When the http-backend is set up to allow anonymous read but
authenticated write, the http-backend manual suggests
catching only the "/git-receive-pack" POST of the packfile,
not the initial "info/refs?service=git-receive-pack" GET in
which we advertise refs.
This does work and is secure, as we do not allow any write
during the info/refs request, and the information in the ref
advertisement is the same that you would get from a fetch.
However, the configuration required by the server is
slightly more complex. The default `http.receivepack`
setting is to allow pushes if the webserver tells us that
the user authenticated, and otherwise to return a 403
("Forbidden"). That works fine if authentication is turned
on completely; the initial request requires authentication,
and http-backend realizes it is OK to do a push.
But for this "half-auth" state, no authentication has
occurred during the initial ref advertisement. The
http-backend CGI therefore does not think that pushing
should be enabled, and responds with a 403. The client
cannot continue, even though the server would have allowed
it to run if it had provided credentials.
It would be much better if the server responded with a 401,
asking for credentials during the initial contact. But
git-http-backend does not know about the server's auth
configuration (so a 401 would be confusing in the case of a
true anonymous server). Unfortunately, configuring Apache to
recognize the query string and apply the auth appropriately
to receive-pack (but not upload-pack) initial requests is
non-trivial.
The site admin can work around this by just turning on
http.receivepack explicitly in its repositories. Let's
document this workaround.
Signed-off-by: Jeff King <peff@peff.net>
Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Git - the stupid content tracker
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
"git" can mean anything, 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
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.
See Documentation/gittutorial.txt to get started, then see
Documentation/everyday.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).
Many Git online resources are accessible from http://git-scm.com/
including full documentation and Git related tools.
The user discussion and development of Git take place on the Git
mailing list -- everyone is welcome to post bug reports, feature
requests, comments and patches to git@vger.kernel.org (read
Documentation/SubmittingPatches for instructions on patch submission).
To subscribe to the list, send an email with just "subscribe git" in
the body to majordomo@vger.kernel.org. The mailing list archives are
available at http://news.gmane.org/gmane.comp.version-control.git/,
http://marc.info/?l=git and other archival sites.
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.
fdae191003