git post-update script does not work

Question

After editing my old question a few times, I make a new one because it is a new question now.

In .git/hooks/post-update I have:

echo "a" >> /home/pi/log
git update-server-info
git stash
git merge testing >> /home/pi/log

To make an automated checkout. So I run on the client:

git push testing HEAD:testing

Now my /home/pi/log contains:

a
Updating ae2f44b..04753a9
Fast-forward
 application/views/main/index.php |    2 +-
 1 files changed, 1 insertions(+), 1 deletions(-)

But the file did not change!

$ git merge testing
Already up-to-date.

If I remove the script, make the push and run git stash, git merge testing it works.

Update

For testing I changed a number in a file from 17 to 20. I can see the right file version if I run

git show application/views/main/index.php

but

vim application/views/main/index.php

Still contains the old number. But git claims the file is updated:

$ git merge testing
Already up-to-date.

Answer 1

EDIT

It looks like this is your problem:

 pre-receive
 update
 post-receive
 post-update

These hooks can be run either in a bare or a non-bare repository. In both cases, the current working directory will be the git directory. So, if this is a bare repository called "/src/git/test.git/", that will be the current working directory -- if this is a non-bare repository and the top level of the working tree is "/home/mark/test/" then the current working directory will be "/home/mark/test/.git/".

In both cases, the following environment variable is set: GIT_DIR is set to ‘.’

With a working tree, this is unexpectedly awkward, as described in Chris Johnsen’s answer that I linked to earlier. If only GIT_DIR is set then this comment from the git man page applies:

Note: If --git-dir or GIT_DIR are specified but none of --work-tree, GIT_WORK_TREE and core.worktree is specified, the current working directory is regarded as the top directory of your working tree.

In other words, your working tree will also be the current directory (the ".git" directory), which almost certainly isn’t what you want.

You could try setting GIT_WORK_TREE=.. or GIT_WORK_TREE="$GIT_DIR/.." inside the hook

---

But the file did not change!

Most likely it did. Perhaps only the lineending did, or there were whitespace changes that are ignored when viewing the diffs, but it did change. Git knows, because the SHA1 sum of the file content changed.

Are you using windows on either end?

Windows has a tendency to mess with the line-endings. See the core.autocrlf and related options:

• Why should I use core.autocrlf=true in Git?

Answer 2

The solution is to use post-receive as Alex pointed out. Also you need run unset GIT_DIR at the top of your script.

On the server I have created a second branch and switched to it:

$ git branch
  master
* testing

My .git/hooks/post-receive now looks like this:

unset GIT_DIR
cd ..
git merge master

On the client I run git push.