Documentation/gitmodules.txt

gitmodules(5)
=============

NAME
----
gitmodules - defining submodule properties

SYNOPSIS
--------
$GIT_WORK_DIR/.gitmodules


DESCRIPTION
-----------

The `.gitmodules` file, located in the top-level directory of a Git
working tree, is a text file with a syntax matching the requirements
of linkgit:git-config[1].

The file contains one subsection per submodule, and the subsection value
is the name of the submodule. The name is set to the path where the
submodule has been added unless it was customized with the `--name`
option of 'git submodule add'. Each submodule section also contains the
following required keys:

submodule.<name>.path::
	Defines the path, relative to the top-level directory of the Git
	working tree, where the submodule is expected to be checked out.
	The path name must not end with a `/`. All submodule paths must
	be unique within the .gitmodules file.

submodule.<name>.url::
	Defines a URL from which the submodule repository can be cloned.
	This may be either an absolute URL ready to be passed to
	linkgit:git-clone[1] or (if it begins with ./ or ../) a location
	relative to the superproject's origin repository.

In addition, there are a number of optional keys:

submodule.<name>.update::
	Defines the default update procedure for the named submodule,
	i.e. how the submodule is updated by "git submodule update"
	command in the superproject. This is only used by `git
	submodule init` to initialize the configuration variable of
	the same name. Allowed values here are 'checkout', 'rebase',
	'merge' or 'none'. See description of 'update' command in
	linkgit:git-submodule[1] for their meaning. Note that the
	'!command' form is intentionally ignored here for security
	reasons.

submodule.<name>.branch::
	A remote branch name for tracking updates in the upstream submodule.
	If the option is not specified, it defaults to 'master'.  A special
	value of `.` is used to indicate that the name of the branch in the
	submodule should be the same name as the current branch in the
	current repository.  See the `--remote` documentation in
	linkgit:git-submodule[1] for details.

submodule.<name>.fetchRecurseSubmodules::
	This option can be used to control recursive fetching of this
	submodule. If this option is also present in the submodules entry in
	.git/config of the superproject, the setting there will override the
	one found in .gitmodules.
	Both settings can be overridden on the command line by using the
	"--[no-]recurse-submodules" option to "git fetch" and "git pull".

submodule.<name>.ignore::
	Defines under what circumstances "git status" and the diff family show
	a submodule as modified. When set to "all", it will never be considered
	modified (but will nonetheless show up in the output of status and
	commit when it has been staged), "dirty" will ignore all changes
	to the submodules work tree and
	takes only differences between the HEAD of the submodule and the commit
	recorded in the superproject into account. "untracked" will additionally
	let submodules with modified tracked files in their work tree show up.
	Using "none" (the default when this option is not set) also shows
	submodules that have untracked files in their work tree as changed.
	If this option is also present in the submodules entry in .git/config of
	the superproject, the setting there will override the one found in
	.gitmodules.
	Both settings can be overridden on the command line by using the
	"--ignore-submodule" option. The 'git submodule' commands are not
	affected by this setting.

submodule.<name>.shallow::
	When set to true, a clone of this submodule will be performed as a
	shallow clone unless the user explicitly asks for a non-shallow
	clone.


EXAMPLES
--------

Consider the following .gitmodules file:

	[submodule "libfoo"]
		path = include/foo
		url = git://foo.com/git/lib.git

	[submodule "libbar"]
		path = include/bar
		url = git://bar.com/git/lib.git


This defines two submodules, `libfoo` and `libbar`. These are expected to
be checked out in the paths 'include/foo' and 'include/bar', and for both
submodules a URL is specified which can be used for cloning the submodules.

SEE ALSO
--------
linkgit:git-submodule[1] linkgit:git-config[1]

GIT
---
Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite