Setup git repository with git-lfs

This repository was setup using following commands:

  1. Create a directory

    Create directory
    ~$ mkdir git-lfs-intro
~$ cd git-lfs-intro

  2. Initialize git and git-lfs

    git lfs install --local --skip-smudge (explained below) adds configuration locally (folder). However, the local configuration file (.git/config) can’t be tracked and hence, uploaded to a remote repository.

    Use git lfs install --skip-smudge to prevent LFS from downloading or cloning files (globally) unless explicitly specified.

    --skip-smudge adds following entries to the global git config at ~/.gitconfig:

    .git/config       filter.lfs.required=true
    .git/config       filter.lfs.clean=git-lfs clean — %f
    .git/config       filter.lfs.smudge=git-lfs smudge --skip — %f
    .git/config       filter.lfs.process=git-lfs filter-process --skip
    Initialize git and git-lfs
    ~/git-lfs-intro$ git init
Initialized empty Git repository in ~/git-lfs-intro/.git/

~/git-lfs-intro$ git lfs install --local --skip-smudge       (1) (2)
Updated git hooks.
Git LFS initialized.

~/git-lfs-intro$ git lfs track '*.pdf'                       (3)
Tracking "*.pdf"
    1 --local sets the "lfs" smudge and clean filters in the local repository’s git config, instead of the global git config (~/.gitconfig).
    2 --skip-smudge skips automatic downloading of objects on clone or pull. This requires a manual "git lfs pull" every time a new commit is checked out on your repository.
    3 git lfs track starts tracking given pattern(s) through git LFS.

    --local in combination with --skip-smudge adds following entries to the local git config at .git/config:

    .git/config       filter.lfs.smudge=git-lfs smudge --skip — %f
    .git/config       filter.lfs.process=git-lfs filter-process --skip
    .git/config       filter.lfs.required=true
    .git/config       filter.lfs.clean=git-lfs clean — %f

  3. Create 'git-lfs' man-pages pdfs

    Create data to track with LFS
    ~/git-lfs-intro$ apropos. | awk '{print $1}' | grep git-lfs | while read in; do man -t "$in" | ps2pdf - "$in".pdf; done
~/git-lfs-intro$ ls
git-lfs-checkout.pdf       git-lfs-config.pdf      git-lfs-fetch.pdf           git-lfs-install.pdf    git-lfs-logs.pdf
git-lfs.pdf                git-lfs-post-merge.pdf  git-lfs-pull.pdf            git-lfs-status.pdf     git-lfs-unlock.pdf
git-lfs-clean.pdf          git-lfs-env.pdf         git-lfs-filter-process.pdf  git-lfs-lock.pdf       git-lfs-ls-files.pdf
git-lfs-pointer.pdf        git-lfs-pre-push.pdf    git-lfs-push.pdf            git-lfs-track.pdf      git-lfs-untrack.pdf
git-lfs-clone.pdf          git-lfs-ext.pdf         git-lfs-fsck.pdf            git-lfs-locks.pdf      git-lfs-migrate.pdf
git-lfs-post-checkout.pdf  git-lfs-prune.pdf       git-lfs-smudge.pdf          git-lfs-uninstall.pdf  git-lfs-update.pdf

  4. Add files and .gitattributes and commit

    Commit files
    ~/git-lfs-intro$ git add .gitattributes "*.pdf"
~/git-lfs-intro$ git commit -m "Initial commit"

Clone repository

To prevent lfs from downloading or cloning LFS tracked files globally enter:

Configure skipping LFS tracked files
$ git lfs install --skip-smudge

This will prevent downloading lfs files when cloning repositories. If you clone this repository now, by entering the command below, git will download only a pointer to the lfs file (named just as the original file).

To clone this LFS repository enter:

Clone the repository
~/temp$ git clone https://github.com/sabicalija/git-lfs-intro.git

Load lfs file

You can download all or single files by entering following command:

  • Single file

    Pull single LFS tracked file
    ~/temp/git-lfs-intro$ git lfs pull --include=filename

    To download the main git-lfs manpage pdf enter

    Pull file "git-lfs.pdf"
    ~/temp/git-lfs-intro$ git lfs pull --include="git-lfs.pdf"
Git LFS: (1 of 1 files) 18.97 KB / 18.97 KB

    Stage the newly downloaded file. This gives git the chance, to see that the "new" file is actually already tracked by git-lfs.

    Restore respository state
    ~/temp/git-lfs-intro$ git add git-lfs.pdf

    or reset the repository by entering:

    Restore (reset) repostiory state
    ~/temp/git-lfs-intro$ git reset HEAD .

  • All files

    Pull all LFS tracked files
    ~/temp/git-lfs-intro$ git lfs pull
Git LFS: (29 of 29 files) 475.39 KB / 475.39 KB

Convert lfs file to pointer

In case you don’t need the original binary anymore, you can convert it back to a pointer file. To achieve this enter following commands:

Convert LFS tracked binary to pointer
~/temp/git-lfs-intro$ git lfs pointer --file=filename
Git LFS pointer for filename

version https://git-lfs.github.com/spec/v1
oid sha256:dc26a22ac0dceb6ce27dd870a1a9f6791f45d4fbc75499093779de3d30b7b5ba
size 19425

This will output the generated pointer to the stdout. Copy the content to a new file, delete the downloaded LFS file, and rename the newly created pointer file using it’s original name. Now, stage the file again, to restore the repository’s state.

To convert the main git-lfs.pdf manpage pdf to a pointer file enter:

Convert "git-lfs.pdf" to pointer
~/temp/git-lfs-intro$ git lfs pointer --file="git-lfs.pdf" > git-lfs.pdf.pt
Git LFS pointer for git-lfs.pdf

~/temp/git-lfs-intro$ rm git-lfs.pdf
~/temp/git-lfs-intro$ mv git-lfs.pdf.pt git-lfs.pdf
~/temp/git-lfs-intro$ git add git-lfs.pdf

Delete a lfs file

The files exchanged by a pointer file are removed from the repository, but not from disk.

To remove the original binary (tracked by git LFS) locate the file you wish to remove at .git/lfs/objects and delete it there.

Now, if you want to get the binary again, simply enter git lfs pull --include=filename.

You can use the oid from the pointer file, to print the location of the binary file to stdout or delete the file "automatically".

Read the oid from pointer file
~/temp/git-lfs-intro$ cat git-lfs.pdf
version https://git-lfs.github.com/spec/v1
oid sha256:dc26a22ac0dceb6ce27dd870a1a9f6791f45d4fbc75499093779de3d30b7b5ba
size 19425

~/temp/git-lfs-intro$ cat git-lfs.pdf | grep oid
oid sha256:dc26a22ac0dceb6ce27dd870a1a9f6791f45d4fbc75499093779de3d30b7b5ba

~/temp/git-lfs-intro$ cat git-lfs.pdf | grep oid | cut -d ":" -f 2
dc26a22ac0dceb6ce27dd870a1a9f6791f45d4fbc75499093779de3d30b7b5ba
Print binary file location to terminal
~/temp/git-lfs-intro$ find . | grep $(cat git-lfs.pdf | grep oid | cut -d ":" -f 2)
./.git/lfs/objects/dc/26/dc26a22ac0dceb6ce27dd870a1a9f6791f45d4fbc75499093779de3d30b7b5ba

You could also use following short-cut, but be carefull. The commands need to be entered subsequently.

Print binary file location to terminal (short cut)
~/temp/git-lfs-intro$ cat git-lfs.pdf | grep oid | cut -d ":" -f 2
dc26a22ac0dceb6ce27dd870a1a9f6791f45d4fbc75499093779de3d30b7b5ba

~/temp/git-lfs-intro$ find . | grep $(!!)
find . | grep $(cat git-lfs.pdf | grep oid | cut -d ":" -f 2)
./.git/lfs/objects/dc/26/dc26a22ac0dceb6ce27dd870a1a9f6791f45d4fbc75499093779de3d30b7b5ba

The location of the binary, or the names of the folders where it is stored matches a pattern of the oid hash value.
Delete binary file automatically
~/temp/git-lfs-intro$ rm $(find . | grep $(cat git-lfs.pdf | grep oid | cut -d ":" -f 2))

or with a short cut, just like above:

Delete binary file automatically (short cut)
~/temp/git-lfs-intro$ cat git-lfs.pdf | grep oid | cut -d ":" -f 2
dc26a22ac0dceb6ce27dd870a1a9f6791f45d4fbc75499093779de3d30b7b5ba

~/temp/git-lfs-intro$ find . | grep $(!!)
find . | grep $(cat git-lfs.pdf | grep oid | cut -d ":" -f 2)
./.git/lfs/objects/dc/26/dc26a22ac0dceb6ce27dd870a1a9f6791f45d4fbc75499093779de3d30b7b5ba

~/temp/git-lfs-intro$ rm $(!!)
rm $(find . | grep $(cat git-lfs.pdf | grep oid | cut -d ":" -f 2))

~/temp/git-lfs-intro$