Git update submodules recursively

Question

My project struture

ProjectA
-FrameworkA (submodule)
--Twig (submodule of FrameworkA)

How I can update submodules recursively? I already tried some git commands (on ProjectA root)

git submodule foreach git pull origin master

or

git submodule foreach --recursive git pull origin master

but cannot pull files of Twig.

How about [git-deep](https://github.com/bluejamesbond/git-deep)? — Mathew Kurian, Jan 02 '17 at 00:47

drewag · Accepted Answer · 2019-07-17T18:51:41.300

878

git submodule update --recursive

You will also probably want to use the --init option which will make it initialize any uninitialized submodules:

git submodule update --init --recursive

Note: in some older versions of Git, if you use the --init option, already-initialized submodules may not be updated. In that case, you should also run the command without --init option.

edited Jul 17 '19 at 18:51

answered Apr 16 '12 at 04:24

drewag

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How about recursive add submodule? "git submodule add FrameworkA.git" just pull files of FrameworkA. – complez Apr 16 '12 at 04:48
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You can just do a "git submodule add blah" and then "git submodule update --init --recursive". – drewag Apr 16 '12 at 13:37
Is this different than my way below? – William Entriken Sep 26 '13 at 13:30
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@Irineau The note about already-initialized submodules not being updated if `--init` is used does not match my experiences on Git 2.2.2. I see both top-level and nested submodules that have already been initialized getting the correct commit checked out when I use `git submodule update --init --recursive`, and I think the claim that you need to run the command with and without `--init` is simply wrong. Unless somebody can either show evidence that this is the behaviour or demonstrate that it's changed between versions and was once true, I plan to edit it out altogether. – Mark Amery Feb 24 '15 at 14:06
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@MarkAmery, I remember this being a problem in some version of git that I cannot remember. I just tested it in 1.9.3 and the problem does not seem to exist anymore. I updated the answer to refer to a vague "older versions". If anyone can specify which version changed this behavior, that would be great. – drewag Feb 24 '15 at 16:53

score 56 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 26 '13 at 13:28

56

The way I use is:

git submodule update --init --recursive
git submodule foreach --recursive git fetch
git submodule foreach git merge origin master

answered Sep 26 '13 at 13:28

William Entriken

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I worked with changing the last line to: `git submodule foreach git pull --ff-only origin master` – Gilad Peleg Oct 23 '14 at 07:43
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I also would add --recursive to the last line: "git submodule foreach --recursive git merge origin master" otherwise you can get a dirty submodule when it itself has updated a submodule. – Michael Scott Asato Cuthbert Oct 02 '15 at 18:54
Been looking for this for the past three hours. Thank you sir. To add to this, you can also use these commands for committing, such as: `git submodule foreach --recursive 'git commit -a | :'`. The `:` makes it loop regardless of result. See [link](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/19728933/continue-looping-over-submodules-with-the-git-submodule-foreach-command-after)https://stackoverflow.com/questions/19728933/continue-looping-over-submodules-with-the-git-submodule-foreach-command-after. – Fledgling Pidgeon May 23 '17 at 02:10

score 25 · Answer 3 · answered Dec 03 '13 at 23:17

25

As it may happens that the default branch of your submodules are not master (which happens a lot in my case), this is how I automate the full Git submodules upgrades:

git submodule init
git submodule update
git submodule foreach 'git fetch origin; git checkout $(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD); git reset --hard origin/$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD); git submodule update --recursive; git clean -dfx'

answered Dec 03 '13 at 23:17

Sebastien Varrette

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I tryed to add this command in my [generic Makefile](https://github.com/Falkor/Makefiles/blob/devel/repo/Makefile) yet I'm still stucked to make GNU Make *ignore* the interpretation of the $(...) sequence, despite it's presence within simple quotes. Anybody have an idea? – Sebastien Varrette Mar 19 '14 at 13:57
Your command is what I needed thank you! But I get: `Entering 'Core' fatal: ambiguous argument 'origin/HEAD': unknown revision or path not in the working tree.` where `Core` is the submodule – Sanandrea May 03 '17 at 13:01
Also, I guess you need to figure out this comment https://stackoverflow.com/a/18008139/3383543 – Ahmad AlMughrabi Jul 04 '17 at 19:32
not having the recursive option means this only works if your submodules don't include submodules again. – erikbstack Nov 12 '17 at 08:20
This answer needs a warning for newbies: `reset --hard` and `clean -dfx`. – PLG Dec 29 '22 at 21:53

mrts · Answer 4 · 2018-01-22T17:01:33.423

24

In recent Git (I'm using v2.15.1), the following will merge upstream submodule changes into the submodules recursively:

git submodule update --recursive --remote --merge

You may add --init to initialize any uninitialized submodules and use --rebase if you want to rebase instead of merge.

You need to commit the changes afterwards:

git add . && git commit -m 'Update submodules to latest revisions'

edited Jan 22 '18 at 17:01

answered Jan 22 '18 at 13:56

mrts

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This, I thought I was doing something wrong but your answer confirmed to me that `git submodule update --remote my-dir/my-submodule` works just as well – iomv Feb 18 '20 at 11:32

score 9 · Answer 5 · edited Jul 19 '23 at 13:05

9

How about

git config --global submodule.recurse true

and forget it?

See the git book documentation.

edited Jul 19 '23 at 13:05

Martin Thoma

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answered Jul 18 '22 at 08:54

Stefano Favero

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score 1 · Answer 6 · answered Mar 09 '22 at 23:59

You can add the following to your Makefile:

submodule:
    git submodule update --init --recursive
    git submodule foreach 'git fetch origin; git checkout $$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD); git reset --hard origin/$$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD); git submodule update --recursive; git clean -dfx'

Then you can simple run make submodule everytime you want to update submodules.

Duane Rosengartner · Answer 7 · 2022-04-15T18:01:09.437

0

I had one submodule causing issues (the 'fatal:...' that Sanandrea reported, above). Navigated to the submodule and used 'git clean -dfx' resolved it.

edited Apr 15 '22 at 18:01

answered Mar 25 '22 at 14:25

Duane Rosengartner

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If you're adding new information, could you complete your answer once you've fully solved the issue? "trying to use same" leaves me unsure whether this is an answer or just a comment. – joanis Mar 25 '22 at 14:33

Git update submodules recursively

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