CODEWITHSUNDEEP
git
reza
reza

Reputation: 6358

how to create a new git repository from an existing one

I have a remote git repository that really replaced everything we had in another older SCM. Many projects and products have been added to the repository over the years.

There is a branch in this repo, corresponding to a product that I am interested in. I want to make a brand new git repository from this branch only, not really concerned about loss of history.

Is git remote add the solution? I want for both of these repositories to be on the same server.

Thoughts?

Upvotes: 106

Views: 152412

Answers (5)

chethan
chethan

Reputation: 195

I don't know my answer still helps or not but this is another way to create a new repository using an existing one.
step 1: clone the existing repo.
step 2: delete the .git folder in cloned repo folder
step 3: create a new repo in git.
step 4: in the cloned repo folder run git init
step 5: git add .
step 6: git remote add origin NEW_REPO/URL
step 7: git branch -M "branch_name"
step 8: git push --set-upstream origin branch_name

Upvotes: 10

Dustin Williams
Dustin Williams

Reputation: 11

Our computing environment requires that git repos are created on a remote server, so git init is not a good option. I did this instead.

git clone <NEW, EMPTY REPO> new
git clone <EXISTING REPO> old
cd new
git remote add --no-tags -f old_repo ../old
git checkout -b main old_repo/main
git push origin main

Upvotes: 1

pestrella
pestrella

Reputation: 9936

In order to create a new Git repository from an existing repository one would typically create a new bare repository and push one or more branches from the existing to the new repository.

The following steps illustrates this:

  1. Create a new repository. It must be bare in order for you to push to it.

    $ mkdir /path/to/new_repo
$ cd /path/to/new_repo
$ git --bare init

    Note: ensure that your new repository is accessible from the existing repository. There are many ways to do this; let's assume that you have made it accessible via ssh://my_host/new_repo.

  2. Push a branch from your existing repository. For example let's say we want to push the branch topic1 from the existing repository and name it master in the new repository.

    $ cd /path/to/existing_repo
$ git push ssh://my_host/new_repo +topic1:master

This technique allows you to keep the history from the existing branch.

Note: the new repository is effectively a new remote repository. If you want to work with the new repository you must clone it. The following will clone the new repo into a local working directory called new_repo:

$ git clone ssh://my_host/new_repo

In this example, when you clone the new repository you will see that the master branch is a copy of the topic1 branch of the old repository.

Upvotes: 109

Justin ᚅᚔᚈᚄᚒᚔ
Justin ᚅᚔᚈᚄᚒᚔ

Reputation: 15359

If you're not worried about losing history, do a git checkout mybranch and then copy the directory contents to another folder. Within that folder, delete the .git folder and then:

git init; git commit -a -m "Imported from project Y"

Upvotes: 29

JustinDoesWork
JustinDoesWork

Reputation: 528

Pull down the branch like normal and then push the branch to a new repository that you have created using git init. You would use code that looks something like:

git push url:///new/repo.git TheBranchFolder

This method also keeps all of your previous changes if that is a plus for the situation.

Upvotes: 28

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