When 'git repack' creates a pack with the same name as any existing
pack, it moves the existing one to 'old-pack-xxx.{pack,idx,...}' and
then renames the new one into place.
Eventually, it would be nice to have 'git repack' allow for writing a
multi-pack index at the critical time (after the new packs have been
written / moved into place, but before the old ones have been deleted).
Guessing that this option might be called '--write-midx', this makes the
following situation (where repacks are issued back-to-back without any
new objects) impossible:
$ git repack -adb
$ git repack -adb --write-midx
In the second repack, the existing packs are overwritten verbatim with
the same rename-to-old sequence. At that point, the current MIDX is
invalidated, since it refers to now-missing packs. So that code wants to
be run after the MIDX is re-written. But (prior to this patch) the new
MIDX can't be written until the new packs are moved into place. So, we
have a circular dependency.
This is all hypothetical, since no code currently exists to write a MIDX
safely during a 'git repack' (the 'GIT_TEST_MULTI_PACK_INDEX' does so
unsafely). Putting hypothetical aside, though: why do we need to rename
existing packs to be prefixed with 'old-' anyway?
This behavior dates all the way back to 2ad47d6 (git-repack: Be
careful when updating the same pack as an existing one., 2006-06-25).
2ad47d6 is mainly concerned about a case where a newly written pack
would have a different structure than its index. This used to be
possible when the pack name was a hash of the set of objects. Under this
naming scheme, two packs that store the same set of objects could differ
in delta selection, object positioning, or both. If this happened, then
any such packs would be unreadable in the instant between copying the
new pack and new index (i.e., either the index or pack will be stale
depending on the order that they were copied).
But since 1190a1a (pack-objects: name pack files after trailer hash,
2013-12-05), this is no longer possible, since pack files are named not
after their logical contents (i.e., the set of objects), but by the
actual checksum of their contents. So, this old- behavior can safely go,
which allows us to avoid our circular dependency above.
In addition to avoiding the circular dependency, this patch also makes
'git repack' a lot simpler, since we don't have to deal with failures
encountered when renaming existing packs to be prefixed with 'old-'.
This patch is mostly limited to removing code paths that deal with the
'old' prefixing, with the exception of files that include the pack's
name in their own filename, like .idx, .bitmap, and related files. The
exception is that we want to continue to trust what pack-objects wrote.
That is, it is not the case that we pretend as if pack-objects didn't
write files identical to ones that already exist, but rather that we
respect what pack-objects wrote as the source of truth. That cuts two
ways:
- If pack-objects produced an identical pack to one that already
exists with a bitmap, but did not produce a bitmap, we remove the
bitmap that already exists. (This behavior is codified in t7700.14).
- If pack-objects produced an identical pack to one that already
exists, we trust the just-written version of the coresponding .idx,
.promisor, and other files over the ones that already exist. This
ensures that we use the most up-to-date versions of this files,
which is safe even in the face of format changes in, say, the .idx
file (which would not be reflected in the .idx file's name).
Helped-by: Jeff King <peff@peff.net>
Signed-off-by: Taylor Blau <me@ttaylorr.com>
Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Git - fast, scalable, distributed revision control system
Git is a fast, scalable, distributed revision control system with an
unusually rich command set that provides both high-level operations
and full access to internals.
Git is an Open Source project covered by the GNU General Public
License version 2 (some parts of it are under different licenses,
compatible with the GPLv2). It was originally written by Linus
Torvalds with help of a group of hackers around the net.
Please read the file INSTALL for installation instructions.
Many Git online resources are accessible from https://git-scm.com/
including full documentation and Git related tools.
See Documentation/gittutorial.txt to get started, then see
Documentation/giteveryday.txt for a useful minimum set of commands, and
Documentation/git-<commandname>.txt for documentation of each command.
If git has been correctly installed, then the tutorial can also be
read with man gittutorial or git help tutorial, and the
documentation of each command with man git-<commandname> or git help <commandname>.
CVS users may also want to read Documentation/gitcvs-migration.txt
(man gitcvs-migration or git help cvs-migration if git is
installed).
Issues which are security relevant should be disclosed privately to
the Git Security mailing list git-security@googlegroups.com.
The maintainer frequently sends the "What's cooking" reports that
list the current status of various development topics to the mailing
list. The discussion following them give a good reference for
project status, development direction and remaining tasks.
The name "git" was given by Linus Torvalds when he wrote the very
first version. He described the tool as "the stupid content tracker"
and the name as (depending on your mood):
random three-letter combination that is pronounceable, and not
actually used by any common UNIX command. The fact that it is a
mispronunciation of "get" may or may not be relevant.
stupid. contemptible and despicable. simple. Take your pick from the
dictionary of slang.
"global information tracker": you're in a good mood, and it actually
works for you. Angels sing, and a light suddenly fills the room.
"goddamn idiotic truckload of sh*t": when it breaks
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