I have a git repo that shows a different branch in
`.git/refs/remotes/origin/HEAD` than is reported by `git remote show
origin`.
The branch is `github-rename` in refs/remotes/origin/HEAD, but shows
`master` in output of git-remote-show
$ cat .git/refs/remotes/origin/HEAD
ref: refs/remotes/origin/github-rename
$ git remote show origin
* remote origin
Fetch URL: git@XXXX.git
Push URL: git@XXXX.git
HEAD branch: master
Remote branches:
github-rename tracked
master tracked
qa tracked
refactor-test tracked
Local branches configured for 'git pull':
github-rename merges with remote github-rename
master merges with remote master
Local refs configured for 'git push':
github-rename pushes to github-rename (up to date)
master pushes to master (up to date)
git version 2.14.1
Background:
Prior to my repo being cloned, the default branch was configured to be
`some-random-branch` on github. My repo was cloned and the HEAD branch
was set to `some-random-branch` correctly (in `refs/`). However,
git-remote-show reported `master` as the HEAD branch.
Later, `some-random-branch` was deleted from the remote. It _remained_
as the HEAD branch locally according to `refs/`.
In order to test the remote-show command, I changed the HEAD branch to
a branch that actually existed by running `git remote set-head origin
github-rename`. It changed the HEAD branch in `refs/` but remote-show
continues to report `master` as the remote's HEAD.
Thanks,
Jason Karns
Hi Jason,
On 15/08/2017 16:26, Jason Karns wrote:
I have a git repo that shows a different branch in
`.git/refs/remotes/origin/HEAD` than is reported by `git remote show
origin`.
The branch is `github-rename` in refs/remotes/origin/HEAD, but shows
`master` in output of git-remote-show
$ cat .git/refs/remotes/origin/HEAD
ref: refs/remotes/origin/github-rename
$ git remote show origin
* remote origin
Fetch URL: git@XXXX.git
Push URL: git@XXXX.git
HEAD branch: master
Remote branches:
github-rename tracked
master tracked
qa tracked
refactor-test tracked
Local branches configured for 'git pull':
github-rename merges with remote github-rename
master merges with remote master
Local refs configured for 'git push':
github-rename pushes to github-rename (up to date)
master pushes to master (up to date)
git version 2.14.1
Background:
Prior to my repo being cloned, the default branch was configured to be
`some-random-branch` on github. My repo was cloned and the HEAD branch
was set to `some-random-branch` correctly (in `refs/`). However,
git-remote-show reported `master` as the HEAD branch.
Later, `some-random-branch` was deleted from the remote. It _remained_
as the HEAD branch locally according to `refs/`.
In order to test the remote-show command, I changed the HEAD branch to
a branch that actually existed by running `git remote set-head origin
github-rename`. It changed the HEAD branch in `refs/` but remote-show
continues to report `master` as the remote's HEAD.
I am no expert here, but reading the docs, it seems like you may have
wrong expectations.
Documentation for "git remote set-head"[1] explains that this command
is used to set default remote branch (locally), where later you can
use remote name only to specify that specific (remote) branch instead.
Example shows that for remote named "origin", if you set default
branch name to "master" (actually being "origin/master" locally),
then whenever you want to type "origin/master", you can type "origin"
only instead (set default branch name is implied).
For the given example, that is what you can see inside
"refs/remotes/origin/HEAD", being set to "refs/remotes/origin/master".
So it is something _you_ set _locally_ to aid you in working with the
remote repository.
On the other hand, what "git remote show" outputs for HEAD is a name
of actually checked-out branch inside that remote repository - it`s
what`s stored inside HEAD file of the remote repository root.
So it is something set on the _remote_ end, you can`t influence it
from your local repository.
What you _could_ do in your specific case, as you mention using
GitHub, is following their help page for "setting the default
branch"[2] for your GitHub repository (which you track locally as
"origin") to "github-rename".
(in general, non-GitHub repository case, one could usually run there
either `git checkout github-rename`, if it`s not a bare repository,
or `git symbolic-ref HEAD refs/heads/github-rename`, if it`s a bare
repository)
Afterwards, running `git remote show origin` inside your local
repository should output "github-rename" as HEAD value, as desired.
p.s. To set your default remote branch locally to checked-out branch
on the remote end automatically, you can use `git remote set-head
origin --auto`, as documented[1]. It will inspect what`s inside
"HEAD" of the remote named "origin", and update your local
"refs/remotes/origin/HEAD" accordingly.
[1] https://git-scm.com/docs/git-remote#git-remote-emset-headem
[2] https://help.github.com/articles/setting-the-default-branch/
Regards,
Buga
On Tue, Aug 15, 2017 at 1:09 PM, Igor Djordjevic
[off-list ref] wrote:
Hi Jason,
On 15/08/2017 16:26, Jason Karns wrote:
quoted
I have a git repo that shows a different branch in
`.git/refs/remotes/origin/HEAD` than is reported by `git remote show
origin`.
The branch is `github-rename` in refs/remotes/origin/HEAD, but shows
`master` in output of git-remote-show
$ cat .git/refs/remotes/origin/HEAD
ref: refs/remotes/origin/github-rename
$ git remote show origin
* remote origin
Fetch URL: git@XXXX.git
Push URL: git@XXXX.git
HEAD branch: master
Remote branches:
github-rename tracked
master tracked
qa tracked
refactor-test tracked
Local branches configured for 'git pull':
github-rename merges with remote github-rename
master merges with remote master
Local refs configured for 'git push':
github-rename pushes to github-rename (up to date)
master pushes to master (up to date)
git version 2.14.1
Background:
Prior to my repo being cloned, the default branch was configured to be
`some-random-branch` on github. My repo was cloned and the HEAD branch
was set to `some-random-branch` correctly (in `refs/`). However,
git-remote-show reported `master` as the HEAD branch.
Later, `some-random-branch` was deleted from the remote. It _remained_
as the HEAD branch locally according to `refs/`.
In order to test the remote-show command, I changed the HEAD branch to
a branch that actually existed by running `git remote set-head origin
github-rename`. It changed the HEAD branch in `refs/` but remote-show
continues to report `master` as the remote's HEAD.
I am no expert here, but reading the docs, it seems like you may have
wrong expectations.
Documentation for "git remote set-head"[1] explains that this command
is used to set default remote branch (locally), where later you can
use remote name only to specify that specific (remote) branch instead.
Example shows that for remote named "origin", if you set default
branch name to "master" (actually being "origin/master" locally),
then whenever you want to type "origin/master", you can type "origin"
only instead (set default branch name is implied).
For the given example, that is what you can see inside
"refs/remotes/origin/HEAD", being set to "refs/remotes/origin/master".
So it is something _you_ set _locally_ to aid you in working with the
remote repository.
Cool, this is all to my expectations.
On the other hand, what "git remote show" outputs for HEAD is a name
of actually checked-out branch inside that remote repository - it`s
what`s stored inside HEAD file of the remote repository root.
So it is something set on the _remote_ end, you can`t influence it
from your local repository.
So _this_ is not what I expected. Thanks for clarifying.
Considering that a fresh clone replicates the remote's default branch
as the local default for that remote, I wager (in the majority of
cases) that these two are the same. It would seem that what I would
like in this case is a feature change to git-remote-show to show both
the locally-configured and remote-configured defaults for the given
remote (similar in spirit to how git-remote-show already shows local
vs remote information: branches and their configurations for
push/pull).
Such a feature would be the "read" side of the remote set-head
command, and also be useful for highlighting cases where the local and
remote defaults do not match.
If I might suggest adding "Local default branch: xxx" to the
remote-show output, following the HEAD branch output. (Perhaps,
printing "(not set)" if the default isn't configured locally.)
````
$ git remote show origin | head
* remote origin
Fetch URL: git@XXXX
Push URL: git@XXXX
HEAD branch: develop
Local default branch: foo
Remote branches:
Or perhaps adding a line at the bottom with the other local refs. That
would allow additional notices when/if the local and remote defaults
differ.
>
> What you _could_ do in your specific case, as you mention using
> GitHub, is following their help page for "setting the default
> branch"[2] for your GitHub repository (which you track locally as
> "origin") to "github-rename".
>
> (in general, non-GitHub repository case, one could usually run there
> either `git checkout github-rename`, if it`s not a bare repository,
> or `git symbolic-ref HEAD refs/heads/github-rename`, if it`s a bare
> repository)
>
> Afterwards, running `git remote show origin` inside your local
> repository should output "github-rename" as HEAD value, as desired.
>
In my case, the github configuration is correct, and the set-head
command was only used to test the output of git-remote-show. The crux
of my misunderstanding is that I thought git-remote-show should be
reporting the contents of `refs/remotes/origin/HEAD`. Having that
information reported somehow (preferably through git-remote-show)
would have clarified this for me.
> p.s. To set your default remote branch locally to checked-out branch
> on the remote end automatically, you can use `git remote set-head
> origin --auto`, as documented[1]. It will inspect what`s inside
> "HEAD" of the remote named "origin", and update your local
> "refs/remotes/origin/HEAD" accordingly.
>
> [1] https://git-scm.com/docs/git-remote#git-remote-emset-headem
> [2] https://help.github.com/articles/setting-the-default-branch/
>
> Regards,
> Buga
Thanks for clarifying. Having this information surfaced a bit would be
a nice improvement, IMO.
Jason
On Tue, Aug 15, 2017 at 01:58:38PM -0400, Jason Karns wrote:
quoted
On the other hand, what "git remote show" outputs for HEAD is a name
of actually checked-out branch inside that remote repository - it`s
what`s stored inside HEAD file of the remote repository root.
So it is something set on the _remote_ end, you can`t influence it
from your local repository.
So _this_ is not what I expected. Thanks for clarifying.
Considering that a fresh clone replicates the remote's default branch
as the local default for that remote, I wager (in the majority of
cases) that these two are the same. It would seem that what I would
like in this case is a feature change to git-remote-show to show both
the locally-configured and remote-configured defaults for the given
remote (similar in spirit to how git-remote-show already shows local
vs remote information: branches and their configurations for
push/pull).
Yes, I'd agree. This seems like exactly the kind of information that
"remote show" was intended to display.
It should be a pretty straight-forward patch for anybody wanting to get
their feet wet in git development. The trickier half of showing both is
getting the remote information, but we're already doing that. So I think
any patch would want to:
1. Teach builtin/remote.c:show() to say "Remote HEAD branch" instead
of just "HEAD branch".
2. Add a "Local HEAD branch" that shows the local symref. That symref
is always refs/remotes/<remotename>/HEAD, which can be constructed
with a strbuf. And then resolve_refdup() can be used to get the
pointed-to ref (check the returned flags for REF_ISSYMREF, and
the string return value is the refname).
-Peff