git-annex/doc/special_remotes/directory.mdwn

This special remote type stores file contents in directory.

One use case for this would be if you have a removable drive that
you want to use to sneakernet files between systems (possibly with
[[encrypted|encryption]] contents). Just set up both systems to use
the drive's mountpoint as a directory remote.

Note that directory remotes have a special directory structure
(by design, the same as the [[rsync|rsync]] remote).
If you just want two copies of your repository with the files "visible"
in the tree in both, the directory special remote is not what you want.
Instead, you should use a regular `git clone` of your git-annex repository.

## configuration

These parameters can be passed to `git annex initremote` to configure the
remote:

* `directory` - The path to the directory where the files should be stored
  for the remote. The directory must already exist. Typically this will
  be an empty directory, or a directory already used as a directory remote.

* `encryption` - One of "none", "hybrid", "shared", or "pubkey".
  See [[encryption]].

* `keyid` - Specifies the gpg key to use for [[encryption]].

* `chunk` - Enables [[chunking]] when storing large files.

* `chunksize` - Deprecated version of chunk parameter above.  
  Do not use for new remotes. It is not safe to change the chunksize
  setting of an existing remote.

* `exporttree` - Set to "yes" to make this special remote usable
  by [[git-annex-export]]. It will not be usable as a general-purpose
  special remote.

* `importtree` - Set to "yes" to make this special remote usable
  by [[git-annex-import]]. It will not be usable as a general-purpose
  special remote.

Setup example:

	# git annex initremote usbdrive type=directory directory=/media/usbdrive/ encryption=none
	# git annex describe usbdrive "usb drive on /media/usbdrive/"