git-force-clone - Man Page
overwrite local repositories with clone
Examples (TL;DR)
- Clone a Git repository into a new directory:
git force-clone remote_repository_location path/to/directory - Clone a Git repository into a new directory, checking out an specific branch:
git force-clone -b branch_name remote_repository_location path/to/directory - Clone a Git repository into an existing directory of a Git repository, performing a force-reset to resemble it to the remote and checking out an specific branch:
git force-clone -b branch_name remote_repository_location path/to/directory
Synopsis
force-clone --help
force-clone {remote_url} {destination_path}
force-clone --branch {branch_name} {remote_url} {destination_path}
Description
Provides the basic functionality of git clone, but if the destination git repository already exists it will force-reset it to resemble a clone of the remote.
Because it doesn´t actually delete the directory, it is usually significantly faster than the alternative of deleting the directory and cloning the repository from scratch.
CAUTION: If the repository exists, this will destroy all local work: changed files will be reset, local branches and other remotes will be removed.
Process
If target-directory doesn´t exist or isn´t a git repository then the arguments will simply be passed through to git clone.
If target-directory exists and is a git repository then this will:
- Remove all remotes
- Set the origin remote to {remote_url} and fetch the remote
- Discover the default branch, if no branch was specified
- Check out the selected branch
- Delete all other local branches
Options
{remote_url} - The URL for a git remote repository of which to make a clone. {destination_path} - A path to the local git repository location to clone into. --branch {branch_name} - After cloning, checkout this branch.
Examples
git-force-clone -b master git@github.com:me/repo.git ./repo_dir
Author
Written by Robin Winslow robin@robinwinslow.co.uk.