git get a copy of a branch

Question

how do I get a copy of a branch from a remote git server? I have tried the following options

git clone url
git clone url branchName

it looks they get the master copy.

possible duplicate of [How to clone a single branch in git?](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1778088/how-to-clone-a-single-branch-in-git) — Simon, Mar 18 '13 at 00:07

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 29 '11 at 21:24

5

You can use the the --branch or -b option on clone:

git clone -b <name> url

See man git clone for further details.

answered Jul 29 '11 at 21:24

Femaref

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While this is true, see the answer from ERR0 for more details. – Kyle Heironimus Jul 29 '11 at 21:39

score 1 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 11:47

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when you clone you get ALL the branches and history.

good explanation here: git branch, fork, fetch, merge, rebase and clone, what are the differences?

use:

git-branch

once you clone the repository to see the branches in the repository.

edited May 23 '17 at 11:47

Community

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answered Jul 29 '11 at 21:36

ERR0

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score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 29 '11 at 21:24

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git clone url
git branch branchname
git checkout branchname
git pull origin branchname

this works for me afa i remember. there might be some better way though, i'm not a git pro.

answered Jul 29 '11 at 21:24

Sinan

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manojlds · Answer 4 · 2011-07-29T21:57:27.687

One way is to create a new repo and then fetch the branch alone:

git init .
git fetch <url> <branchname>:refs/remotes/origin/<branchname>
git checkout <branchname>

Caveat about the other answer on git clone -b

Git always clones the entire repository. What you have in your working directory is based on which branch you checkout. So if you want a particular branch, clone the repo and checkout the repo.

git clone -b is the shortcut for doing that.

Again, you are not getting a "copy" of your branch, but the whole repo with the required branch checked out.

git get a copy of a branch

4 Answers4