How to push commits to a remote Git repository which is separated by an air gap?

Question

My team and I work on different networks. We don't have an internet connection nor do we share the same network. Thus the only way we can transfer files is using thumbdrives.

The only way I can commit to the remote Git repository is if I use my colleague's computer which has network access to the Git server. What commands do I have to run for me to fetch, merge, then push my commits onto her computer, short of transferring my entire working directory over?

Like, say transfer only the commits that the remote server lacks.

EDIT: I forgot to mention the thumbdrive might get wiped periodically as part of security measures. Remote repo on thumbdrive is still a pretty good idea though!

Answer 1

You can setup a git remote on a filesystem, so I assume if you mount your thumbdrive on their machine they could add you repo as a remote and merge in your changes

# Mount thumbdrive
# Add a remote to the filesystem
git remote add cardin_usb /Volumes/myusb # or whatever the usb path is

# pull in the changes
git fetch cardin_usb
# merge any branches as per normal eg
git checkout master
git merge cardin_usb/my_feature

Edit - just read you want to do the changes only. You could generate patches if you know the last commit the remote server has:

git format-patch lastServerCommit^..HEAD --stdout > new_changes.patch

Then transfer this via usb, and your coworker can submit.