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author | Jeff King <peff@peff.net> | 2011-12-10 05:31:38 -0500 |
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committer | Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com> | 2011-12-11 23:16:25 -0800 |
commit | a6fc9fd3f4b42cd97b5262026e18bd451c28ee3c (patch) | |
tree | d1b6aa3649a51c37149e2d0d5477de46fe6c4d87 /Documentation/gitcredentials.txt | |
parent | a78fbb4fb6c69d96cb91dee9d4733d2326c6d019 (diff) | |
download | git-a6fc9fd3f4b42cd97b5262026e18bd451c28ee3c.tar.gz git-a6fc9fd3f4b42cd97b5262026e18bd451c28ee3c.tar.xz |
docs: end-user documentation for the credential subsystem
The credential API and helper format is already defined in
technical/api-credentials.txt. This presents the end-user
view.
Signed-off-by: Jeff King <peff@peff.net>
Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/gitcredentials.txt')
-rw-r--r-- | Documentation/gitcredentials.txt | 171 |
1 files changed, 171 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/gitcredentials.txt b/Documentation/gitcredentials.txt new file mode 100644 index 000000000..07f659697 --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/gitcredentials.txt @@ -0,0 +1,171 @@ +gitcredentials(7) +================= + +NAME +---- +gitcredentials - providing usernames and passwords to git + +SYNOPSIS +-------- +------------------ +git config credential.https://example.com.username myusername +git config credential.helper "$helper $options" +------------------ + +DESCRIPTION +----------- + +Git will sometimes need credentials from the user in order to perform +operations; for example, it may need to ask for a username and password +in order to access a remote repository over HTTP. This manual describes +the mechanisms git uses to request these credentials, as well as some +features to avoid inputting these credentials repeatedly. + +REQUESTING CREDENTIALS +---------------------- + +Without any credential helpers defined, git will try the following +strategies to ask the user for usernames and passwords: + +1. If the `GIT_ASKPASS` environment variable is set, the program + specified by the variable is invoked. A suitable prompt is provided + to the program on the command line, and the user's input is read + from its standard output. + +2. Otherwise, if the `core.askpass` configuration variable is set, its + value is used as above. + +3. Otherwise, if the `SSH_ASKPASS` environment variable is set, its + value is used as above. + +4. Otherwise, the user is prompted on the terminal. + +AVOIDING REPETITION +------------------- + +It can be cumbersome to input the same credentials over and over. Git +provides two methods to reduce this annoyance: + +1. Static configuration of usernames for a given authentication context. + +2. Credential helpers to cache or store passwords, or to interact with + a system password wallet or keychain. + +The first is simple and appropriate if you do not have secure storage available +for a password. It is generally configured by adding this to your config: + +--------------------------------------- +[credential "https://example.com"] + username = me +--------------------------------------- + +Credential helpers, on the other hand, are external programs from which git can +request both usernames and passwords; they typically interface with secure +storage provided by the OS or other programs. + +To use a helper, you must first select one to use. Git does not yet +include any credential helpers, but you may have third-party helpers +installed; search for `credential-*` in the output of `git help -a`, and +consult the documentation of individual helpers. Once you have selected +a helper, you can tell git to use it by putting its name into the +credential.helper variable. + +1. Find a helper. ++ +------------------------------------------- +$ git help -a | grep credential- +credential-foo +------------------------------------------- + +2. Read its description. ++ +------------------------------------------- +$ git help credential-foo +------------------------------------------- + +3. Tell git to use it. ++ +------------------------------------------- +$ git config --global credential.helper foo +------------------------------------------- + +If there are multiple instances of the `credential.helper` configuration +variable, each helper will be tried in turn, and may provide a username, +password, or nothing. Once git has acquired both a username and a +password, no more helpers will be tried. + + +CREDENTIAL CONTEXTS +------------------- + +Git considers each credential to have a context defined by a URL. This context +is used to look up context-specific configuration, and is passed to any +helpers, which may use it as an index into secure storage. + +For instance, imagine we are accessing `https://example.com/foo.git`. When git +looks into a config file to see if a section matches this context, it will +consider the two a match if the context is a more-specific subset of the +pattern in the config file. For example, if you have this in your config file: + +-------------------------------------- +[credential "https://example.com"] + username = foo +-------------------------------------- + +then we will match: both protocols are the same, both hosts are the same, and +the "pattern" URL does not care about the path component at all. However, this +context would not match: + +-------------------------------------- +[credential "https://kernel.org"] + username = foo +-------------------------------------- + +because the hostnames differ. Nor would it match `foo.example.com`; git +compares hostnames exactly, without considering whether two hosts are part of +the same domain. Likewise, a config entry for `http://example.com` would not +match: git compares the protocols exactly. + + +CONFIGURATION OPTIONS +--------------------- + +Options for a credential context can be configured either in +`credential.\*` (which applies to all credentials), or +`credential.<url>.\*`, where <url> matches the context as described +above. + +The following options are available in either location: + +helper:: + + The name of an external credential helper, and any associated options. + If the helper name is not an absolute path, then the string `git + credential-` is prepended. The resulting string is executed by the + shell (so, for example, setting this to `foo --option=bar` will execute + `git credential-foo --option=bar` via the shell. See the manual of + specific helpers for examples of their use. + +username:: + + A default username, if one is not provided in the URL. + +useHttpPath:: + + By default, git does not consider the "path" component of an http URL + to be worth matching via external helpers. This means that a credential + stored for `https://example.com/foo.git` will also be used for + `https://example.com/bar.git`. If you do want to distinguish these + cases, set this option to `true`. + + +CUSTOM HELPERS +-------------- + +You can write your own custom helpers to interface with any system in +which you keep credentials. See the documentation for git's +link:technical/api-credentials.html[credentials API] for details. + +GIT +--- +Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite |