Reportingversion controldistributedrepositorysource coderevision tracking

Git

Git is a fast, scalable, distributed revision control system designed to handle very large projects with speed and efficiency. It provides full revision tracking capabilities in every working directory without dependency on network access or a central server.

Description

Git is a popular version control system used for many high-profile open source projects, most notably the Linux kernel. It falls in the category of distributed source code management tools, where every Git working directory is a full-fledged repository. This package provides the git main components with minimal dependencies, while additional functionality like graphical user interfaces, revision tree visualizers, and tools for interoperating with other VCSs are available in separate git* packages.

Common use cases include cloning repositories, initializing new ones, adding files to the index, committing changes, branching, merging, and collaborating via fetch, pull, and push operations. Git supports examining history with commands like log, diff, status, and bisect for finding bugs. It also includes server-side tools like git-receive-pack for handling pushes and git-upload-pack for fetches.

The Kali Linux git package integrates with various subpackages such as git-gui for graphical interface, gitk for revision tree visualization, git-svn for Subversion interoperability, and git-cvs for CVS compatibility, making it versatile for diverse development and collaboration workflows.

How It Works

Git operates as a distributed version control system where each working directory contains a complete repository with full revision history. It tracks changes via commits, branches, and tags, using SHA-1 hashes for objects. Collaboration involves fetch/pull to download objects/refs and push via git-send-pack to git-receive-pack, which updates refs with fast-forward checks and hooks like pre-receive, update, post-receive, and post-update. Objects are quarantined during receive-pack until hooks pass, ensuring safety. Upload-pack serves missing objects to fetch-pack, with security measures to avoid serving unreachable objects.

Installation

bash
sudo apt install git

Flags

-v | --versionShow version information
-h | --helpShow help message
-C <path>Run as if git was started in <path> instead of the current working directory
-c <name>=<value>Pass a config parameter
--exec-path[=<path>]Path to the git executive directory
--bareTreat the repository as bare
--git-dir=<path>Use repository at <path>
--work-tree=<path>Set path to working tree
--http-backend-info-refsUsed by git-http-backend to serve info/refs requests for receive-pack
--skip-connectivity-checkBypasses connectivity checks for objects

Examples

Display the general help and usage information for git commands
git -h
Clone a repository into a new directory to start a working area
git clone
Create an empty Git repository or reinitialize an existing one
git init
Add file contents to the index for the current change
git add
Show the working tree status to examine history and state
git status
Show commit logs to examine the history
git log
Display help for git-receive-pack which receives what is pushed into the repository
git-receive-pack --help
Run a command in the restricted git-shell for Git-only SSH access
git-shell -c cmd
Updated 2026-04-16kali.org ↗