Does git-fetch copy down the entire repository?

Question

Does the git fetch command copy down the entire remote repository to my machine, or just the upstream of my current branch?

git fetch fetches branches commits from origin, whithout doing merges. If you want to make a copy of a repo, use git clone. See answers on this question for further insights http://stackoverflow.com/questions/292357/whats-the-difference-between-git-pull-and-git-fetch — BigMike, Apr 03 '13 at 14:08
Entire repository may not be the best description. Fetch will get all of the commits in all of the branches since your last fetch/clone. Any history you already have won't be copied down again. — Roman, Apr 03 '13 at 14:30

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 03 '13 at 14:13

3

Yes, by default it fetches all 'named heads or tags' for the <repository> specified.

answered Apr 03 '13 at 14:13

GoZoner

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So are branches 'named heads'? – Mashmagar Apr 03 '13 at 14:14
1

Yes, branches are 'named heads'. – GoZoner Apr 03 '13 at 14:14
I think my confusion comes from using `git push` and `git pull`. Don't they only operate on the current branch? – Mashmagar Apr 03 '13 at 14:39
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Yes, they only operate on the current branch. `git pull` is doing a fetch followed by a merge - which changes the working directory. – GoZoner Apr 03 '13 at 14:41

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 03 '13 at 14:08

Depends on the options that you use. It can do both. It updates the repository with the data but doesn't merge the changes with your local. That would be with git pull or git merge. (git pull per the documentation is a git fetch followed by a git merge)

https://www.kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/docs/git-fetch.html

Does git-fetch copy down the entire repository?

2 Answers2