From f6e7af4bce3a954a9c00d04670c5d61bf6415d95 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Johannes Schindelin Date: Mon, 13 Feb 2023 13:31:35 +0100 Subject: [PATCH 1/9] Describe Git for Windows' architecture [no ci] The Git for Windows project has grown quite complex over the years, certainly much more complex than during the first years where the `msysgit.git` repository was abusing Git for package management purposes and the `git/git` fork was called `4msysgit.git`. Let's describe the status quo in a thorough way. Signed-off-by: Johannes Schindelin --- ARCHITECTURE.md | 130 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 130 insertions(+) create mode 100644 ARCHITECTURE.md diff --git a/ARCHITECTURE.md b/ARCHITECTURE.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000000000..9225b99a28be13 --- /dev/null +++ b/ARCHITECTURE.md @@ -0,0 +1,130 @@ +# Architecture of Git for Windows + +Git for Windows is a complex project. + +## What _is_ Git for Windows? + +### A fork of `git/git` + +First and foremost, it is a friendly fork of [`git/git`](https://github.com/git/git), aiming to improve Git's Windows support. The [`git-for-windows/git`](https://github.com/git-for-windows/git) repository contains dozens of topics on top of `git/git`, some awaiting to be "upstreamed" (i.e. to be contributed to `git/git`), some still being stabilized, and a few topics are specific to the Git for Windows project and are not intended to be integrated into `git/git` at all. + +### Enhancing and maintaining Git's support for Windows + +On the source code side, Git's Windows support is made a bit more tricky than strictly necessary by the fact that Git does not have any platform abstraction layer (unlike other version control systems, such as Subversion). It relies on the presence of POSIX features such as the `hstrerror()` function, and on platforms lacking that functionality, Git provides shims. That leads to some challenges e.g. with the `stat()` function which is very slow on Windows because it has to collect much more metadata than what e.g. the very quick `GetFileAttributesExW()` Win32 API function provides, even when Git calls `stat()` merely to test for the presence of a file (for which all that gathered metadata is totally irrelevant). + +### Providing more than just source code + +In contrast to the Git project, Git for Windows not only publishes tagged source code versions, but full builds of Git. In fact, Git for Windows' primary purpose, as far as most users are concerned, is to provide a convenient installer that end-users can run to have Git on their computer, without ever having to check out `git-for-windows/git` let alone build it. In essence, Git for Windows has to maintain a separate project altogether in addition to the fork of `git/git`, just to build these release artifacts: [`git-for-windows/build-extra`](https://github.com/git-for-windows/build-extra). This repository also contains the definition for a couple of other release artifacts published by Git for Windows, e.g. the "portable" edition of Git for Windows which is a self-extracting 7-Zip archive that does not need to be installed. + +### A software distribution, really + +Another aspect that contributes to the complexity of Git for Windows is that it is not just building `git.exe` and distributes that. Due to its heritage within the Linux project, Git takes certain things for granted, such as the presence of a Unix shell, or for that matter, a package management system from which dependencies can be fetched and updated independently of Git itself. Things that are distinctly not present in most Windows setups. To accommodate for that, Git for Windows originally relied on the MSys project, a minimal fork of Cygwin providing a Unix shell ("Bash"), a Perl interpreter and similar Unix-like tools, and on the MINGW project, a project to build libraries and executables using a GNU C Compiler that relies only on Win32 API functions. As of Git for Windows v2.x, the project has switched away from [MSys](https://sourceforge.net/projects/mingw/files/MSYS/)/[MinGW](https://osdn.net/projects/mingw/) (due to less-than-active maintenance) to [the MSYS2 project](https://msys2.org). That switch brought along the benefit of a robust package management system based on [Pacman](https://archlinux.org/pacman/) (hailing from Arch Linux). To support Windows users, who are in general unfamiliar with Linux-like package management and the need to update installed packages frequently, Git for Windows bundles a subset of its own fork of MSYS2. To put things in perspective: Git for Windows bundles files from ~170 packages, one of which contains Git, and another one contains Git's help files. In that respect, Git for Windows acts like a distribution more than like a mere single software application. + +Most of MSYS2's packages that are bundled in Git for Windows are consumed directly from MSYS2. Others need forks that are maintained by Git for Windows project, to support Git for Windows better. These forks live in the [`git-for-windows/MSYS2-packages`](https://github.com/git-for-windows/MSYS2-packages) and [`git-for-windows/MINGW-packages`](https://github.com/git-for-windows/MINGW-packages) repositories. There are several reasons justifying these forks. For example, the Git for Windows' flavor of the MSYS2 runtime behaves like Git's test suite expects it while MSYS2's flavor does not. Another example: The Bash executable bundled in Git for Windows is code-signed with the same certificate as `git.exe` to help anti-malware programs get out of the users' way. That is why Git for Windows maintains its own `bash` Pacman package. And since MSYS2 dropped 32-bit support already, Git for Windows has to update the 32-bit Pacman packages itself, which is done in the git-for-windows/MSYS2-packages repository. (Side note: the 32-bit issue is a bit more complicated, actually: MSYS2 _still_ builds _MINGW_ packages targeting i686 processors, but no longer any _MSYS_ packages for said processor architecture, and Git for Windows does not keep all of the 32-bit MSYS packages up to date but instead judiciously decides which packages are vital enough as far as Git is concerned to justify the maintenance cost.) + +### Supporting third-party applications that use Git's functionality + +Since the infrastructure required by Git is non-trivial the installer (or for that matter, the Portable Git) is not exactly light-weight: As of January 2023, both artifacts are over fifty megabytes. This is a problem for third-party applications wishing to bundle a version of Git for Windows, which is often advisable given that applications may depend on features that have been introduced only in recent Git versions and therefore relying on an installed Git for Windows could break things. To help with that, the Git for Windows project also provides MinGit as a release artifact, a zip file that is much smaller than the full installer and that contains only the parts of Git for Windows relevant for third-party applications. It lacks Git GUI, for example, as well as the terminal program MinTTY, or for that matter, the documentation. + +### Supporting `git/git`'s GitHub workflows + +The Git for Windows project is also responsible for keeping the Windows part of `git/git`'s automated builds up and running. On Windows, there is no canonical and easy way to get a build environment necessary to build Git and run its test suite, therefore this is a non-trivial task that comes with its own maintenance cost. Git for Windows provides two GitHub Actions to help with that: [`git-for-windows/setup-git-for-windows-sdk`](https://github.com/git-for-windows/setup-git-for-windows-sdk) to set up a tiny subset of Git for Windows' full SDK (which would require about 500MB to be cloned, as opposed to the ~75MB of that subset) and [`git-for-windows/get-azure-pipelines-artifact`](https://github.com/git-for-windows/get-azure-pipelines-artifact) e.g. to download some regularly pre-built artifacts (for example, when `git/git`'s automated tests ran on an Ubuntu version that did not provide an up to date [Coccinelle](https://coccinelle.gitlabpages.inria.fr/website/) package, this GitHub Action was used to download a pre-built version of that Debian package). + +## Maintaining Git for Windows' components + +Git for Windows uses a combination of [a GitHub App called GitForWindowsHelper](https://github.com/git-for-windows/gfw-helper-github-app) (to listen for so-called [slash commands](https://github.com/git-for-windows/gfw-helper-github-app#slash-commands)) combined with workflows in [the `git-for-windows-automation` repository](https://github.com/git-for-windows/git-for-windows-automation/) (for computationally heavy tasks) to support Git for Windows' repetitive tasks. + +This heavy automation serves two purposes: + +1. Document the knowledge about "how things are done" in the Git for Windows project. +2. Make Git for Windows' maintenance less tedious by off-loading as many tasks onto machines as possible. + +One neat trick of some `git-for-windows-automation` workflows is that they "mirror back" check runs to the targeted PRs in another repository. This essentially allows versioning the source code independently of the workflow definition. + +Here is a diagram showing how the bits and pieces fit together. + +```mermaid +graph LR + A[`monitor-components`] --> |opens| B + B{issues labeled
`component-update`} --> |/open pr| C + C((GitForWindowsHelper)) --> |triggers| D + D[`open-pr`] --> |opens| E + E{PR in
MINGW-packages
MSYS2-packages
build-extra} --> |closes| B + E --> |/deploy| F + F((GitForWindowsHelper)) --> |triggers| G + G[`build-and-deploy`] --> |deploys to| H + H{Pacman repository} + C --> |backed by| I + F --> |backed by| I + I[[Azure Function]] + D --> |running in| J + G --> | running in| J + J[[git-for-windows-automation]] + K[[git-sdk-32
git-sdk-64
git-sdk-arm64]] --> |syncing from| H + B --> |/add release note| L + L[`add-release-note`] +``` + +For the curious mind, here are [detailed instructions how the Azure Function backing the GitForWindowsHelper GitHub App was set up](https://github.com/git-for-windows/gfw-helper-github-app#how-this-github-app-was-set-up). + +### The `monitor-components` workflow + +When new versions of components that Git for Windows builds become available, new Pacman packages have to be built. To this end, [the `monitor-components` workflow](https://github.com/git-for-windows/git/blob/main/.github/workflows/monitor-components.yml) monitors a couple of RSS feeds and opens new tickets labeled `component-update` for such new versions. + +### Opening Pull Requests to update Git for Windows' components + +After determining that such a ticket indeed indicates the need for a new Pacman package build, a Git for Windows maintainer issues the `/open pr` command via an issue comment ([example](https://github.com/git-for-windows/git/issues/4281#issuecomment-1426859787)), which gets picked up by the GitForWindowsHelper GitHub App, which in turn triggers [the `open-pr` workflow](https://github.com/git-for-windows/git-for-windows-automation/blob/main/.github/workflows/open-pr.yml) in the `git-for-windows-automation` repository. + +### Deploying the Pacman packages + +This will open a Pull Request in one of Git for Windows' repositories, and once the PR build passes, a Git for Windows maintainer issues the `/deploy` command ([example](https://github.com/git-for-windows/MINGW-packages/pull/69#issuecomment-1427591890)), which gets picked up by the GitForWindowsHelper GitHub App, which triggers [the `build-and-deploy` workflow](https://github.com/git-for-windows/git-for-windows-automation/blob/main/.github/workflows/build-and-deploy.yml). + +### Adding release notes + +Finally, once the packages have been built and deployed to the Pacman repository (which is hosted in Azure Blob Storage), a Git for Windows maintainer will merge the PR(s), which in turn will close the ticket, and the maintainer then issues an `/add release note` command ([example](https://github.com/git-for-windows/MINGW-packages/pull/69#issuecomment-1427782230)), which again gets picked up by the GitForWindowsHelper GitHub App that triggers [the `add-release-note` workflow](https://github.com/git-for-windows/build-extra/blob/main/.github/workflows/add-release-note.yml) that creates and pushes a new commit to the `ReleaseNotes.md` file in `build-extra` ([example](https://github.com/git-for-windows/build-extra/commit/b39c148ff8dc0e987afdb677d17c46a8e99fd0ef)). + +## Releasing official Git for Windows versions + +A relatively infrequent part of Git for Windows' maintainers' duties, if the most rewarding part, is the task of releasing new versions of Git for Windows. + +Most commonly, this is done in response to the "upstream" Git project releasing a new version. When that happens, a Git for Windows maintainer runs [the helper script](https://github.com/git-for-windows/build-extra/blob/main/shears.sh) to perform a "merging rebase" (i.e. a rebase that starts with a fake-merge of the previous tip commit, to maintain both a clean set of commits as well as a [fast-forwarding](https://git-scm.com/docs/git-merge#Documentation/git-merge.txt---ff-only) commit history). + +Once that is done, the maintainer will open a Pull Request to benefit from the automated builds and tests ([example](https://github.com/git-for-windows/git/pull/4160)) as well as from reviews of the [`range-diff`](https://git-scm.com/docs/git-range-diff) relative to the current `main` branch. + +Once everything looks good, the maintainer will issue the `/git-artifacts` command ([example](https://github.com/git-for-windows/git/pull/4160#issuecomment-1346801735)). This will trigger an automated workflow that builds all of the release artifacts: installers, Portable Git, MinGit, `.tar.xz` archive and a NuGet package. Apart from the NuGet package, two sets of artifacts are built: targeting 32-bit ("x86") and 64-bit ("amd64"). + +Once these artifacts are built, the maintainer will download the installer and run [the "pre-flight checklist"](https://github.com/git-for-windows/build-extra/blob/main/installer/checklist.txt). + +If everything looks good, a `/release` command will be issued, which triggers yet another workflow that will download the just-built-and-verified release artifacts, publish them as a new GitHub release, publish the NuGet packages, deploy the Pacman packages to the Pacman repository, send out an announcement mail, and update the respective repositories including [Git for Windows' website](https://gitforwindows.org/). + +As mentioned [before](#architecture-of-git-for-windows), the `/git-artifacts` and `/release` commands are picked up by the GitForWindowsHelper GitHub App which subsequently triggers the respective workflows in the `git-for-windows-automation` repository. Here is a diagram: + +```mermaid +graph LR + A{Pull Request
updating to
new Git version} --> |/git-artifacts| B + B((GitForWindowsHelper)) --> |triggers| C + C[`tag-git`] --> |upon successful build
triggers| D + D((GitForWindowsHelper)) --> |triggers| E + E[`git-artifacts`] + E --> |maintainer verifies artifacts| E + A --> |upon verified `git-artifacts`
/release| F + F[`release-git`] + C --> |running in| J + E --> | running in| J + F --> | running in| J + J[[git-for-windows-automation]] +``` + +## Managing Windows/ARM64 builds + +The GitForWindowsHelper comes in real handy for Git for Windows' Pacman packages for the `aarch64` architecture, i.e. for Windows/ARM64. These packages cannot be built in regular hosted GitHub Actions runners because there are none of that architecture. To help with that, the respective workflows in `git-for-windows-automation` use the label `runs-on: ["Windows", "ARM64"]` to indicate that they need a self-hosted Windows/ARM64 runner. + +It would not be cost-effective to have a VM running permanently, hosting such a self-hosted runner: Git for Windows does not build such packages often enough (usually once or twice per week is more the norm). + +Therefore, VMs providing self-hosted GitHub Actions runners are spun up and torn down as needed. This job is done by the GitForWindowsHelper: + +- When a job is queued asking for above-mentioned labels, [the `create-self-hosted-runner` workflow](https://github.com/git-for-windows/git-for-windows-automation/blob/09ec165f44a0a3d84d8f0e26a4939667b4522635/.github/workflows/create-azure-self-hosted-runners.yml) is started. This deploys an Azure Resource Management template that creates an ephemeral self-hosted runner (i.e. a runner that will pick up one job and then is immediately unregistered). + +- When a job with above-mentioned labels has finished, the GitForWindowsHelper triggers [the `delete-self-hosted-runner` workflow](https://github.com/git-for-windows/git-for-windows-automation/blob/09ec165f44a0a3d84d8f0e26a4939667b4522635/.github/workflows/delete-self-hosted-runner.yml) that tears down the now no longer used VM. + +The GitForWindowsHelper GitHub App will also detect when a job is queued for a PR from a forked repository. This is considered unauthorized use, and the job will be canceled immediately by the GitHub App instead of spinning up a self-hosted runner for it. \ No newline at end of file From 8a23a7893edeb5371045331ddf2b63fbb97d7473 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Johannes Schindelin Date: Fri, 11 Oct 2019 13:22:24 +0200 Subject: [PATCH 2/9] Modify the Code of Conduct for Git for Windows The Git project followed suite and added their Code of Conduct, based on the Contributors' Covenant v1.4. We edit it slightly to reflect Git for Windows' particulars. Signed-off-by: Johannes Schindelin --- CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md | 12 ++++++------ 1 file changed, 6 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-) diff --git a/CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md b/CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md index 0215b1fd4c05e6..8b373cf5518a5d 100644 --- a/CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md +++ b/CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md @@ -1,9 +1,9 @@ -# Git Code of Conduct +# Git for Windows Code of Conduct This code of conduct outlines our expectations for participants within -the Git community, as well as steps for reporting unacceptable behavior. -We are committed to providing a welcoming and inspiring community for -all and expect our code of conduct to be honored. Anyone who violates +the **Git for Windows** community, as well as steps for reporting unacceptable +behavior. We are committed to providing a welcoming and inspiring community +for all and expect our code of conduct to be honored. Anyone who violates this code of conduct may be banned from the community. ## Our Pledge @@ -65,8 +65,8 @@ representative at an online or offline event. ## Enforcement Instances of abusive, harassing, or otherwise unacceptable behavior may be -reported to the community leaders responsible for enforcement at -git@sfconservancy.org, or individually: +reported by contacting the Git for Windows maintainer or the community leaders +responsible for enforcement at git@sfconservancy.org, or individually: - Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason - Christian Couder From c4000e68b66f9f07443e58c6b9163acc633b046c Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Derrick Stolee Date: Thu, 1 Mar 2018 12:10:14 -0500 Subject: [PATCH 3/9] CONTRIBUTING.md: add guide for first-time contributors Getting started contributing to Git can be difficult on a Windows machine. CONTRIBUTING.md contains a guide to getting started, including detailed steps for setting up build tools, running tests, and submitting patches to upstream. [includes an example by Pratik Karki how to submit v2, v3, v4, etc.] Signed-off-by: Derrick Stolee --- CONTRIBUTING.md | 417 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 417 insertions(+) create mode 100644 CONTRIBUTING.md diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000000000..ca9770df8c4808 --- /dev/null +++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md @@ -0,0 +1,417 @@ +How to Contribute to Git for Windows +==================================== + +Git was originally designed for Unix systems and still today, all the build tools for the Git +codebase assume you have standard Unix tools available in your path. If you have an open-source +mindset and want to start contributing to Git, but primarily use a Windows machine, then you may +have trouble getting started. This guide is for you. + +Get the Source +-------------- + +Clone the [GitForWindows repository on GitHub](https://github.com/git-for-windows/git). +It is helpful to create your own fork for storing your development branches. + +Windows uses different line endings than Unix systems. See +[this GitHub article on working with line endings](https://help.github.com/articles/dealing-with-line-endings/#refreshing-a-repository-after-changing-line-endings) +if you have trouble with line endings. + +Build the Source +---------------- + +First, download and install the latest [Git for Windows SDK (64-bit)](https://github.com/git-for-windows/build-extra/releases/latest). +When complete, you can run the Git SDK, which creates a new Git Bash terminal window with +the additional development commands, such as `make`. + + As of time of writing, the SDK uses a different credential manager, so you may still want to use normal Git + Bash for interacting with your remotes. Alternatively, use SSH rather than HTTPS and + avoid credential manager problems. + +You should now be ready to type `make` from the root of your `git` source directory. +Here are some helpful variations: + +* `make -j[N] DEVELOPER=1`: Compile new sources using up to N concurrent processes. + The `DEVELOPER` flag turns on all warnings; code failing these warnings will not be + accepted upstream ("upstream" = "the core Git project"). +* `make clean`: Delete all compiled files. + +When running `make`, you can use `-j$(nproc)` to automatically use the number of processors +on your machine as the number of concurrent build processes. + +You can go deeper on the Windows-specific build process by reading the +[technical overview](https://github.com/git-for-windows/git/wiki/Technical-overview) or the +[guide to compiling Git with Visual Studio](https://github.com/git-for-windows/git/wiki/Compiling-Git-with-Visual-Studio). + +## Building `git` on Windows with Visual Studio + +The typical approach to building `git` is to use the standard `Makefile` with GCC, as +above. Developers working in a Windows environment may want to instead build with the +[Microsoft Visual C++ compiler and libraries toolset (MSVC)](https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/vcblog/2017/03/07/msvc-the-best-choice-for-windows/). +There are a few benefits to using MSVC over GCC during your development, including creating +symbols for debugging and [performance tracing](https://github.com/Microsoft/perfview#perfview-overview). + +There are two ways to build Git for Windows using MSVC. Each have their own merits. + +### Using SDK Command Line + +Use one of the following commands from the SDK Bash window to build Git for Windows: + +``` + make MSVC=1 -j12 + make MSVC=1 DEBUG=1 -j12 +``` + +The first form produces release-mode binaries; the second produces debug-mode binaries. +Both forms produce PDB files and can be debugged. However, the first is best for perf +tracing and the second is best for single-stepping. + +You can then open Visual Studio and select File -> Open -> Project/Solution and select +the compiled `git.exe` file. This creates a basic solution and you can use the debugging +and performance tracing tools in Visual Studio to monitor a Git process. Use the Debug +Properties page to set the working directory and command line arguments. + +Be sure to clean up before switching back to GCC (or to switch between debug and +release MSVC builds): + +``` + make MSVC=1 -j12 clean + make MSVC=1 DEBUG=1 -j12 clean +``` + +### Using the IDE + +If you prefer working in Visual Studio with a solution full of projects, then you can use +CMake, either by letting Visual Studio configure it automatically (simply open Git's +top-level directory via `File>Open>Folder...`) or by (downloading and) running +[CMake](https://cmake.org) manually. + +What to Change? +--------------- + +Many new contributors ask: What should I start working on? + +One way to win big with the open-source community is to look at the +[issues page](https://github.com/git-for-windows/git/issues) and see if there are any issues that +you can fix quickly, or if anything catches your eye. + +You can also look at [the unofficial Chromium issues page](https://crbug.com/git) for +multi-platform issues. You can look at recent user questions on +[the Git mailing list](https://public-inbox.org/git). + +Or you can "scratch your own itch", i.e. address an issue you have with Git. The team at Microsoft where the Git for Windows maintainer works, for example, is focused almost entirely on [improving performance](https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/devops/2018/01/11/microsofts-performance-contributions-to-git-in-2017/). +We approach our work by finding something that is slow and try to speed it up. We start our +investigation by reliably reproducing the slow behavior, then running that example using +the MSVC build and tracing the results in PerfView. + +You could also think of something you wish Git could do, and make it do that thing! The +only concern I would have with this approach is whether or not that feature is something +the community also wants. If this excites you though, go for it! Don't be afraid to +[get involved in the mailing list](http://vger.kernel.org/vger-lists.html#git) early for +feedback on the idea. + +Test Your Changes +----------------- + +After you make your changes, it is important that you test your changes. Manual testing is +important, but checking and extending the existing test suite is even more important. You +want to run the functional tests to see if you broke something else during your change, and +you want to extend the functional tests to be sure no one breaks your feature in the future. + +### Functional Tests + +Navigate to the `t/` directory and type `make` to run all tests or use `prove` as +[described in the Git for Windows wiki](https://github.com/git-for-windows/git/wiki/Building-Git): + +``` +prove -j12 --state=failed,save ./t[0-9]*.sh +``` + +You can also run each test directly by running the corresponding shell script with a name +like `tNNNN-descriptor.sh`. + +If you are adding new functionality, you may need to create unit tests by creating +helper commands that test a very limited action. These commands are stored in `t/helpers`. +When adding a helper, be sure to add a line to `t/Makefile` and to the `.gitignore` for the +binary file you add. The Git community prefers functional tests using the full `git` +executable, so try to exercise your new code using `git` commands before creating a test +helper. + +To find out why a test failed, repeat the test with the `-x -v -d -i` options and then +navigate to the appropriate "trash" directory to see the data shape that was used for the +test failed step. + +Read [`t/README`](t/README) for more details. + +### Performance Tests + +If you are working on improving performance, you will need to be acquainted with the +performance tests in `t/perf`. There are not too many performance tests yet, but adding one +as your first commit in a patch series helps to communicate the boost your change provides. + +To check the change in performance across multiple versions of `git`, you can use the +`t/perf/run` script. For example, to compare the performance of `git rev-list` across the +`core/master` and `core/next` branches compared to a `topic` branch, you can run + +``` +cd t/perf +./run core/master core/next topic -- p0001-rev-list.sh +``` + +You can also set certain environment variables to help test the performance on different +repositories or with more repetitions. The full list is available in +[the `t/perf/README` file](t/perf/README), +but here are a few important ones: + +``` +GIT_PERF_REPO=/path/to/repo +GIT_PERF_LARGE_REPO=/path/to/large/repo +GIT_PERF_REPEAT_COUNT=10 +``` + +When running the performance tests on Linux, you may see a message "Can't locate JSON.pm in +@INC" and that means you need to run `sudo cpanm install JSON` to get the JSON perl package. + +For running performance tests, it can be helpful to set up a few repositories with strange +data shapes, such as: + +**Many objects:** Clone repos such as [Kotlin](https://github.com/jetbrains/kotlin), [Linux](https://github.com/torvalds/linux), or [Android](https://source.android.com/setup/downloading). + +**Many pack-files:** You can split a fresh clone into multiple pack-files of size at most +16MB by running `git repack -adfF --max-pack-size=16m`. See the +[`git repack` documentation](https://git-scm.com/docs/git-repack) for more information. +You can count the number of pack-files using `ls .git/objects/pack/*.pack | wc -l`. + +**Many loose objects:** If you already split your repository into multiple pack-files, then +you can pick one to split into loose objects using `cat .git/objects/pack/[id].pack | git unpack-objects`; +delete the `[id].pack` and `[id].idx` files after this. You can count the number of loose +bjects using `ls .git/objects/??/* | wc -l`. + +**Deep history:** Usually large repositories also have deep histories, but you can use the +[test-many-commits-1m repo](https://github.com/cirosantilli/test-many-commits-1m/) to +target deep histories without the overhead of many objects. One issue with this repository: +there are no merge commits, so you will need to use a different repository to test a "wide" +commit history. + +**Large Index:** You can generate a large index and repo by using the scripts in +`t/perf/repos`. There are two scripts. `many-files.sh` which will generate a repo with +same tree and blobs but different paths. Using `many-files.sh -d 5 -w 10 -f 9` will create +a repo with ~1 million entries in the index. `inflate-repo.sh` will use an existing repo +and copy the current work tree until it is a specified size. + +Test Your Changes on Linux +-------------------------- + +It can be important to work directly on the [core Git codebase](https://github.com/git/git), +such as a recent commit into the `master` or `next` branch that has not been incorporated +into Git for Windows. Also, it can help to run functional and performance tests on your +code in Linux before submitting patches to the mailing list, which focuses on many platforms. +The differences between Windows and Linux are usually enough to catch most cross-platform +issues. + +### Using the Windows Subsystem for Linux + +The [Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install-win10) +allows you to [install Ubuntu Linux as an app](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/p/ubuntu/9nblggh4msv6) +that can run Linux executables on top of the Windows kernel. Internally, +Linux syscalls are interpreted by the WSL, everything else is plain Ubuntu. + +First, open WSL (either type "Bash" in Cortana, or execute "bash.exe" in a CMD window). +Then install the prerequisites, and `git` for the initial clone: + +``` +sudo apt-get update +sudo apt-get install git gcc make libssl-dev libcurl4-openssl-dev \ + libexpat-dev tcl tk gettext git-email zlib1g-dev +``` + +Then, clone and build: + +``` +git clone https://github.com/git-for-windows/git +cd git +git remote add -f upstream https://github.com/git/git +make +``` + +Be sure to clone into `/home/[user]/` and not into any folder under `/mnt/?/` or your build +will fail due to colons in file names. + +### Using a Linux Virtual Machine with Hyper-V + +If you prefer, you can use a virtual machine (VM) to run Linux and test your changes in the +full environment. The test suite runs a lot faster on Linux than on Windows or with the WSL. +You can connect to the VM using an SSH terminal like +[PuTTY](https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/). + +The following instructions are for using Hyper-V, which is available in some versions of Windows. +There are many virtual machine alternatives available, if you do not have such a version installed. + +* [Download an Ubuntu Server ISO](https://www.ubuntu.com/download/server). +* Open [Hyper-V Manager](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/virtualization/hyper-v-on-windows/quick-start/enable-hyper-v). +* [Set up a virtual switch](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/virtualization/hyper-v-on-windows/quick-start/connect-to-network) + so your VM can reach the network. +* Select "Quick Create", name your machine, select the ISO as installation source, and un-check + "This virtual machine will run Windows." +* Go through the Ubuntu install process, being sure to select to install OpenSSH Server. +* When install is complete, log in and check the SSH server status with `sudo service ssh status`. + * If the service is not found, install with `sudo apt-get install openssh-server`. + * If the service is not running, then use `sudo service ssh start`. +* Use `shutdown -h now` to shutdown the VM, go to the Hyper-V settings for the VM, expand Network Adapter + to select "Advanced Features", and set the MAC address to be static (this can save your VM from losing + network if shut down incorrectly). +* Provide as many cores to your VM as you can (for parallel builds). +* Restart your VM, but do not connect. +* Use `ssh` in Git Bash, download [PuTTY](http://www.putty.org/), or use your favorite SSH client to connect to the VM through SSH. + +In order to build and use `git`, you will need the following libraries via `apt-get`: + +``` +sudo apt-get update +sudo apt-get install git gcc make libssl-dev libcurl4-openssl-dev \ + libexpat-dev tcl tk gettext git-email zlib1g-dev +``` + +To get your code from your Windows machine to the Linux VM, it is easiest to push the branch to your fork of Git and clone your fork in the Linux VM. + +Don't forget to set your `git` config with your preferred name, email, and editor. + +Polish Your Commits +------------------- + +Before submitting your patch, be sure to read the [coding guidelines](https://github.com/git/git/blob/master/Documentation/CodingGuidelines) +and check your code to match as best you can. This can be a lot of effort, but it saves +time during review to avoid style issues. + +The other possibly major difference between the mailing list submissions and GitHub PR workflows +is that each commit will be reviewed independently. Even if you are submitting a +patch series with multiple commits, each commit must stand on it's own and be reviewable +by itself. Make sure the commit message clearly explain the why of the commit not the how. +Describe what is wrong with the current code and how your changes have made the code better. + +When preparing your patch, it is important to put yourself in the shoes of the Git community. +Accepting a patch requires more justification than approving a pull request from someone on +your team. The community has a stable product and is responsible for keeping it stable. If +you introduce a bug, then they cannot count on you being around to fix it. When you decided +to start work on a new feature, they were not part of the design discussion and may not +even believe the feature is worth introducing. + +Questions to answer in your patch message (and commit messages) may include: +* Why is this patch necessary? +* How does the current behavior cause pain for users? +* What kinds of repositories are necessary for noticing a difference? +* What design options did you consider before writing this version? Do you have links to + code for those alternate designs? +* Is this a performance fix? Provide clear performance numbers for various well-known repos. + +Here are some other tips that we use when cleaning up our commits: + +* Commit messages should be wrapped at 76 columns per line (or less; 72 is also a + common choice). +* Make sure the commits are signed off using `git commit (-s|--signoff)`. See + [SubmittingPatches](https://github.com/git/git/blob/v2.8.1/Documentation/SubmittingPatches#L234-L286) + for more details about what this sign-off means. +* Check for whitespace errors using `git diff --check [base]...HEAD` or `git log --check`. +* Run `git rebase --whitespace=fix` to correct upstream issues with whitespace. +* Become familiar with interactive rebase (`git rebase -i`) because you will be reordering, + squashing, and editing commits as your patch or series of patches is reviewed. +* Make sure any shell scripts that you add have the executable bit set on them. This is + usually for test files that you add in the `/t` directory. You can use + `git add --chmod=+x [file]` to update it. You can test whether a file is marked as executable + using `git ls-files --stage \*.sh`; the first number is 100755 for executable files. +* Your commit titles should match the "area: change description" format. Rules of thumb: + * Choose ": " prefix appropriately. + * Keep the description short and to the point. + * The word that follows the ": " prefix is not capitalized. + * Do not include a full-stop at the end of the title. + * Read a few commit messages -- using `git log origin/master`, for instance -- to + become acquainted with the preferred commit message style. +* Build source using `make DEVELOPER=1` for extra-strict compiler warnings. + +Submit Your Patch +----------------- + +Git for Windows [accepts pull requests on GitHub](https://github.com/git-for-windows/git/pulls), but +these are reserved for Windows-specific improvements. For core Git, submissions are accepted on +[the Git mailing list](https://public-inbox.org/git). + +### Configure Git to Send Emails + +There are a bunch of options for configuring the `git send-email` command. These options can +be found in the documentation for +[`git config`](https://git-scm.com/docs/git-config) and +[`git send-email`](https://git-scm.com/docs/git-send-email). + +``` +git config --global sendemail.smtpserver +git config --global sendemail.smtpserverport 587 +git config --global sendemail.smtpencryption tls +git config --global sendemail.smtpuser +``` + +To avoid storing your password in the config file, store it in the Git credential manager: + +``` +$ git credential fill +protocol=smtp +host= +username= +password=password +``` + +Before submitting a patch, read the [Git documentation on submitting patches](https://github.com/git/git/blob/master/Documentation/SubmittingPatches). + +To construct a patch set, use the `git format-patch` command. There are three important options: + +* `--cover-letter`: If specified, create a `[v#-]0000-cover-letter.patch` file that can be + edited to describe the patch as a whole. If you previously added a branch description using + `git branch --edit-description`, you will end up with a 0/N mail with that description and + a nice overall diffstat. +* `--in-reply-to=[Message-ID]`: This will mark your cover letter as replying to the given + message (which should correspond to your previous iteration). To determine the correct Message-ID, + find the message you are replying to on [public-inbox.org/git](https://public-inbox.org/git) and take + the ID from between the angle brackets. + +* `--subject-prefix=[prefix]`: This defaults to [PATCH]. For subsequent iterations, you will want to + override it like `--subject-prefix="[PATCH v2]"`. You can also use the `-v` option to have it + automatically generate the version number in the patches. + +If you have multiple commits and use the `--cover-letter` option be sure to open the +`0000-cover-letter.patch` file to update the subject and add some details about the overall purpose +of the patch series. + +### Examples + +To generate a single commit patch file: +``` +git format-patch -s -o [dir] -1 +``` +To generate four patch files from the last three commits with a cover letter: +``` +git format-patch --cover-letter -s -o [dir] HEAD~4 +``` +To generate version 3 with four patch files from the last four commits with a cover letter: +``` +git format-patch --cover-letter -s -o [dir] -v 3 HEAD~4 +``` + +### Submit the Patch + +Run [`git send-email`](https://git-scm.com/docs/git-send-email), starting with a test email: + +``` +git send-email --to=yourself@address.com [dir with patches]/*.patch +``` + +After checking the receipt of your test email, you can send to the list and to any +potentially interested reviewers. + +``` +git send-email --to=git@vger.kernel.org --cc= --cc= [dir with patches]/*.patch +``` + +To submit a nth version patch (say version 3): + +``` +git send-email --to=git@vger.kernel.org --cc= --cc= \ + --in-reply-to= [dir with patches]/*.patch +``` From 1290e7c9ae55c9811e9e51944dc9691ceedf6337 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Johannes Schindelin Date: Fri, 10 Jan 2014 16:16:03 -0600 Subject: [PATCH 4/9] README.md: Add a Windows-specific preamble MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Includes touch-ups by 마누엘, Philip Oakley and 孙卓识. Signed-off-by: Johannes Schindelin --- README.md | 77 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-- 1 file changed, 75 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-) diff --git a/README.md b/README.md index 7ce4f05bae8120..e2314c5a313c08 100644 --- a/README.md +++ b/README.md @@ -1,4 +1,76 @@ -[![Build status](https://github.com/git/git/workflows/CI/badge.svg)](https://github.com/git/git/actions?query=branch%3Amaster+event%3Apush) +Git for Windows +=============== + +[![Open in Visual Studio Code](https://img.shields.io/static/v1?logo=visualstudiocode&label=&message=Open%20in%20Visual%20Studio%20Code&labelColor=2c2c32&color=007acc&logoColor=007acc)](https://open.vscode.dev/git-for-windows/git) +[![Build status](https://github.com/git-for-windows/git/workflows/CI/badge.svg)](https://github.com/git-for-windows/git/actions?query=branch%3Amain+event%3Apush) +[![Join the chat at https://gitter.im/git-for-windows/git](https://badges.gitter.im/Join%20Chat.svg)](https://gitter.im/git-for-windows/git?utm_source=badge&utm_medium=badge&utm_campaign=pr-badge&utm_content=badge) + +This is [Git for Windows](http://git-for-windows.github.io/), the Windows port +of [Git](http://git-scm.com/). + +The Git for Windows project is run using a [governance +model](http://git-for-windows.github.io/governance-model.html). If you +encounter problems, you can report them as [GitHub +issues](https://github.com/git-for-windows/git/issues), discuss them on Git +for Windows' [Google Group](http://groups.google.com/group/git-for-windows), +and [contribute bug +fixes](https://github.com/git-for-windows/git/wiki/How-to-participate). + +To build Git for Windows, please either install [Git for Windows' +SDK](https://gitforwindows.org/#download-sdk), start its `git-bash.exe`, `cd` +to your Git worktree and run `make`, or open the Git worktree as a folder in +Visual Studio. + +To verify that your build works, use one of the following methods: + +- If you want to test the built executables within Git for Windows' SDK, + prepend `/bin-wrappers` to the `PATH`. +- Alternatively, run `make install` in the Git worktree. +- If you need to test this in a full installer, run `sdk build + git-and-installer`. +- You can also "install" Git into an existing portable Git via `make install + DESTDIR=` where `` refers to the top-level directory of the + portable Git. In this instance, you will want to prepend that portable Git's + `/cmd` directory to the `PATH`, or test by running that portable Git's + `git-bash.exe` or `git-cmd.exe`. +- If you built using a recent Visual Studio, you can use the menu item + `Build>Install git` (you will want to click on `Project>CMake Settings for + Git` first, then click on `Edit JSON` and then point `installRoot` to the + `mingw64` directory of an already-unpacked portable Git). + + As in the previous bullet point, you will then prepend `/cmd` to the `PATH` + or run using the portable Git's `git-bash.exe` or `git-cmd.exe`. +- If you want to run the built executables in-place, but in a CMD instead of + inside a Bash, you can run a snippet like this in the `git-bash.exe` window + where Git was built (ensure that the `EOF` line has no leading spaces), and + then paste into the CMD window what was put in the clipboard: + + ```sh + clip.exe <, and other archival sites. +The core git mailing list is plain text (no HTML!). Issues which are security relevant should be disclosed privately to the Git Security mailing list . From 667d7f1f333a51c4cab53af71a8baa0e9f5652dd Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Brendan Forster Date: Thu, 18 Feb 2016 21:29:50 +1100 Subject: [PATCH 5/9] Add an issue template With improvements by Clive Chan, Adric Norris, Ben Bodenmiller and Philip Oakley. Helped-by: Clive Chan Helped-by: Adric Norris Helped-by: Ben Bodenmiller Helped-by: Philip Oakley Signed-off-by: Brendan Forster Signed-off-by: Johannes Schindelin --- .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE.md | 64 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 64 insertions(+) create mode 100644 .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE.md diff --git a/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE.md b/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000000000..4017ed82ca4341 --- /dev/null +++ b/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE.md @@ -0,0 +1,64 @@ + - [ ] I was not able to find an [open](https://github.com/git-for-windows/git/issues?q=is%3Aopen) or [closed](https://github.com/git-for-windows/git/issues?q=is%3Aclosed) issue matching what I'm seeing + +### Setup + + - Which version of Git for Windows are you using? Is it 32-bit or 64-bit? + +``` +$ git --version --build-options + +** insert your machine's response here ** +``` + + - Which version of Windows are you running? Vista, 7, 8, 10? Is it 32-bit or 64-bit? + +``` +$ cmd.exe /c ver + +** insert your machine's response here ** +``` + + - What options did you set as part of the installation? Or did you choose the + defaults? + +``` +# One of the following: +> type "C:\Program Files\Git\etc\install-options.txt" +> type "C:\Program Files (x86)\Git\etc\install-options.txt" +> type "%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Programs\Git\etc\install-options.txt" +> type "$env:USERPROFILE\AppData\Local\Programs\Git\etc\install-options.txt" +$ cat /etc/install-options.txt + +** insert your machine's response here ** +``` + + - Any other interesting things about your environment that might be related + to the issue you're seeing? + +** insert your response here ** + +### Details + + - Which terminal/shell are you running Git from? e.g Bash/CMD/PowerShell/other + +** insert your response here ** + + - What commands did you run to trigger this issue? If you can provide a + [Minimal, Complete, and Verifiable example](http://stackoverflow.com/help/mcve) + this will help us understand the issue. + +``` +** insert your commands here ** +``` + - What did you expect to occur after running these commands? + +** insert here ** + + - What actually happened instead? + +** insert here ** + + - If the problem was occurring with a specific repository, can you provide the + URL to that repository to help us with testing? + +** insert URL here ** From 093a6263c9aea30e300f2277051cff061af2444b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Philip Oakley Date: Fri, 22 Dec 2017 17:15:50 +0000 Subject: [PATCH 6/9] Modify the GitHub Pull Request template (to reflect Git for Windows) Git for Windows accepts pull requests; Core Git does not. Therefore we need to adjust the template (because it only matches core Git's project management style, not ours). Also: direct Git for Windows enhancements to their contributions page, space out the text for easy reading, and clarify that the mailing list is plain text, not HTML. Signed-off-by: Philip Oakley Signed-off-by: Johannes Schindelin --- .github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md | 20 ++++++++++++++++---- 1 file changed, 16 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-) diff --git a/.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md b/.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md index 952c7c3a2aa11e..831ef6f19f1d11 100644 --- a/.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md +++ b/.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md @@ -1,7 +1,19 @@ -Thanks for taking the time to contribute to Git! Please be advised that the -Git community does not use github.com for their contributions. Instead, we use -a mailing list (git@vger.kernel.org) for code submissions, code reviews, and -bug reports. Nevertheless, you can use GitGitGadget (https://gitgitgadget.github.io/) +Thanks for taking the time to contribute to Git! + +Those seeking to contribute to the Git for Windows fork should see +http://gitforwindows.org/#contribute on how to contribute Windows specific +enhancements. + +If your contribution is for the core Git functions and documentation +please be aware that the Git community does not use the github.com issues +or pull request mechanism for their contributions. + +Instead, we use the Git mailing list (git@vger.kernel.org) for code and +documentation submissions, code reviews, and bug reports. The +mailing list is plain text only (anything with HTML is sent directly +to the spam folder). + +Nevertheless, you can use GitGitGadget (https://gitgitgadget.github.io/) to conveniently send your Pull Requests commits to our mailing list. Please read the "guidelines for contributing" linked above! From 2f06237d903e648d9550ae666b1bbd7531d3a73b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Johannes Schindelin Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2018 15:44:57 +0100 Subject: [PATCH 7/9] .github: Add configuration for the Sentiment Bot The sentiment bot will help detect when things get too heated. Hopefully. Signed-off-by: Johannes Schindelin --- .github/config.yml | 10 ++++++++++ 1 file changed, 10 insertions(+) create mode 100644 .github/config.yml diff --git a/.github/config.yml b/.github/config.yml new file mode 100644 index 00000000000000..45edb7ba37ce02 --- /dev/null +++ b/.github/config.yml @@ -0,0 +1,10 @@ +# Configuration for sentiment-bot - https://github.com/behaviorbot/sentiment-bot + +# *Required* toxicity threshold between 0 and .99 with the higher numbers being +# the most toxic. Anything higher than this threshold will be marked as toxic +# and commented on +sentimentBotToxicityThreshold: .7 + +# *Required* Comment to reply with +sentimentBotReplyComment: > + Please be sure to review the code of conduct and be respectful of other users. cc/ @git-for-windows/trusted-git-for-windows-developers From b4ba3fcf5b5ddd42e108200470293012c32c32de Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Alejandro Barreto Date: Fri, 9 Mar 2018 14:17:54 -0600 Subject: [PATCH 8/9] Document how $HOME is set on Windows Git documentation refers to $HOME and $XDG_CONFIG_HOME often, but does not specify how or where these values come from on Windows where neither is set by default. The new documentation reflects the behavior of setup_windows_environment() in compat/mingw.c. Signed-off-by: Alejandro Barreto --- Documentation/git.txt | 8 ++++++++ 1 file changed, 8 insertions(+) diff --git a/Documentation/git.txt b/Documentation/git.txt index 11228956cd5ec4..e3fa2be1df874f 100644 --- a/Documentation/git.txt +++ b/Documentation/git.txt @@ -464,6 +464,14 @@ their values the same way as Boolean valued configuration variables, e.g. Here are the variables: +System +~~~~~~ +`HOME`:: + Specifies the path to the user's home directory. On Windows, if + unset, Git will set a process environment variable equal to: + `$HOMEDRIVE$HOMEPATH` if both `$HOMEDRIVE` and `$HOMEPATH` exist; + otherwise `$USERPROFILE` if `$USERPROFILE` exists. + The Git Repository ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ These environment variables apply to 'all' core Git commands. Nb: it From 188d92625ed1d159b22420afe62f35fbf3ed0de4 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Johannes Schindelin Date: Fri, 23 Aug 2019 14:14:42 +0200 Subject: [PATCH 9/9] SECURITY.md: document Git for Windows' policies This is the recommended way on GitHub to describe policies revolving around security issues and about supported versions. Signed-off-by: Johannes Schindelin --- SECURITY.md | 56 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-------------------- 1 file changed, 35 insertions(+), 21 deletions(-) diff --git a/SECURITY.md b/SECURITY.md index c720c2ae7f9580..328351684298a4 100644 --- a/SECURITY.md +++ b/SECURITY.md @@ -28,24 +28,38 @@ Examples for details to include: ## Supported Versions -There are no official "Long Term Support" versions in Git. -Instead, the maintenance track (i.e. the versions based on the -most recently published feature release, also known as ".0" -version) sees occasional updates with bug fixes. - -Fixes to vulnerabilities are made for the maintenance track for -the latest feature release and merged up to the in-development -branches. The Git project makes no formal guarantee for any -older maintenance tracks to receive updates. In practice, -though, critical vulnerability fixes are applied not only to the -most recent track, but to at least a couple more maintenance -tracks. - -This is typically done by making the fix on the oldest and still -relevant maintenance track, and merging it upwards to newer and -newer maintenance tracks. - -For example, v2.24.1 was released to address a couple of -[CVEs](https://cve.mitre.org/), and at the same time v2.14.6, -v2.15.4, v2.16.6, v2.17.3, v2.18.2, v2.19.3, v2.20.2, v2.21.1, -v2.22.2 and v2.23.1 were released. +Git for Windows is a "friendly fork" of [Git](https://git-scm.com/), i.e. changes in Git for Windows are frequently contributed back, and Git for Windows' release cycle closely following Git's. + +While Git maintains several release trains (when v2.19.1 was released, there were updates to v2.14.x-v2.18.x, too, for example), Git for Windows follows only the latest Git release. For example, there is no Git for Windows release corresponding to Git v2.16.5 (which was released after v2.19.0). + +One exception is [MinGit for Windows](https://github.com/git-for-windows/git/wiki/MinGit) (a minimal subset of Git for Windows, intended for bundling with third-party applications that do not need any interactive commands nor support for `git svn`): critical security fixes are backported to the v2.11.x, v2.14.x, v2.19.x, v2.21.x and v2.23.x release trains. + +## Version number scheme + +The Git for Windows versions reflect the Git version on which they are based. For example, Git for Windows v2.21.0 is based on Git v2.21.0. + +As Git for Windows bundles more than just Git (such as Bash, OpenSSL, OpenSSH, GNU Privacy Guard), sometimes there are interim releases without corresponding Git releases. In these cases, Git for Windows appends a number in parentheses, starting with the number 2, then 3, etc. For example, both Git for Windows v2.17.1 and v2.17.1(2) were based on Git v2.17.1, but the latter included updates for Git Credential Manager and Git LFS, fixing critical regressions. + +## Tag naming scheme + +Every Git for Windows version is tagged using a name that starts with the Git version on which it is based, with the suffix `.windows.` appended. For example, Git for Windows v2.17.1' source code is tagged as [`v2.17.1.windows.1`](https://github.com/git-for-windows/git/releases/tag/v2.17.1.windows.1) (the patch level is always at least 1, given that Git for Windows always has patches on top of Git). Likewise, Git for Windows v2.17.1(2)' source code is tagged as [`v2.17.1.windows.2`](https://github.com/git-for-windows/git/releases/tag/v2.17.1.windows.2). + +## Release Candidate (rc) versions + +As a friendly fork of Git (the "upstream" project), Git for Windows is closely corelated to that project. + +Consequently, Git for Windows publishes versions based on Git's release candidates (for upcoming "`.0`" versions, see [Git's release schedule](https://tinyurl.com/gitCal)). These versions end in `-rc`, starting with `-rc0` for a very early preview of what is to come, and as with regular versions, Git for Windows tries to follow Git's releases as quickly as possible. + +Note: there is currently a bug in the "Check daily for updates" code, where it mistakes the final version as a downgrade from release candidates. Example: if you installed Git for Windows v2.23.0-rc3 and enabled the auto-updater, it would ask you whether you want to "downgrade" to v2.23.0 when that version was available. + +[All releases](https://github.com/git-for-windows/git/releases/), including release candidates, are listed via a link at the footer of the [Git for Windows](https://gitforwindows.org/) home page. + +## Snapshot versions ('nightly builds') + +Git for Windows also provides snapshots (these are not releases) of the the current development as per git-for-Windows/git's `master` branch at the [Snapshots](https://wingit.blob.core.windows.net/files/index.html) page. This link is also listed in the footer of the [Git for Windows](https://gitforwindows.org/) home page. + +Note: even if those builds are not exactly "nightly", they are sometimes referred to as "nightly builds" to keep with other projects' nomenclature. + +## Following upstream's developments + +The [gitforwindows/git repository](https://github.com/git-for-windows/git) also provides the `shears/*` branches. The `shears/*` branches reflect Git for Windows' patches, rebased onto the upstream integration branches, [updated (mostly) via automated CI builds](https://dev.azure.com/git-for-windows/git/_build?definitionId=25).