How do I correctly install the tools in git's contrib directory?

Question

Git includes a set of tools contributed by third parties. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to use these tools correctly.

For example, I'd like to use git-subtree. There seem to be a number of ways I could use this:

1. Copy to my path

    cp /path/to/git-subtree.sh /usr/local/bin/git-subtree
    chmod +x /usr/local/bin/git-subtree
   

   Works fine, feels a bit hacky.

2. Symlink to my path

    chmod +x /path/to/git-subtree.sh
    ln -s /path/to/git-subtree.sh /usr/local/bin/git-subtree
   

   Also works, feels marginally less hacky

3. Use a git alias

   Add the following to my global .gitconfig file:

    [alias]
        subtree = !/path/to/git-subtree.sh
   

   Then good old chmod again:

    chmod +x /path/to/git-subtree.sh
   

   Works, feels all nice and git-ish.

4. Use the Makefile

   Per the INSTALL file.

    cd /path/to/git-subtree.sh
    make
    make install
    make install-doc
   

   Doesn't work for me, it tries to install to a non-existent path. Perhaps this is because I installed git using homebrew rather than installing from source? I'm too lazy to investigate; I already have three working alternatives. :)

So my question is, which of these is the preferred way of installing git-contrib add-ons? Is there even a preferred way? Is there another option I haven't suggested that's better than the ones listed above?

Answer 1

from git/contrib/git-subtree:

HOW TO INSTALL git-subtree
==========================

First, build from the top source directory.

Then, in contrib/subtree, run:

 make
 make install
 make install-doc

If you used configure to do the main build the git-subtree build will pick up those settings. If not, you will likely have to provide a value for prefix:

 make prefix=<some dir>
 make prefix=<some dir> install
 make prefix=<some dir> install-doc

To run tests first copy git-subtree to the main build area so the newly-built git can find it:

 cp git-subtree ../..

Then:

 make test

I just verified that this works:

1. downloaded source via existing git

2. installed build deps

   $ apt-get install libcurl4-gnutls-dev libexpat1-dev gettext libz-dev libssl-dev
   

3. check out the latest release branch and build

   $ git co v1.7.11.3  
   $ make prefix=/usr/local all  
   $ sudo make prefix=/usr/local install  
   

4. build and install contrib/subtree

   $ cd contrib/subtree  
   $ make  
   $ make install  
   $ make install-doc   
   

5. verify it all works

   /usr/local/bin/git  
   [todd@montreal-01 subtree ((v1.7.11.3))]$ git --version  
   git version 1.7.11.3  
   

Check, we have the latest git.

[todd@montreal-01 subtree ((v1.7.11.3))]$ git subtree  
usage: git subtree add   --prefix=<prefix> <commit>  
    or: git subtree merge --prefix=<prefix> <commit>  
    or: git subtree pull  --prefix=<prefix> <repository> <refspec...>  
    or: git subtree push  --prefix=<prefix> <repository> <refspec...>  
    or: git subtree split --prefix=<prefix> <commit...>

    -h, --help            show the help  
    -q                    quiet  
    -d                    show debug messages  
    -P, --prefix ...      the name of the subdir to split out  
    -m, --message ...     use the given message as the commit message for the merge commit  

options for 'split'  
    --annotate ...        add a prefix to commit message of new commits  
    -b, --branch ...      create a new branch from the split subtree  
    --ignore-joins        ignore prior --rejoin commits  
    --onto ...            try connecting new tree to an existing one  
    --rejoin              merge the new branch back into HEAD  

options for 'add', 'merge', 'pull' and 'push'  
    --squash              merge subtree changes as a single commit  

Check, we have subtree working.

Answer 2

Here's the simplest thing that worked for me, installing git-subtree on Ubuntu 12.10:

Get the code

git clone https://github.com/git/git.git --depth=1
cd git/contrib/subtree
make

"Install" it into the git tools directory

sudo cp git-subtree /usr/lib/git-core/

For the man page, you need asciidoc which is not a small installation, but if you have it:

make doc
gzip git-subtree.1
sudo cp git-subtree.1.gz /usr/share/man/man1

And that's it.

Answer 3

Contribs is a collection of helpful things. You don't install them as a package. For example, to install the tab completion, you simply source that script from your .bash_profile script. Each contrib in that folder has it's own way of using it.

as for compiling git from source

make
sudo make install

after you install all the prerequisites.