Clone Only One Branch [Duplicate]

I would like to know how I could clone only one branch instead of cloning the whole Git repository.

6

From the announcement Git 1.7.10 (April 2012):

  • git clone learned --single-branch option to limit cloning to a single branch (surprise!); tags that do not point into the history of the branch are not fetched.

Git actually allows you to clone only one branch, for example:

git clone -b mybranch --single-branch git://

Note: Also you can add another single branch or "undo" this action.

13

You could create a new repo with

git init 

and then use

git fetch url-to-repo branchname:refs/remotes/origin/branchname

to fetch just that one branch into a local remote-tracking branch.

14

“--single-branch” switch is your answer, but it only works if you have git version 1.8.X onwards, first check

#git --version 

If you already have git version 1.8.X installed then simply use "-b branch and --single branch" to clone a single branch

#git clone -b branch --single-branch git://github/repository.git

By default in Ubuntu 12.04/12.10/13.10 and Debian 7 the default git installation is for version 1.7.x only, where --single-branch is an unknown switch. In that case you need to install newer git first from a non-default ppa as below.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:pdoes/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install git
git --version

Once 1.8.X is installed now simply do:

git clone -b branch --single-branch git://github/repository.git

Git will now only download a single branch from the server.

2

I have done with below single git command:

git clone [url] -b [branch-name] --single-branch
1
Sarah Jenkins

Sarah Jenkins

Senior Technology Editor & AI Specialist

Sarah Jenkins is a veteran tech journalist with over 12 years of experience covering artificial intelligence, mobile innovations, and digital ethics. Her insights have appeared in leading technology publications worldwide.

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