Git – Set git config values for all child folders

git

I know that it's possible to set per-repo configs which override the user-level config (i.e. /path/to/my/repo/.gitconfig overrides ~/.gitconfig). Is it possible to set git configs which override the user-level settings for all child folders of a given folder? I.e., I have

|--topLevelFolder1
|--\
|   ---.gitconfig_override
|--\
|   ---childFolder1
|       \---[...]
|--\
|   ---childFolder2
|       \---[...]

And I want the settings defined in .gitconfig_override to apply in childFolder1 and childFolder2.

My motivation for this is as follows: I have a work laptop which I also use in my spare time for personal projects. All my work code is nested within a single folder. When I push to work git repos, I need to do so with my work persona – work login instead of name, and work email. When I push to my own personal (github) repos, I want to do so with my real name and personal email.

Other possible solutions I've thought of (and problems):

Create separate users for "work" and "play", set their user-level settings appropriately, and log in as the appropriate user when I switch context (hassle, plus I could easily forget to switch)
Create a script that searches for git repos inside "workFolder", and adds/updates their .gitconfig files to hold the appropriate details (if I create a repo and forget to run the script before pushing, I will push as the wrong person)
"hack" git such that every time it creates a repo, it checks the filepath and, if appropriate, updates the .gitconfig file (complicated, messy, and almost certainly The Wrong Way To Do It – plus, I wouldn't have the first clue how to go about it!)

I checked this question, which only seems to contain solutions for single repos, not multiple. Hopefully someone will see this question who missed that one!

Best Answer

As mentioned by NateEag's edit, git's Conditional Includes are perfect for this. Since that answer's the one for people on git < 2.13, here's one for those who have newer versions.

First, create a new config file somewhere with the settings you want to take effect in the sub-folders - using the original question's folders, let's say it's at ~/topLevelFolder1/.gitconfig_include

In ~/.gitconfig, add:

[includeIf "gitdir:~/toplevelFolder1/"]
    path = ~/topLevelFolder1/.gitconfig_include

Any subfolder of ~/topLevelFolder1 will now include the config in ~/toplevelFolder1/.gitconfig_include - there isn't a need to manually change the .git/config in each subfolder's repo. (This doesn't override whatever's in the subfolder config - it just adds to it, as "include" implies.)

Notes:

This setting should be located after the config you want to override in ~/.gitconfig because includeIf will be overridden again by any config that comes after it.
This setting includes the file only if you are in a repository under the given path. It's ignored if you're in any non-repository sub-path.
The trailing forward slash (/) in the gitdir condition is important.
git config --list is good for testing this. You'll see any overrides below includeif lines in the output. You can also check specific entries with, e.g., git config --get user.email
On Git for Windows, specify paths relative to your user directory with ~/ and absolute paths with the Windows-style drive, like C:/ using forward slashes only. Backslashes and Unix-style mount points like /c/ don't work.

Related Solutions

Git – How to clone all remote branches in Git

First, clone a remote Git repository and cd into it:

$ git clone git://example.com/myproject
$ cd myproject

Next, look at the local branches in your repository:

$ git branch
* master

But there are other branches hiding in your repository! You can see these using the -a flag:

$ git branch -a
* master
  remotes/origin/HEAD
  remotes/origin/master
  remotes/origin/v1.0-stable
  remotes/origin/experimental

If you just want to take a quick peek at an upstream branch, you can check it out directly:

$ git checkout origin/experimental

But if you want to work on that branch, you'll need to create a local tracking branch which is done automatically by:

$ git checkout experimental

and you will see

Branch experimental set up to track remote branch experimental from origin.
Switched to a new branch 'experimental'

Here, "new branch" simply means that the branch is taken from the index and created locally for you. As the previous line tells you, the branch is being set up to track the remote branch, which usually means the origin/branch_name branch.

Now, if you look at your local branches, this is what you'll see:

$ git branch
* experimental
  master

You can actually track more than one remote repository using git remote.

$ git remote add win32 git://example.com/users/joe/myproject-win32-port
$ git branch -a
* master
  remotes/origin/HEAD
  remotes/origin/master
  remotes/origin/v1.0-stable
  remotes/origin/experimental
  remotes/win32/master
  remotes/win32/new-widgets

At this point, things are getting pretty crazy, so run gitk to see what's going on:

$ gitk --all &

Git – How to retrieve the hash for the current commit in Git

To turn arbitrary extended object reference into SHA-1, use simply git-rev-parse, for example

git rev-parse HEAD

git rev-parse --verify HEAD

You can also retrieve the short version like this

git rev-parse --short HEAD

Sidenote: If you want to turn references (branches and tags) into SHA-1, there is git show-ref and git for-each-ref.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Git – How to clone all remote branches in Git

Git – How to retrieve the hash for the current commit in Git

Related Topic