Git Large File Storage
Git LFS is a command line extension and
specification for managing large files with Git.
The client is written in Go, with pre-compiled binaries available for Mac,
Windows, Linux, and FreeBSD. Check out the website
for an overview of features.
Getting Started
Downloading
You can install the Git LFS client in several different ways, depending on your
setup and preferences.
- Linux users. Debian and RPM packages are available from
PackageCloud. - macOS users. Homebrew bottles are distributed, and can
be installed viabrew install git-lfs. - Windows users. Git LFS is included in the distribution of
Git for Windows. Alternatively, you can
install a recent version of Git LFS from the Chocolatey package manager. - Binary packages. In addition, binary packages are
available for Linux, macOS, Windows, and FreeBSD. - Building from source. This repository can also be
built from source using the latest version of Go, and the
available instructions in our
Wiki.
Installing
From binary
The binary packages include a script which will:
- Install Git LFS binaries onto the system
$PATH - Run
git lfs installto
perform required global configuration changes.
$ ./install.sh
From source
- Place the
git-lfsbinary on your system’s executable$PATHor equivalent. - Git LFS requires global configuration changes once per-machine. This can be done by
running:
$ git lfs install
Verifying releases
Releases are signed with the OpenPGP key of one of the core team members. To
get these keys, you can run the following command, which will print them to
standard output:
$ curl -L https://api.github.com/repos/git-lfs/git-lfs/tarball/core-gpg-keys, tar -Ozxf -
Once you have the keys, you can download the sha256sums.asc file and verify
the file you want like so:
$ gpg -d sha256sums.asc, grep git-lfs-linux-amd64-v2.10.0.tar.gz, shasum -a 256 -c
Example Usage
To begin using Git LFS within a Git repository that is not already configured
for Git LFS, you can indicate which files you would like Git LFS to manage.
This can be done by running the following from within a Git repository:
$ git lfs track "*.psd"
(Where *.psd is the pattern of filenames that you wish to track. You can read
more about this pattern syntax
here).
Note: the quotation marks surrounding the pattern are important to
prevent the glob pattern from being expanded by the shell.
After any invocation of git-lfs-track(1) or git-lfs-untrack(1), you must
commit changes to your .gitattributes file. This can be done by running:
$ git add .gitattributes
$ git commit -m "track *.psd files using Git LFS"
You can now interact with your Git repository as usual, and Git LFS will take
care of managing your large files. For example, changing a file named my.psd
(tracked above via *.psd):
$ git add my.psd
$ git commit -m "add psd"
Tip: if you have large files already in your repository's history,
git lfs trackwill not track them retroactively. To migrate existing large files
in your history to use Git LFS, usegit lfs migrate. For example:$ git lfs migrate import --include="*.psd" --everythingFor more information, read
git-lfs-migrate(1).
You can confirm that Git LFS is managing your PSD file:
$ git lfs ls-files
3c2f7aedfb * my.psd
Once you've made your commits, push your files to the Git remote:
$ git push origin master
Uploading LFS objects: 100% (1/1), 810 B, 1.2 KB/s
# ...
To https://github.com/git-lfs/git-lfs-test
67fcf6a..47b2002 master -> master
Note: Git LFS requires at least Git 1.8.2 on Linux or 1.8.5 on macOS.
Limitations
Git LFS maintains a list of currently known limitations, which you can find and
edit here.
Need Help?
You can get help on specific commands directly:
$ git lfs help <subcommand>
The official documentation has command references and specifications for
the tool.
You can always open an issue, and
one of the Core Team members will respond to you. Please be sure to include:
- The output of
git lfs env, which displays helpful information about your
Git repository useful in debugging. - Any failed commands re-run with
GIT_TRACE=1in the environment, which
displays additional information pertaining to why a command crashed.
Contributing
See CONTRIBUTING.md for info on working on Git LFS and
sending patches. Related projects are listed on the Implementations wiki
page.
Core Team
These are the humans that form the Git LFS core team, which runs the project.
In alphabetical order:, [@bk2204][bk2204-user], [@larsxschneider][larsxschneider-user], ---, ---, [![][bk2204-img]][bk2204-user], [![][larsxschneider-img]][larsxschneider-user], [bk2204-img]: https://avatars1.githubusercontent.com/u/497054?s=100&v=4
[larsxschneider-img]: https://avatars1.githubusercontent.com/u/477434?s=100&v=4
[bk2204-user]: https://github.com/bk2204
[larsxschneider-user]: https://github.com/larsxschneider
Alumni
These are the humans that have in the past formed the Git LFS core team, or
have otherwise contributed a significant amount to the project. Git LFS would
not be possible without them.
In alphabetical order:, [@andyneff][andyneff-user], [@PastelMobileSuit][PastelMobileSuit-user], [@rubyist][rubyist-user], [@sinbad][sinbad-user], [@technoweenie][technoweenie-user], [@ttaylorr][ttaylorr-user], ---, ---, ---, ---, ---, ---, [![][andyneff-img]][andyneff-user], [![][PastelMobileSuit-img]][PastelMobileSuit-user], [![][rubyist-img]][rubyist-user], [![][sinbad-img]][sinbad-user], [![][technoweenie-img]][technoweenie-user], [![][ttaylorr-img]][ttaylorr-user], [andyneff-img]: https://avatars1.githubusercontent.com/u/7596961?v=3&s=100
[PastelMobileSuit-img]: https://avatars2.githubusercontent.com/u/37254014?s=100&v=4
[rubyist-img]: https://avatars1.githubusercontent.com/u/143?v=3&s=100
[sinbad-img]: https://avatars1.githubusercontent.com/u/142735?v=3&s=100
[technoweenie-img]: https://avatars3.githubusercontent.com/u/21?v=3&s=100
[ttaylorr-img]: https://avatars2.githubusercontent.com/u/443245?s=100&v=4
[andyneff-user]: https://github.com/andyneff
[PastelMobileSuit-user]: https://github.com/PastelMobileSuit
[sinbad-user]: https://github.com/sinbad
[rubyist-user]: https://github.com/rubyist
[technoweenie-user]: https://github.com/technoweenie
[ttaylorr-user]: https://github.com/ttaylorr