git-annex/doc/internals/git-remote-annex.mdwn
Joey Hess 483887591d
working toward git-remote-annex using a special remote
Not quite there yet.

Also, changed the format of GITBUNDLE keys to use only one '-'
after the UUID. A sha256 does not contain that character, so can just
split at the last one.

Amusingly, the sha256 will probably not actually be verified. A git
bundle contains its own checksums that git uses to verify it. And if
someone wanted to replace the content of a GITBUNDLE object, they
could just edit the manifest to use a new one whose sha256 does verify.

Sponsored-by: Nicholas Golder-Manning
2024-05-06 16:28:04 -04:00

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Markdown

This adds two new object types to git-annex, GITMANIFEST and a GITBUNDLE.
GITMANIFEST--$UUID is the manifest for a git repository stored in the
git-annex repository with that UUID.
GITBUNDLE--$UUID-sha256 is a git bundle.
# format of the manifest file
An ordered list of bundle keys, one per line.
(Lines end with unix `"\n"`, not `"\r\n"`.)
# fetching
1. download GITMANIFEST for the uuid of the special remote
2. download each listed GITBUNDLE object that we don't have
3. `git fetch` from each new bundle in order
(note that later bundles can update refs from the versions in previous
bundles)
# pushing (incrementally)
This is how pushes are usually done.
1. create git bundle of all refs that are being pushed and have changed,
and objects since the previously pushed refs
2. hash to calculate GITBUNDLE key
3. upload GITBUNDLE object
4. download current manifest
5. append GITBUNDLE key to manifest
# pushing (full)
Note that this can be used to replace incrementals with a single bundle for
performance. It is also the only way to handle a push that deletes a
previously pushed ref.
1. create git bundle containing all refs stored in the repository, and all
objects
2. hash to calculate GITBUNDLE object name
3. upload GITBUNDLE object
4. download old manifest
4. upload new manifest listing only the single new GITBUNDLE
5. delete all other GITBUNDLEs that were listed in the old manifest
# multiple GITMANIFEST files
Usually there will only be one per special remote, but it's possible for
multiple special remotes to point to the same object storage, and if so
multiple GITMANIFEST objects can be stored.
It follows that the UUID of the special remote has to be included in the
annex:// uri, to know which GITMANIFEST to use when cloning from it.