NAME

       git-init - Create an empty Git repository or reinitialize an existing one

SYNOPSIS

       git init [-q | --quiet] [--bare] [--template=<template-directory>]
                 [--separate-git-dir <git-dir>] [--object-format=<format>]
                 [--ref-format=<format>]
                 [-b <branch-name> | --initial-branch=<branch-name>]
                 [--shared[=<permissions>]] [<directory>]

DESCRIPTION

       This command creates an empty Git repository - basically a .git directory with
       subdirectories for objects, refs/heads, refs/tags, and template files. An initial branch
       without any commits will be created (see the --initial-branch option below for its name).

       If the $GIT_DIR environment variable is set then it specifies a path to use instead of
       ./.git for the base of the repository.

       If the object storage directory is specified via the $GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY environment
       variable then the sha1 directories are created underneath; otherwise, the default
       $GIT_DIR/objects directory is used.

       Running git init in an existing repository is safe. It will not overwrite things that are
       already there. The primary reason for rerunning git init is to pick up newly added
       templates (or to move the repository to another place if --separate-git-dir is given).

OPTIONS

       -q, --quiet
           Only print error and warning messages; all other output will be suppressed.

       --bare
           Create a bare repository. If GIT_DIR environment is not set, it is set to the current
           working directory.

       --object-format=<format>
           Specify the given object <format> (hash algorithm) for the repository. The valid
           values are sha1 and (if enabled) sha256.  sha1 is the default.

           Note: At present, there is no interoperability between SHA-256 repositories and SHA-1
           repositories.

       Historically, we warned that SHA-256 repositories may later need backward incompatible
       changes when we introduce such interoperability features. Today, we only expect compatible
       changes. Furthermore, if such changes prove to be necessary, it can be expected that
       SHA-256 repositories created with today’s Git will be usable by future versions of Git
       without data loss.

       --ref-format=<format>
           Specify the given ref storage <format> for the repository. The valid values are:

           •   files for loose files with packed-refs. This is the default.

           •   reftable for the reftable format. This format is experimental and its internals
               are subject to change.

       --template=<template-directory>
           Specify the directory from which templates will be used. (See the "TEMPLATE DIRECTORY"
           section below.)

       --separate-git-dir=<git-dir>
           Instead of initializing the repository as a directory to either $GIT_DIR or ./.git/,
           create a text file there containing the path to the actual repository. This file acts
           as a filesystem-agnostic Git symbolic link to the repository.

           If this is a reinitialization, the repository will be moved to the specified path.

       -b <branch-name>, --initial-branch=<branch-name>
           Use <branch-name> for the initial branch in the newly created repository. If not
           specified, fall back to the default name (currently master, but this is subject to
           change in the future; the name can be customized via the init.defaultBranch
           configuration variable).

       --shared[=(false|true|umask|group|all|world|everybody|<perm>)]
           Specify that the Git repository is to be shared amongst several users. This allows
           users belonging to the same group to push into that repository. When specified, the
           config variable core.sharedRepository is set so that files and directories under
           $GIT_DIR are created with the requested permissions. When not specified, Git will use
           permissions reported by umask(2).

           The option can have the following values, defaulting to group if no value is given:

           umask, false
               Use permissions reported by umask(2). The default, when --shared is not specified.

           group, true
               Make the repository group-writable, (and g+sx, since the git group may not be the
               primary group of all users). This is used to loosen the permissions of an
               otherwise safe umask(2) value. Note that the umask still applies to the other
               permission bits (e.g. if umask is 0022, using group will not remove read
               privileges from other (non-group) users). See 0xxx for how to exactly specify the
               repository permissions.

           all, world, everybody
               Same as group, but make the repository readable by all users.

           <perm>
               <perm> is a 3-digit octal number prefixed with ‘0` and each file will have mode
               <perm>.  <perm> will override users’ umask(2) value (and not only loosen
               permissions as group and all do).  0640 will create a repository which is
               group-readable, but not group-writable or accessible to others.  0660 will create
               a repo that is readable and writable to the current user and group, but
               inaccessible to others (directories and executable files get their x bit from the
               r bit for corresponding classes of users).

       By default, the configuration flag receive.denyNonFastForwards is enabled in shared
       repositories, so that you cannot force a non fast-forwarding push into it.

       If you provide a <directory>, the command is run inside it. If this directory does not
       exist, it will be created.

TEMPLATE DIRECTORY

       Files and directories in the template directory whose name do not start with a dot will be
       copied to the $GIT_DIR after it is created.

       The template directory will be one of the following (in order):

       •   the argument given with the --template option;

       •   the contents of the $GIT_TEMPLATE_DIR environment variable;

       •   the init.templateDir configuration variable; or

       •   the default template directory: /usr/share/git-core/templates.

       The default template directory includes some directory structure, suggested "exclude
       patterns" (see gitignore(5)), and sample hook files.

       The sample hooks are all disabled by default. To enable one of the sample hooks rename it
       by removing its .sample suffix.

       See githooks(5) for more general info on hook execution.

EXAMPLES

       Start a new Git repository for an existing code base

               $ cd /path/to/my/codebase
               $ git init      (1)
               $ git add .     (2)
               $ git commit    (3)

            1. Create a /path/to/my/codebase/.git directory.
            2. Add all existing files to the index.
            3. Record the pristine state as the first commit in the history.

CONFIGURATION

       Everything below this line in this section is selectively included from the git-config(1)
       documentation. The content is the same as what’s found there:

       init.templateDir
           Specify the directory from which templates will be copied.

       init.defaultBranch
           Allows overriding the default branch name e.g. when initializing a new repository.

GIT

       Part of the git(1) suite