Git: How to auto update my local branch when a change happens in remote tracking branch?

Question

I want to run something in the background which basically does a git pull --rebase whenever some changes happen in my remote branch. Most of the time it work silently in the background if there are no conflicts. In there is a conflict it just leaves me in the rebase-resolve-conflict stage and until I resolve everything it waits. How do I do this? Is there an existing software that already does this?

Answer 1

If you don't have control on the remote repository, one solution is to use crontab to run periodically git fetch or maybe even a git pull --rebase as you propose. The exact command to choose depends on your workflow, personally I prefer to use a git fetch because I can decide when and how to merge or rebase.

To run the command periodically run:

crontab -e

And add a line such as:

* * * * * git -C PATH_TO_LOCAL_REPO fetch

or

* * * * * git -C PATH_TO_LOCAL_REPO pull --rebase

This will run the git command every minutes with your user permissions.

If you want to apply the git command on a list of repository, you can can add the line:

* * * * * /home/myself/scripts/git-refresh.sh

where git-refresh is a script that apply on all your repositories.

The -C option allows you to run a git command without changing directory. From the man page:

-C <path>

Run as if git was started in "path" instead of the current working directory.