git-annex-unlock - Man Page

git annex unlock [path ...]

Normally, the content of annexed files is protected from being changed. Unlocking an annexed file allows it to be modified. When no files are specified, all annexed files in the current directory are unlocked.

Unlocking a file changes how it is stored in the git repository (from a symlink to a pointer file), so this command will make a change that you can commit.

The content of an unlocked file is still stored in git-annex, not git,  and when you commit modifications to the file, the modifications will also be stored in git-annex, with only the pointer file stored in git.

If you use git add to add a file to the annex, it will be added in unlocked form from the beginning. This allows workflows where a file starts out unlocked, is modified as necessary, and is locked once it reaches its final version.

Normally, unlocking a file requires a copy to be made of its content, so that its original content is preserved, while the copy can be modified. To use less space, annex.thin can be set to true; this makes a hard link to the content be made instead of a copy. (Only when supported by the file system.) While this can save considerable disk space, any modification made to a file will cause the old version of the file to be lost from the local repository. So, enable annex.thin with care.

# git annex unlock disk-image
# git commit -m "unlocked to allow VM to make changes as it runs"

# git annex unlock photo.jpg
# gimp photo.jpg
# git annex add photo.jpg
# git annex lock photo.jpg
# git commit -m "redeye removal"

file matching options

The git-annex-matching-options(1) can be used to specify files to unlock.

--json

Enable JSON output. This is intended to be parsed by programs that use git-annex. Each line of output is a JSON object.

--json-error-messages

Messages that would normally be output to standard error are included in the JSON instead.

Also the git-annex-common-options(1) can be used.

git-annex(1)

git-annex-edit(1)

git-annex-add(1)

git-annex-lock(1)

Joey Hess <id@joeyh.name>

git-annex(1), git-annex-add(1), git-annex-adjust(1), git-annex-config(1), git-annex-edit(1), git-annex-lock(1).