Git Remotes: Fun Commands You Can Use

Commands discussed in this section:

• git branch
• git remote
• git ls-remote
• git fetch
• git pull

List remote-tracking branches

$ git branch -r  origin/HEAD -> origin/master  origin/master  origin/test  qa/master  qa/test

List all branches:

$ git branch -a* master  remotes/origin/HEAD -> origin/master  remotes/origin/master  remotes/origin/test

List only local, working branches:

$ git branch* master

Show basic information about the default remote

$ git remote -vorigin  file:///home/gitadmin/project1.git (fetch)origin  file:///home/gitadmin/project1.git (push)

Show a lot about a remote

$ git remote show origin* remote origin  Fetch URL: file:///home/gitadmin/project1.git  Push  URL: file:///home/gitadmin/project1.git  HEAD branch: master  Remote branches:    master tracked    test   tracked  Local branch configured for 'git pull':    master merges with remote master  Local ref configured for 'git push':    master pushes to master (up to date)

Dig around remote repositories

Show the references in a remote repository and their hash:

$ git ls-remote origin8dc59a3c60b5dd12605d0a647b4921b5410b820f    HEAD8dc59a3c60b5dd12605d0a647b4921b5410b820f    refs/heads/mastera402bc61da05d2c9dc6dc6307dcffe12a1fb8045    refs/heads/test$ git ls-remote git://git.debian.org/collab-maint/usplash.gitee17d863ceab06e408e8b051244b7202ae4075f7        HEADee17d863ceab06e408e8b051244b7202ae4075f7        refs/heads/masterf0847d378161de510b49654746f551482240901f        refs/heads/upstream7f5b189dc1c67bb5ff33ca2d4f616336baa8fb4c        refs/tags/0.5.19-1...

The first example, refers to a remote repository named origin and the second above specifies the completely URL of the remote repository.

Add a remote repository

$ git remote add qa git://qaserver/round1$ git fetch qaFrom git://qaserver/round1 * [new branch]      master     -> qa/master * [new branch]      test       -> qa/test

Add a tracking branch

$ git branch --track test origin/testBranch test set up to track remote branch test from origin.$ git checkout test$ git pull  ...