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What does "git clone /path/to/repository" do?

I came across git clone /path/to/repository in my Git tutorial. What does this command do and when will you use it?

Solution

  • When there exists a repository at /path/to/repository, or in Windows-speak, C:\path\to\repository, then the commands

    git clone /path/to/repository     # Linux, Unix, Cygwin
git clone C:\path\to\repository   # Windows CMD
git clone C:/path/to/repository   # Git-for-Windows's shell

    create a copy of the repository in the new directory repository (in the current directory where you issued the git command). This copy treats the original at /path/to/repository as the "origin" repository, from which you can pull changes and to which you can push changes.

    It is the same as if you had cloned a repository from some remote hosting site; it just so happens that the origin is located on your local disk.