Clone a repo with submodules: override credentials

Question

I have to automate cloning a repository and fetching it's all submodules. The urls for repository submodules are specified at .gitmodules. If I were to go with defaults I would just do

git clone --recursive https://username:password@url.git

The problem is credentials aren't included in .gitmodules file and I am prompted for those when I clone. I have to use HTTPS rather then SSH.

I tried to submit the credentials using git config:

git clone https://username:password@url.git my_repo
cd my_repo
git submodule init
git config submodule.my_submodule.url "https://username:password@url/my_submodule.git"
git submodule update

but I get prompted for credentials in the last update step. I've checked that the submodule url is correct and has proper credentials in .git/config file.

Turns out I wasn't using proper name for `my_submole`. Got misled by tab completion. I found proper name in `.gitmodules`. — sakovias, May 05 '15 at 02:35

score 8 · Answer 1 · edited May 23 '17 at 10:30

Looks like you are trying to use git credentials but not having any luck.

Option 1

Add credentials using the credential helper:

git config credential.https://example.com.username myusername
git config credential.helper "$helper $options"

Check your ~/.gitconfig and verify that the appropriate entry is added.

Further reading: http://git-scm.com/docs/gitcredentials

Option 2

I would double check the contents of your .git-credentials file and make a new entry for the submodule if it is not present. This file is used internally by the git credentials helper.

http://git-scm.com/docs/git-credential-store

Option 3

Easy solution in windows is to remove the username, password from modules file:

[submodule foo]
  path = sub/foo
  url = https://example.com/git/foo.git

And create a ~/.netrc file.

machine example.com
  login myusername
  password areamandyingtotellsomeonehiscoolpassword

Kudos to Git submodule URL not including username?.

Note that when you use setup a creadential helper you might need to provide a path to a file explicitly. Git assumes $HOME variable is set and that is not true e.g. in Jenkins. — Nux, Jan 18 '22 at 15:50
So a basic usage would be: `git config --global credential.helper store` But you might need to use: `git config --system credential.helper 'store --file /root/.git-credentials'` — Nux, Jan 18 '22 at 15:51

score 8 · Answer 2 · answered May 04 '15 at 22:16

8

After editting the .gitmodules file you need to apply changes using

git submodule sync

The next time you run git submodule update the new url will be used.

answered May 04 '15 at 22:16

Sébastien Dawans

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score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Sep 17 '20 at 14:12

If, like me, you are running CI and have access to a private token and already know the path to the submodule, you could use

git config credential.helper store
echo "https://LOGIN:${PAT}@github.com/path/to/submodule.git" > ~/.git-credentials

The next submodule update will not ask for credential.

Obviously, you'll want to clean this up once your done. In my case, I run in a docker container, so I don't have this concern.

Clone a repo with submodules: override credentials

3 Answers3

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