Creating A Remote Branch With Git

If you're still doing this the way I suggested. Stop. Stop right now. Back away from the keyboard, and nobody gets hurt. Also, read the comments below, and do it the way Graham shows.

Original post:

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So, I've seen this documented in a few places, and it seems like they all give you various hard ways to do it. Here's an easy way. But, given git, it's surely not the only easy way. I create remote branches as a way to self-collaborate on a new branch from the various boxes in my daily life. If you're not a computer geek, you probably don't know that by "box" I mean "machine." And by "machine" I mean "computer." But, if you're not a computer geek, you're probably not using git, in which case you're not reading this. In that case, stop now.

Assume that you're in a clone of a remote repository. We'll create a remote branch named "mybranch." First create the branch locally:

>git branch mybranch

Switch to that branch:

>git checkout mybranch
Switched to branch "mybranch"

At this point, list all your branches:

>git branch -a
 master
* mybranch
 origin/HEAD
 origin/master

Now, here's the command that creates the remote branch:

>git push --all
Total 0 (delta 0), reused 0 (delta 0)
To /tmp/remote.git
* [new branch]      mybranch -> mybranch

It's just that easy. Now, in another clone on another machine, I can self-collaborate by creating a local branch that mirrors the remote branch. First, list all the branches:

>git branch -a
* master
 origin/HEAD
 origin/master
 origin/mybranch

And create a local branch that tracks with the remote branch:

>git checkout -tb mybranch origin/mybranch
Branch mybranch set up to track remote branch refs/remotes/origin/mybranch.
Switched to a new branch "mybranch"

List the branches again to see the change:

>git branch -a
 master
* mybranch
 origin/HEAD
 origin/master
 origin/mybranch

Run gitk to see visually that your local branch is tracking the remote branch. Use git push and pull as you change machines to move the changes around. When the branch is done, you can merge it.

I like git. I tried bazaar and mercurial, but git "just works" and is easier to get started with than bazaar. Plus, there's github. Visit me there at https://github.com/DonBranson.