Git - Clone

About

git clone creates a clone known as local repository from a remote repository.

cloning in git means:

downloading the remote repository into a newly created directory
setting for each downloaded branch (ie remote branch) their remote-tracking branches
set the current branch (active) to the remote current branch.

The command is “clone” and not “checkout” ( instead of getting just a working copy, Git receives a full copy of nearly all data that the server has.)

After a first clone of a repository, all files will be tracked, and unmodified because they are just checked out and haven’t been edited.

If you just want to download, see the download page

Example

How to clone basic

Creates a directory named “directoryWhereIwantMyCheckoutData” (The default name is the name of the git file in the URL)
Get the clone URL from the Web

git clone https://github.com/gerardnico/the-name-of-my-repository.git directoryWhereIwantMyCheckoutData

Cloning into 'directoryWhereIwantMyCheckoutData'...
remote: Counting objects: 77, done.
remote: Total 77 (delta 0), reused 0 (delta 0), pack-reused 77
Unpacking objects: 100% (77/77), done.
Checking connectivity... done.

It will:

initializes a git directory inside it,
pulls down all the data for that repository,
and checks out a working copy of the latest version.

How to clone with only the last commit state?

git clone --depth=1 https://.....git .

How to clone if the directory is not empty

with init and pull

git init
git pull https://.....git "branch"

How to clone and checkout a branch

git clone --branch=stable https://.....git .

How to clone locally?

How to clone a local repository to another local repository path.

git -C targetRepoPath clone localRepoPath

example on windows

git -C C:/Users/userName/AppData/Local/Temp/kamal-clones/postgres-b8bf8c33aa7c4 clone C:/code/infra

Command

Clone an existing Git repository from another server.

git clone [option] [url] [directory]

We can also use the following protocol in place of https:

git://
ssh with user@server:path/to/repo.git
–depth 1 grabs the current file state and no history (handy for a build)

More? See docs/git-clone.html

Functionality

Git’s clone command automatically:

create the origin name,
pulls down all its data,
creates a pointer to where its master branch is,
names it origin/master locally.
create a local master branch starting at the same place as origin’s master branch (where you will work to)