'git add .' doesn't work

Question

I am currently trying to setup Git for a project I have been working on for a while. I do remember quite a while ago setting up Git but never used it for various reasons. Now I want to use it i am getting a strange issue that I believe is related to an old install.

To start a fresh I installed a fresh Ubuntu OS so that there would be no Git install present and I copied the project (Grails) over. I then navigated to the directory and run the following commands:

git init

git remote add origin https://[email protected]/USERNAME/APPNAME.git

Then I ran:

git add .

This is where i get the error below:

fatal: Not a git repository: /home/user/workspace/App_V3/.git/modules/plugins/grails-spring-security-ui

This error is weird as this doesn't even match the directory I am in as the directory is below:

/home/user/Workspace/App_V7/

I am thinking that originally I may have setup the Git in the App_V3 folder on the old OS but don't know why it still points to that directory as I have run the code below to re-initialize it:

rm -rf .git
git init

Can someone please help me with this as its really frustrating :S

Thanks in advance

when you say you copied the project over, was it already under git version control or not? You can get rid of the .git folder, if present, before running git init — Sébastien Dawans
– Sébastien Dawans, Commented Jul 10, 2013 at 11:07
What do you mean by version control? I installed GIT ages ago in another folder and then this project was copied into a new folder. As shown above I have run "rm rf .git" and then git init again however still get same issue. I do this this is a problem with the directory structure as this is a fresh OS. — user723858
– user723858, Commented Jul 10, 2013 at 11:26
even though .git in current working directory is deleted, git will continue to look for it in a few other places before giving up. And in case if does find a .git elsewhere it will attempt to work with it. Check out this answer for a list of places to check for and delete the stale .gits on your filesystem. — TheCodeArtist
– TheCodeArtist, Commented Jul 10, 2013 at 11:34
What’s the output when you run git rev-parse --git-dir in App_V7? ` — Chronial
– Chronial, Commented Jul 10, 2013 at 14:19
What happens when you run the following command git status Also look for the folder .git as where that folder is represents the root of your new Git repo — usumoio
– usumoio, Commented Jul 10, 2013 at 23:00

Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-23 12:08:58Z

18

Moving repositories with submodules is problematic

I am thinking that originally I may have setup the Git in the App_V3 folder on the old OS

This is the source of the problem.

What matters is the version of git when the repository (or more specifically, the referenced submodule) was originally created.

Consider a repository with one submodule in vendor/awesome, how git behaved when creating the submodule is quite different.

git version < 1.7.8

The contents of vendor/awesome/.git is a folder - just like any git checkout so for example the folder structure of a checkout would be:

.gitmodules
.git
    ...
vendor/
    awesome
        .git
            config
            HEAD
            index
            packed-refs
            ...

There's no problem moving this kind of repository around, as there are no paths stored anywhere.

git version 1.7.8 or 1.7.9

1.7.8 moved the location of a submodule's .git folder

When populating a new submodule directory with "git submodule init", the $GIT_DIR metainformation directory for submodules is created inside $GIT_DIR/modules// directory of the superproject and referenced via the gitfile mechanism. This is to make it possible to switch between commits in the superproject that has and does not have the submodule in the tree without re-cloning.

Therefore vendor/awesome/.git is not a folder, it is a file with the following contents:

gitdir: /absolute/path/to/main/repo/.git/modules/vendor/awesome

And the overal folder structure is:

.gitmodules
.git
    ...
    modules
        vendor
            awesome
                config
                HEAD
                index
                packed-refs
                ...

vendor/
    awesome
        .git <- a file

The contents of .git/modules/vendor/awesome/config specifies where the working tree is:

[core]
   ...
   worktree = /absolute/path/to/main/repo/vendor/awesome

This was a pretty awesome change - however it introduced a problem, as absolute paths were used to reference locations.

git version >= 1.7.10

In version 1.7.10 the use of absolute paths in submodules was modified

The whole directory that houses a top-level superproject managed by "git submodule" can be moved to another place.

Now vendor/awesome/.git if generated with this or a later version of git would contain:

gitdir: ../../.git/modules/vendor/awesome

The contents of .git/modules/vendor/awesome/config specifies where the working tree is:

[core]
   ...
   worktree = ../../../../vendor/awesome

Once again, there's no problem moving this kind of repository around, as paths a relative to the main repository.

Moving repositories

With an old, or a new version of git - you're good.

If you're unfortunate enough to work on a repository created in 1.7.8 or 1.7.9 (which from the evidence in the question seems to be the case) and move the repository - there are 2 solutions:

Clone again
Correct paths in submodule .git files, and the corresponding worktree config setting

edited May 23, 2017 at 12:08

CommunityBot

11 silver badge

answered Jul 19, 2013 at 13:40

AD7six

67.3k14 gold badges122 silver badges169 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

3 Comments

arod Over a year ago

I have git version 2.8, but my submodules where in version 1.7 format : / Is there someway to automatically migrate to the new format?

AD7six Over a year ago

Probably by reading the answer, though you don't need to migrate to the new format.

arod Over a year ago

the thing is I copied the repository to another dir, and, since it isn't 'migrated' to the new format, submodules failed and I had to update them manually. really cumbersome and not-for-all. so id like to know if tere is an easy way to 'migrate' to new format so I can fwd it to my team...

user723858 · Accepted Answer · 2013-07-19 13:04:35Z

2

I moved all of the files one at a time to a new folder and then seemed to work fine :)

Thanks for the help

answered Jul 19, 2013 at 13:04

user723858

1,0173 gold badges23 silver badges45 bronze badges

Comments

Tobias Kienzler · Accepted Answer · 2013-07-19 13:08:30Z

0

Instead of

git init
git remote add origin https://[email protected]/USERNAME/APPNAME.git

you should use

git clone origin https://[email protected]/USERNAME/APPNAME.git .

since you want to clone an existing repository and not re-create it.

answered Jul 19, 2013 at 13:08

Tobias Kienzler

27.9k23 gold badges138 silver badges232 bronze badges

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

'git add .' doesn't work

3 Answers 3

Moving repositories with submodules is problematic

git version < 1.7.8

git version 1.7.8 or 1.7.9

git version >= 1.7.10

Moving repositories

3 Comments

Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

3 Answers 3

Moving repositories with submodules is problematic

git version < 1.7.8

git version 1.7.8 or 1.7.9

git version >= 1.7.10

Moving repositories

3 Comments

Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Linked

Related