Unable to checkout a branch after cloning

Unable to checkout a branch after cloning

[Matthew Lear]

Hi all,

Apologies for perhaps a silly question, but I'd very much appreciate a
little bit of assistance.

I've set up a git repository on a machine accessible from the internet
with the intention to share code with another developer. We clone the
repository, commit changes then push back as you'd expect. The server
runs gitweb for repository browsing. Clients are running git v1.6.0.6.

When I created the initial repository I also created two additional
branches - 'upstream' and 'custom'. The former is to act as a 'vendor
branch' and the latter contains code specific to the custom platform
that we're working on. The master branch contains merges from the
upstream branch and also changes that we've made. The custom branch
contains merges from master with custom platform specific changes.

I've committed changes and on both upstream and custom branches as work
progressed, merged them where appropriate, added tags etc and pushed
everything to the remote repository. No problem. I can view the
branches, tags etc in gitweb and everything looks fine.

However, I can clone a new repository just fine but I'm unable to
checkout the upstream or custom branches. After cloning, only the master
branch is available, ie:

> git checkout upstream
error: pathspec 'upstream' did not match any file(s) known to git.

> git branch -a
* master
  origin/HEAD
  origin/master

.git/config:

[core]
        repositoryformatversion = 0
        filemode = true
        bare = false
        logallrefupdates = true
[remote "origin"]
        url = https://mysite/git/project.git
        fetch = +refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/origin/*
[branch "master"]
        remote = origin
        merge = refs/heads/master

But the initial local repository where I work (ie created the branches,
committed changes, tag, push etc) seems to be fine, ie

> git checkout upstream
Switched to branch "upstream"

> git branch -a
  custom
* master
  upstream

.git/config:

[core]
        repositoryformatversion = 0
        filemode = true
        bare = false
        logallrefupdates = true
[remote "origin"]
        url = https://mysite/git/project.git
        fetch = +refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/origin/*


Developers need to be able to clone the repository and then switch to
the appropriate branch in order to work. However it seems that after a
clone, only the master branch is available.

Why is this?

Any help would be much appreciated indeed.

Many thanks,
--  Matt

Re: Unable to checkout a branch after cloning

[Michael J Gruber]

Matthew Lear venit, vidit, dixit 11.08.2009 12:10:
> Hi all,
> 
> Apologies for perhaps a silly question, but I'd very much appreciate a
> little bit of assistance.
> 
> I've set up a git repository on a machine accessible from the internet
> with the intention to share code with another developer. We clone the
> repository, commit changes then push back as you'd expect. The server
> runs gitweb for repository browsing. Clients are running git v1.6.0.6.
> 
> When I created the initial repository I also created two additional
> branches - 'upstream' and 'custom'. The former is to act as a 'vendor
> branch' and the latter contains code specific to the custom platform
> that we're working on. The master branch contains merges from the
> upstream branch and also changes that we've made. The custom branch
> contains merges from master with custom platform specific changes.
> 
> I've committed changes and on both upstream and custom branches as work
> progressed, merged them where appropriate, added tags etc and pushed
> everything to the remote repository. No problem. I can view the
> branches, tags etc in gitweb and everything looks fine.
> 
> However, I can clone a new repository just fine but I'm unable to
> checkout the upstream or custom branches. After cloning, only the master
> branch is available, ie:
> 
>> git checkout upstream
> error: pathspec 'upstream' did not match any file(s) known to git.
> 
>> git branch -a
> * master
>   origin/HEAD
>   origin/master
> 
> .git/config:
> 
> [core]
>         repositoryformatversion = 0
>         filemode = true
>         bare = false
>         logallrefupdates = true
> [remote "origin"]
>         url = https://mysite/git/project.git
>         fetch = +refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/origin/*
> [branch "master"]
>         remote = origin
>         merge = refs/heads/master
> 
> But the initial local repository where I work (ie created the branches,
> committed changes, tag, push etc) seems to be fine, ie
> 
>> git checkout upstream
> Switched to branch "upstream"
> 
>> git branch -a
>   custom
> * master
>   upstream
> 
> .git/config:
> 
> [core]
>         repositoryformatversion = 0
>         filemode = true
>         bare = false
>         logallrefupdates = true
> [remote "origin"]
>         url = https://mysite/git/project.git
>         fetch = +refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/origin/*
> 
> 
> Developers need to be able to clone the repository and then switch to
> the appropriate branch in order to work. However it seems that after a
> clone, only the master branch is available.
> 
> Why is this?
> 
> Any help would be much appreciated indeed.

If I understand you correctly you have 3 repos: the "initial" one on
which everything is as expected, the "server" one and the "new clone"
which is missing branches.

Now: How's the server one doing, i.e. what does "git ls-remote
https://mysite/git/project.git" say? I suspect that one either does not
have the branches (you haven't told us how you pushed) or in the wrong
place (remotes/).

Michael

Re: Unable to checkout a branch after cloning

[Matthew Lear]

Hi Michael - thanks for your reply.
Michael J Gruber wrote:
> Matthew Lear venit, vidit, dixit 11.08.2009 12:10:
>> Hi all,
>>
>> Apologies for perhaps a silly question, but I'd very much appreciate a
>> little bit of assistance.
>>
>> I've set up a git repository on a machine accessible from the internet
>> with the intention to share code with another developer. We clone the
>> repository, commit changes then push back as you'd expect. The server
>> runs gitweb for repository browsing. Clients are running git v1.6.0.6.
>>
>> When I created the initial repository I also created two additional
>> branches - 'upstream' and 'custom'. The former is to act as a 'vendor
>> branch' and the latter contains code specific to the custom platform
>> that we're working on. The master branch contains merges from the
>> upstream branch and also changes that we've made. The custom branch
>> contains merges from master with custom platform specific changes.
>>
>> I've committed changes and on both upstream and custom branches as work
>> progressed, merged them where appropriate, added tags etc and pushed
>> everything to the remote repository. No problem. I can view the
>> branches, tags etc in gitweb and everything looks fine.
>>
>> However, I can clone a new repository just fine but I'm unable to
>> checkout the upstream or custom branches. After cloning, only the master
>> branch is available, ie:
>>
>>> git checkout upstream
>> error: pathspec 'upstream' did not match any file(s) known to git.
>>
>>> git branch -a
>> * master
>>   origin/HEAD
>>   origin/master
>>
>> .git/config:
>>
>> [core]
>>         repositoryformatversion = 0
>>         filemode = true
>>         bare = false
>>         logallrefupdates = true
>> [remote "origin"]
>>         url = https://mysite/git/project.git
>>         fetch = +refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/origin/*
>> [branch "master"]
>>         remote = origin
>>         merge = refs/heads/master
>>
>> But the initial local repository where I work (ie created the branches,
>> committed changes, tag, push etc) seems to be fine, ie
>>
>>> git checkout upstream
>> Switched to branch "upstream"
>>
>>> git branch -a
>>   custom
>> * master
>>   upstream
>>
>> .git/config:
>>
>> [core]
>>         repositoryformatversion = 0
>>         filemode = true
>>         bare = false
>>         logallrefupdates = true
>> [remote "origin"]
>>         url = https://mysite/git/project.git
>>         fetch = +refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/origin/*
>>
>>
>> Developers need to be able to clone the repository and then switch to
>> the appropriate branch in order to work. However it seems that after a
>> clone, only the master branch is available.
>>
>> Why is this?
>>
>> Any help would be much appreciated indeed.
> 
> If I understand you correctly you have 3 repos: the "initial" one on
> which everything is as expected, the "server" one and the "new clone"
> which is missing branches.

Yes, that's correct.

> Now: How's the server one doing, i.e. what does "git ls-remote
> https://mysite/git/project.git" say? I suspect that one either does not
> have the branches (you haven't told us how you pushed) or in the wrong
> place (remotes/).

> git ls-remote https://mysite/git/project.git
065f5f13d5f8e786729db1623cc53767c963e959        HEAD
065f5f13d5f8e786729db1623cc53767c963e959        refs/heads/master

Hmm. So it seems that the branches are not actually on the server
repository. So how come I can see them with gitweb..?

I've been pushing from the 'initial' repository with git push --all and
git push --tags.

However, when I try a git push from the initial repository I get the
following:

> git push --all
Fetching remote heads...
  refs/
  refs/heads/
  refs/tags/
'refs/heads/custom': up-to-date
'refs/heads/master': up-to-date
'refs/heads/upstream': up-to-date

-- Matt

Re: Unable to checkout a branch after cloning

[Michael J Gruber]

Matthew Lear venit, vidit, dixit 11.08.2009 14:17:
> Hi Michael - thanks for your reply.
> Michael J Gruber wrote:
>> Matthew Lear venit, vidit, dixit 11.08.2009 12:10:
>>> Hi all,
>>>
>>> Apologies for perhaps a silly question, but I'd very much appreciate a
>>> little bit of assistance.
>>>
>>> I've set up a git repository on a machine accessible from the internet
>>> with the intention to share code with another developer. We clone the
>>> repository, commit changes then push back as you'd expect. The server
>>> runs gitweb for repository browsing. Clients are running git v1.6.0.6.
>>>
>>> When I created the initial repository I also created two additional
>>> branches - 'upstream' and 'custom'. The former is to act as a 'vendor
>>> branch' and the latter contains code specific to the custom platform
>>> that we're working on. The master branch contains merges from the
>>> upstream branch and also changes that we've made. The custom branch
>>> contains merges from master with custom platform specific changes.
>>>
>>> I've committed changes and on both upstream and custom branches as work
>>> progressed, merged them where appropriate, added tags etc and pushed
>>> everything to the remote repository. No problem. I can view the
>>> branches, tags etc in gitweb and everything looks fine.
>>>
>>> However, I can clone a new repository just fine but I'm unable to
>>> checkout the upstream or custom branches. After cloning, only the master
>>> branch is available, ie:
>>>
>>>> git checkout upstream
>>> error: pathspec 'upstream' did not match any file(s) known to git.
>>>
>>>> git branch -a
>>> * master
>>>   origin/HEAD
>>>   origin/master
>>>
>>> .git/config:
>>>
>>> [core]
>>>         repositoryformatversion = 0
>>>         filemode = true
>>>         bare = false
>>>         logallrefupdates = true
>>> [remote "origin"]
>>>         url = https://mysite/git/project.git
>>>         fetch = +refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/origin/*
>>> [branch "master"]
>>>         remote = origin
>>>         merge = refs/heads/master
>>>
>>> But the initial local repository where I work (ie created the branches,
>>> committed changes, tag, push etc) seems to be fine, ie
>>>
>>>> git checkout upstream
>>> Switched to branch "upstream"
>>>
>>>> git branch -a
>>>   custom
>>> * master
>>>   upstream
>>>
>>> .git/config:
>>>
>>> [core]
>>>         repositoryformatversion = 0
>>>         filemode = true
>>>         bare = false
>>>         logallrefupdates = true
>>> [remote "origin"]
>>>         url = https://mysite/git/project.git
>>>         fetch = +refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/origin/*
>>>
>>>
>>> Developers need to be able to clone the repository and then switch to
>>> the appropriate branch in order to work. However it seems that after a
>>> clone, only the master branch is available.
>>>
>>> Why is this?
>>>
>>> Any help would be much appreciated indeed.
>>
>> If I understand you correctly you have 3 repos: the "initial" one on
>> which everything is as expected, the "server" one and the "new clone"
>> which is missing branches.
> 
> Yes, that's correct.
> 
>> Now: How's the server one doing, i.e. what does "git ls-remote
>> https://mysite/git/project.git" say? I suspect that one either does not
>> have the branches (you haven't told us how you pushed) or in the wrong
>> place (remotes/).
> 
>> git ls-remote https://mysite/git/project.git
> 065f5f13d5f8e786729db1623cc53767c963e959        HEAD
> 065f5f13d5f8e786729db1623cc53767c963e959        refs/heads/master
> 
> Hmm. So it seems that the branches are not actually on the server
> repository. So how come I can see them with gitweb..?
> 
> I've been pushing from the 'initial' repository with git push --all and
> git push --tags.
> 
> However, when I try a git push from the initial repository I get the
> following:
> 
>> git push --all
> Fetching remote heads...
>   refs/
>   refs/heads/
>   refs/tags/
> 'refs/heads/custom': up-to-date
> 'refs/heads/master': up-to-date
> 'refs/heads/upstream': up-to-date
> 
> -- Matt

Does the situation improve if, on the server, you run git
update-server-info? Do you have a post-update hook there?

Michael

Re: Unable to checkout a branch after cloning

[Matthew Lear]

Michael J Gruber wrote:
> Matthew Lear venit, vidit, dixit 11.08.2009 14:17:
>> Hi Michael - thanks for your reply.
>> Michael J Gruber wrote:
>>> Matthew Lear venit, vidit, dixit 11.08.2009 12:10:
>>>> Hi all,
>>>>
>>>> Apologies for perhaps a silly question, but I'd very much appreciate a
>>>> little bit of assistance.
>>>>
>>>> I've set up a git repository on a machine accessible from the internet
>>>> with the intention to share code with another developer. We clone the
>>>> repository, commit changes then push back as you'd expect. The server
>>>> runs gitweb for repository browsing. Clients are running git v1.6.0.6.
>>>>
>>>> When I created the initial repository I also created two additional
>>>> branches - 'upstream' and 'custom'. The former is to act as a 'vendor
>>>> branch' and the latter contains code specific to the custom platform
>>>> that we're working on. The master branch contains merges from the
>>>> upstream branch and also changes that we've made. The custom branch
>>>> contains merges from master with custom platform specific changes.
>>>>
>>>> I've committed changes and on both upstream and custom branches as work
>>>> progressed, merged them where appropriate, added tags etc and pushed
>>>> everything to the remote repository. No problem. I can view the
>>>> branches, tags etc in gitweb and everything looks fine.
>>>>
>>>> However, I can clone a new repository just fine but I'm unable to
>>>> checkout the upstream or custom branches. After cloning, only the master
>>>> branch is available, ie:
>>>>
>>>>> git checkout upstream
>>>> error: pathspec 'upstream' did not match any file(s) known to git.
>>>>
>>>>> git branch -a
>>>> * master
>>>>   origin/HEAD
>>>>   origin/master
>>>>
>>>> .git/config:
>>>>
>>>> [core]
>>>>         repositoryformatversion = 0
>>>>         filemode = true
>>>>         bare = false
>>>>         logallrefupdates = true
>>>> [remote "origin"]
>>>>         url = https://mysite/git/project.git
>>>>         fetch = +refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/origin/*
>>>> [branch "master"]
>>>>         remote = origin
>>>>         merge = refs/heads/master
>>>>
>>>> But the initial local repository where I work (ie created the branches,
>>>> committed changes, tag, push etc) seems to be fine, ie
>>>>
>>>>> git checkout upstream
>>>> Switched to branch "upstream"
>>>>
>>>>> git branch -a
>>>>   custom
>>>> * master
>>>>   upstream
>>>>
>>>> .git/config:
>>>>
>>>> [core]
>>>>         repositoryformatversion = 0
>>>>         filemode = true
>>>>         bare = false
>>>>         logallrefupdates = true
>>>> [remote "origin"]
>>>>         url = https://mysite/git/project.git
>>>>         fetch = +refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/origin/*
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Developers need to be able to clone the repository and then switch to
>>>> the appropriate branch in order to work. However it seems that after a
>>>> clone, only the master branch is available.
>>>>
>>>> Why is this?
>>>>
>>>> Any help would be much appreciated indeed.
>>> If I understand you correctly you have 3 repos: the "initial" one on
>>> which everything is as expected, the "server" one and the "new clone"
>>> which is missing branches.
>> Yes, that's correct.
>>
>>> Now: How's the server one doing, i.e. what does "git ls-remote
>>> https://mysite/git/project.git" say? I suspect that one either does not
>>> have the branches (you haven't told us how you pushed) or in the wrong
>>> place (remotes/).
>>> git ls-remote https://mysite/git/project.git
>> 065f5f13d5f8e786729db1623cc53767c963e959        HEAD
>> 065f5f13d5f8e786729db1623cc53767c963e959        refs/heads/master
>>
>> Hmm. So it seems that the branches are not actually on the server
>> repository. So how come I can see them with gitweb..?
>>
>> I've been pushing from the 'initial' repository with git push --all and
>> git push --tags.
>>
>> However, when I try a git push from the initial repository I get the
>> following:
>>
>>> git push --all
>> Fetching remote heads...
>>   refs/
>>   refs/heads/
>>   refs/tags/
>> 'refs/heads/custom': up-to-date
>> 'refs/heads/master': up-to-date
>> 'refs/heads/upstream': up-to-date
>>
>> -- Matt
> 
> Does the situation improve if, on the server, you run git
> update-server-info? Do you have a post-update hook there?
> 
> Michael

I ran git update-server-info on the server machine. I read about this
and thought I had made the necessary change to add it as a post commit
hook. I guess not (so will double check). However, something is still
not quite right upon cloning:

> git clone https://mysite/git/project.git
Initialized empty Git repository in /home/matt/git-repos/project/.git/
Checking out files: 100% (26747/26747), done.

> git branch -a
* master
  origin/HEAD
  origin/custom
  origin/master
  origin/upstream

> git checkout upstream
error: pathspec 'upstream' did not match any file(s) known to git.

So it seems that the cloned repository is now aware of the branches
(improvement) but I'm still unable to switch to a branch.

This is probably now a case of me reading the manual but I'd appreciate
your thoughts nonetheless.

Thanks for your continued feedback,
--  Matt

Re: Unable to checkout a branch after cloning

[Michael J Gruber]

Matthew Lear venit, vidit, dixit 11.08.2009 16:24:
> Michael J Gruber wrote:
>> Matthew Lear venit, vidit, dixit 11.08.2009 14:17:
>>> Hi Michael - thanks for your reply.
>>> Michael J Gruber wrote:
>>>> Matthew Lear venit, vidit, dixit 11.08.2009 12:10:
>>>>> Hi all,
>>>>>
>>>>> Apologies for perhaps a silly question, but I'd very much appreciate a
>>>>> little bit of assistance.
>>>>>
>>>>> I've set up a git repository on a machine accessible from the internet
>>>>> with the intention to share code with another developer. We clone the
>>>>> repository, commit changes then push back as you'd expect. The server
>>>>> runs gitweb for repository browsing. Clients are running git v1.6.0.6.
>>>>>
>>>>> When I created the initial repository I also created two additional
>>>>> branches - 'upstream' and 'custom'. The former is to act as a 'vendor
>>>>> branch' and the latter contains code specific to the custom platform
>>>>> that we're working on. The master branch contains merges from the
>>>>> upstream branch and also changes that we've made. The custom branch
>>>>> contains merges from master with custom platform specific changes.
>>>>>
>>>>> I've committed changes and on both upstream and custom branches as work
>>>>> progressed, merged them where appropriate, added tags etc and pushed
>>>>> everything to the remote repository. No problem. I can view the
>>>>> branches, tags etc in gitweb and everything looks fine.
>>>>>
>>>>> However, I can clone a new repository just fine but I'm unable to
>>>>> checkout the upstream or custom branches. After cloning, only the master
>>>>> branch is available, ie:
>>>>>
>>>>>> git checkout upstream
>>>>> error: pathspec 'upstream' did not match any file(s) known to git.
>>>>>
>>>>>> git branch -a
>>>>> * master
>>>>>   origin/HEAD
>>>>>   origin/master
>>>>>
>>>>> .git/config:
>>>>>
>>>>> [core]
>>>>>         repositoryformatversion = 0
>>>>>         filemode = true
>>>>>         bare = false
>>>>>         logallrefupdates = true
>>>>> [remote "origin"]
>>>>>         url = https://mysite/git/project.git
>>>>>         fetch = +refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/origin/*
>>>>> [branch "master"]
>>>>>         remote = origin
>>>>>         merge = refs/heads/master
>>>>>
>>>>> But the initial local repository where I work (ie created the branches,
>>>>> committed changes, tag, push etc) seems to be fine, ie
>>>>>
>>>>>> git checkout upstream
>>>>> Switched to branch "upstream"
>>>>>
>>>>>> git branch -a
>>>>>   custom
>>>>> * master
>>>>>   upstream
>>>>>
>>>>> .git/config:
>>>>>
>>>>> [core]
>>>>>         repositoryformatversion = 0
>>>>>         filemode = true
>>>>>         bare = false
>>>>>         logallrefupdates = true
>>>>> [remote "origin"]
>>>>>         url = https://mysite/git/project.git
>>>>>         fetch = +refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/origin/*
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Developers need to be able to clone the repository and then switch to
>>>>> the appropriate branch in order to work. However it seems that after a
>>>>> clone, only the master branch is available.
>>>>>
>>>>> Why is this?
>>>>>
>>>>> Any help would be much appreciated indeed.
>>>> If I understand you correctly you have 3 repos: the "initial" one on
>>>> which everything is as expected, the "server" one and the "new clone"
>>>> which is missing branches.
>>> Yes, that's correct.
>>>
>>>> Now: How's the server one doing, i.e. what does "git ls-remote
>>>> https://mysite/git/project.git" say? I suspect that one either does not
>>>> have the branches (you haven't told us how you pushed) or in the wrong
>>>> place (remotes/).
>>>> git ls-remote https://mysite/git/project.git
>>> 065f5f13d5f8e786729db1623cc53767c963e959        HEAD
>>> 065f5f13d5f8e786729db1623cc53767c963e959        refs/heads/master
>>>
>>> Hmm. So it seems that the branches are not actually on the server
>>> repository. So how come I can see them with gitweb..?
>>>
>>> I've been pushing from the 'initial' repository with git push --all and
>>> git push --tags.
>>>
>>> However, when I try a git push from the initial repository I get the
>>> following:
>>>
>>>> git push --all
>>> Fetching remote heads...
>>>   refs/
>>>   refs/heads/
>>>   refs/tags/
>>> 'refs/heads/custom': up-to-date
>>> 'refs/heads/master': up-to-date
>>> 'refs/heads/upstream': up-to-date
>>>
>>> -- Matt
>>
>> Does the situation improve if, on the server, you run git
>> update-server-info? Do you have a post-update hook there?
>>
>> Michael
> 
> I ran git update-server-info on the server machine. I read about this
> and thought I had made the necessary change to add it as a post commit
> hook. I guess not (so will double check). However, something is still
> not quite right upon cloning:
> 
>> git clone https://mysite/git/project.git
> Initialized empty Git repository in /home/matt/git-repos/project/.git/
> Checking out files: 100% (26747/26747), done.
> 
>> git branch -a
> * master
>   origin/HEAD
>   origin/custom
>   origin/master
>   origin/upstream

We're making progress, that's good ;)
Re. the hook: Make sure it's executable and the extension .sample is
removed.

(gitweb and http access are two different things, which is a common
source of confusion)

> 
>> git checkout upstream
> error: pathspec 'upstream' did not match any file(s) known to git.
> 
> So it seems that the cloned repository is now aware of the branches
> (improvement) but I'm still unable to switch to a branch.
> 
> This is probably now a case of me reading the manual but I'd appreciate
> your thoughts nonetheless.

Well, there is no branch names upstream. There's only one named
origin/upstream, and it's a remote branch. Meaning: checking it out will
produce a detached head, which may or may not be what you want. If you
want to create a branch to work on upstream, do something like

git checkout -b myupstream origin/upstream

(git does something like git checkout -b master origin/master
automatically when cloning, which I think is a common source of confusion)

> Thanks for your continued feedback,
> --  Matt

Cheers,
Michael

Re: Unable to checkout a branch after cloning

[Matthew Lear]

Michael J Gruber wrote:
> Matthew Lear venit, vidit, dixit 11.08.2009 16:24:
>> Michael J Gruber wrote:
>>> Matthew Lear venit, vidit, dixit 11.08.2009 14:17:
>>>> Hi Michael - thanks for your reply.
>>>> Michael J Gruber wrote:
>>>>> Matthew Lear venit, vidit, dixit 11.08.2009 12:10:
>>>>>> Hi all,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Apologies for perhaps a silly question, but I'd very much appreciate a
>>>>>> little bit of assistance.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I've set up a git repository on a machine accessible from the internet
>>>>>> with the intention to share code with another developer. We clone the
>>>>>> repository, commit changes then push back as you'd expect. The server
>>>>>> runs gitweb for repository browsing. Clients are running git v1.6.0.6.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> When I created the initial repository I also created two additional
>>>>>> branches - 'upstream' and 'custom'. The former is to act as a 'vendor
>>>>>> branch' and the latter contains code specific to the custom platform
>>>>>> that we're working on. The master branch contains merges from the
>>>>>> upstream branch and also changes that we've made. The custom branch
>>>>>> contains merges from master with custom platform specific changes.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I've committed changes and on both upstream and custom branches as work
>>>>>> progressed, merged them where appropriate, added tags etc and pushed
>>>>>> everything to the remote repository. No problem. I can view the
>>>>>> branches, tags etc in gitweb and everything looks fine.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> However, I can clone a new repository just fine but I'm unable to
>>>>>> checkout the upstream or custom branches. After cloning, only the master
>>>>>> branch is available, ie:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> git checkout upstream
>>>>>> error: pathspec 'upstream' did not match any file(s) known to git.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> git branch -a
>>>>>> * master
>>>>>>   origin/HEAD
>>>>>>   origin/master
>>>>>>
>>>>>> .git/config:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> [core]
>>>>>>         repositoryformatversion = 0
>>>>>>         filemode = true
>>>>>>         bare = false
>>>>>>         logallrefupdates = true
>>>>>> [remote "origin"]
>>>>>>         url = https://mysite/git/project.git
>>>>>>         fetch = +refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/origin/*
>>>>>> [branch "master"]
>>>>>>         remote = origin
>>>>>>         merge = refs/heads/master
>>>>>>
>>>>>> But the initial local repository where I work (ie created the branches,
>>>>>> committed changes, tag, push etc) seems to be fine, ie
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> git checkout upstream
>>>>>> Switched to branch "upstream"
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> git branch -a
>>>>>>   custom
>>>>>> * master
>>>>>>   upstream
>>>>>>
>>>>>> .git/config:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> [core]
>>>>>>         repositoryformatversion = 0
>>>>>>         filemode = true
>>>>>>         bare = false
>>>>>>         logallrefupdates = true
>>>>>> [remote "origin"]
>>>>>>         url = https://mysite/git/project.git
>>>>>>         fetch = +refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/origin/*
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Developers need to be able to clone the repository and then switch to
>>>>>> the appropriate branch in order to work. However it seems that after a
>>>>>> clone, only the master branch is available.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Why is this?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Any help would be much appreciated indeed.
>>>>> If I understand you correctly you have 3 repos: the "initial" one on
>>>>> which everything is as expected, the "server" one and the "new clone"
>>>>> which is missing branches.
>>>> Yes, that's correct.
>>>>
>>>>> Now: How's the server one doing, i.e. what does "git ls-remote
>>>>> https://mysite/git/project.git" say? I suspect that one either does not
>>>>> have the branches (you haven't told us how you pushed) or in the wrong
>>>>> place (remotes/).
>>>>> git ls-remote https://mysite/git/project.git
>>>> 065f5f13d5f8e786729db1623cc53767c963e959        HEAD
>>>> 065f5f13d5f8e786729db1623cc53767c963e959        refs/heads/master
>>>>
>>>> Hmm. So it seems that the branches are not actually on the server
>>>> repository. So how come I can see them with gitweb..?
>>>>
>>>> I've been pushing from the 'initial' repository with git push --all and
>>>> git push --tags.
>>>>
>>>> However, when I try a git push from the initial repository I get the
>>>> following:
>>>>
>>>>> git push --all
>>>> Fetching remote heads...
>>>>   refs/
>>>>   refs/heads/
>>>>   refs/tags/
>>>> 'refs/heads/custom': up-to-date
>>>> 'refs/heads/master': up-to-date
>>>> 'refs/heads/upstream': up-to-date
>>>>
>>>> -- Matt
>>> Does the situation improve if, on the server, you run git
>>> update-server-info? Do you have a post-update hook there?
>>>
>>> Michael
>> I ran git update-server-info on the server machine. I read about this
>> and thought I had made the necessary change to add it as a post commit
>> hook. I guess not (so will double check). However, something is still
>> not quite right upon cloning:
>>
>>> git clone https://mysite/git/project.git
>> Initialized empty Git repository in /home/matt/git-repos/project/.git/
>> Checking out files: 100% (26747/26747), done.
>>
>>> git branch -a
>> * master
>>   origin/HEAD
>>   origin/custom
>>   origin/master
>>   origin/upstream
> 
> We're making progress, that's good ;)
> Re. the hook: Make sure it's executable and the extension .sample is
> removed.
> 
> (gitweb and http access are two different things, which is a common
> source of confusion)
> 
>>> git checkout upstream
>> error: pathspec 'upstream' did not match any file(s) known to git.
>>
>> So it seems that the cloned repository is now aware of the branches
>> (improvement) but I'm still unable to switch to a branch.
>>
>> This is probably now a case of me reading the manual but I'd appreciate
>> your thoughts nonetheless.
> 
> Well, there is no branch names upstream. There's only one named
> origin/upstream, and it's a remote branch. Meaning: checking it out will
> produce a detached head, which may or may not be what you want. If you
> want to create a branch to work on upstream, do something like
> 
> git checkout -b myupstream origin/upstream
> 
> (git does something like git checkout -b master origin/master
> automatically when cloning, which I think is a common source of confusion)

I've fixed the server hook scripts (embarrassingly, they were executable
but still had the .sample suffix - that's really not going to work!).

I've actually just read through the manual about detached heads. This is
not what I want but your solution to create a branch to track the remote
branch is exactly what I need.

Where ever you are in the world, many thanks for your continued help and
assistance. Very much appreciated indeed.

Cheers,
--  Matt