git-annex/doc/tips/storing_data_in_git-lfs.mdwn

git-annex can store data in [git-lfs](https://git-lfs.github.com/)
repositories, using the [[git-lfs special remote|special_remotes/git-lfs]].

You do not need the git-lfs program installed to use it, just a recent
enough version of git-annex.

Here's how to initialize a git-lfs special remote on Github.

	git annex initremote lfs type=git-lfs encryption=none url=git@github.com:yourname/yourrepo.git

In this example, the remote will not be encrypted, so anyone who can access
it can see its contents. It is possible to encrypt everything stored in a
git-lfs remote, see [[fully_encrypted_git_repositories_with_gcrypt]].

Once the git-lfs remote is set up, git-annex can store and retrieve
content in the usual ways:

	git annex copy * --to lfs
	git annex get --from lfs

But, git-annex **cannot delete anything** from a git-lfs special remote,
because the protocol does not support deletion.

A git-lfs special remote also functions as a regular git remote. You can
use things like `git push` and `git pull` with it.

To enable an existing git-lfs remote in another clone of the repository,
you'll need to provide an url to it again. It's ok to provide a different
url as long as it points to the same git-lfs repository.

	git annex enableremote lfs url=https://github.com/yourname/yourrepo.git