: At present, there is no interoperability between SHA-256 repositories and SHA-1 repositories.

--ref-format<format>

Specify the given ref storage <format> for the repository. The valid values are: •files for loose files with packed-refs. This is the default. •reftable for the reftable format. This format is experimental and its internals are subject to change.

--template<template-directory>

Specify the directory from which templates will be used. (See the "TEMPLATE DIRECTORY" section below.)

--separate-git-dir<git-dir>

Instead of initializing the repository as a directory to either $GIT_DIR or ./.git/, 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. If this is a reinitialization, the repository will be moved to the specified path.

-b--initial-branch<branch-name>

Use <branch-name> for the initial branch in the newly created repository. If not specified, fall back to the default name (currently master, but this is subject to change in the future; the name can be customized via the init.defaultBranch configuration variable).

--shared<perm>

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 core.sharedRepository is set so that files and directories under $GIT_DIR are created with the requested permissions. When not specified, Git will use permissions reported by umask(2). The option can have the following values, defaulting to group if no value is given: umask, false Use permissions reported by umask(2). The default, when --shared is not specified. group, true Make the repository group-writable, (and

DESCRIPTION

This command creates an empty Git repository - basically a .git directory with subdirectories for objects, refs/heads, refs/tags, and template files. An initial branch without any commits will be created (see the --initial-branch option below for its name).

If the $GIT_DIR environment variable is set then it specifies a path to use instead of ./.git for the base of the repository.

If the object storage directory is specified via the $GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY environment variable then the sha1 directories are created underneath; otherwise, the default $GIT_DIR/objects directory is used.

Running git init in an existing repository is safe. It will not overwrite things that are already there. The primary reason for rerunning git init is to pick up newly added templates (or to move the repository to another place if --separate-git-dir is given).

TEMPLATE DIRECTORY

Files and directories in the template directory whose name do not start with a dot will be copied to the $GIT_DIR after it is created.

The template directory will be one of the following (in order):

•the argument given with the --template option;

•the contents of the $GIT_TEMPLATE_DIR environment variable;

•the init.templateDir configuration variable; or

•the default template directory: /usr/share/git-core/templates.

The default template directory includes some directory structure, suggested "exclude patterns" (see gitignore(5)), and sample hook files.

The sample hooks are all disabled by default. To enable one of the sample hooks rename it by removing its .sample suffix.

See githooks(5) for more general info on hook execution.

EXAMPLES

Start a new Git repository for an existing code base

$ cd /path/to/my/codebase
$ git init      (1)
$ git add .     (2)
$ git commit    (3)

1.	Create a /path/to/my/codebase/.git directory.
2.	Add all existing files to the index.
3.	Record the pristine state as the first commit in the history.

CONFIGURATION

Everything below this line in this section is selectively included from the git-config(1) documentation. The content is the same as what’s found there:

init.templateDir

Specify the directory from which templates will be copied.

init.defaultBranch

Allows overriding the default branch name e.g. when initializing a new repository.

init.defaultObjectFormat

Allows overriding the default object format for new repositories. See --object-format= in git-init(1). Both the command line option and the GIT_DEFAULT_HASH environment variable take precedence over this config.

init.defaultRefFormat

Allows overriding the default ref storage format for new repositories. See --ref-format= in git-init(1). Both the command line option and the GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT environment variable take precedence over this config.

GIT

Part of the git(1) suite