While intended for converting URL keys added by addurl --fast to be
as if added by addurl --relaxed, it can also be used to remove size
from other types of keys. Although that is not likely to be useful
for checksummed keys, I suppose it could be used for WORM or other
non-checksum keys.
Specifying the --remove-size option does not prevent other migrations
from taking effect if there's a key upgrade to perform, or if the
backend has changed. So --backend=URL needs to be used to prevent
migrating an URL key to the default backend.
Note that it's not possible to use git-annex migrate to convert from a
non-URL key to an URL key, as URL keys cannot be generated, except by
addurl. So while this can get the same effect as --relaxed would have
when addurl --fast was used, when --fast was not used, it won't work, or
if --backend=URL is not used will remove the size but not prevent
checksum verification, which is not useful. Due to this complexity, I
decided not to mention it in the git-annex addurl man page.
Sponsored-by: Jochen Bartl on Patreon
git-annex allows managing files with git, without checking the file
contents into git. While that may seem paradoxical, it is useful when
dealing with files larger than git can currently easily handle, whether due
to limitations in memory, checksumming time, or disk space.
For documentation, see doc/ or <https://git-annex.branchable.com/>
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