“git-archive” is a Git command that allows you to create an archive of files from a named tree within a Git repository. It enables you to package a specific version of your project’s source code, including all its files and directories, into a compressed archive file. This archive can be easily distributed or shared with others.
Here are some key points about “git-archive”:
- Archive Formats: “git-archive” supports various archive formats, such as tar, zip, and tar.gz (gzip-compressed tar). You can specify the desired format using appropriate file extensions, such as “.tar”, “.zip”, or “.tar.gz”, in the output file name.
- Named Tree: To create an archive, you need to specify a named tree within the Git repository. This can be a branch, a tag, or a specific commit. The named tree represents a specific version or snapshot of your project’s source code that you want to package into the archive.
- Included Files: By default, “git-archive” includes all files and directories in the named tree. However, you can also specify a path or a pattern to include only specific files or directories in the archive. This allows you to create targeted archives containing a subset of your project’s files.
- Excluding Files: Conversely, you can exclude certain files or directories from the archive by using the “–exclude” option followed by a pattern or path specification. This is useful when you want to exclude specific files or directories that are not relevant to the archive or should not be distributed.
- Output Options: “git-archive” provides several options to control the output of the archive. For example, you can specify the output file name and path using the “–output” option, or you can send the archive directly to the standard output by using the “–prefix” option.
- Integration with Compression Tools: The archive created by “git-archive” can be further compressed or manipulated using external compression tools like gzip or zip. You can pipe the output of “git-archive” to these tools to apply additional compression or archive-specific options.
“git-archive” is a useful command when you want to create a compressed archive of your project’s source code from a specific version or snapshot. It allows you to easily distribute or share your code with others while maintaining a clean and organized archive structure.
git archive Command Examples
1. Create a tar archive from the contents of the current HEAD and print it to standard output:
# git archive --verbose HEAD
2. Create a zip archive from the current HEAD and print it to standard output:
# git archive --verbose --format=zip HEAD
3. Same as above, but write the zip archive to file:
# git archive --verbose --output=/path/to/file.zip HEAD
4. Create a tar archive from the contents of the latest commit on a specific branch:
# git archive --output=/path/to/file.tar branch_name
5. Create a tar archive from the contents of a specific directory:
# git archive --output=/path/to/file.tar HEAD:/path/to/directory
6. Prepend a path to each file to archive it inside a specific directory:
# git archive --output=/path/to/file.tar --prefix=/path/to/prepend/ HEAD