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diff --git a/Documentation/gitcredentials.txt b/Documentation/gitcredentials.txt new file mode 100644 index 000000000000..adc759612de9 --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/gitcredentials.txt @@ -0,0 +1,194 @@ +gitcredentials(7) +================= + +NAME +---- +gitcredentials - providing usernames and passwords to Git + +SYNOPSIS +-------- +------------------ +git config credential.https://example.com.username myusername +git config credential.helper "$helper $options" +------------------ + +DESCRIPTION +----------- + +Git will sometimes need credentials from the user in order to perform +operations; for example, it may need to ask for a username and password +in order to access a remote repository over HTTP. This manual describes +the mechanisms Git uses to request these credentials, as well as some +features to avoid inputting these credentials repeatedly. + +REQUESTING CREDENTIALS +---------------------- + +Without any credential helpers defined, Git will try the following +strategies to ask the user for usernames and passwords: + +1. If the `GIT_ASKPASS` environment variable is set, the program + specified by the variable is invoked. A suitable prompt is provided + to the program on the command line, and the user's input is read + from its standard output. + +2. Otherwise, if the `core.askPass` configuration variable is set, its + value is used as above. + +3. Otherwise, if the `SSH_ASKPASS` environment variable is set, its + value is used as above. + +4. Otherwise, the user is prompted on the terminal. + +AVOIDING REPETITION +------------------- + +It can be cumbersome to input the same credentials over and over. Git +provides two methods to reduce this annoyance: + +1. Static configuration of usernames for a given authentication context. + +2. Credential helpers to cache or store passwords, or to interact with + a system password wallet or keychain. + +The first is simple and appropriate if you do not have secure storage available +for a password. It is generally configured by adding this to your config: + +--------------------------------------- +[credential "https://example.com"] + username = me +--------------------------------------- + +Credential helpers, on the other hand, are external programs from which Git can +request both usernames and passwords; they typically interface with secure +storage provided by the OS or other programs. + +To use a helper, you must first select one to use. Git currently +includes the following helpers: + +cache:: + + Cache credentials in memory for a short period of time. See + linkgit:git-credential-cache[1] for details. + +store:: + + Store credentials indefinitely on disk. See + linkgit:git-credential-store[1] for details. + +You may also have third-party helpers installed; search for +`credential-*` in the output of `git help -a`, and consult the +documentation of individual helpers. Once you have selected a helper, +you can tell Git to use it by putting its name into the +credential.helper variable. + +1. Find a helper. ++ +------------------------------------------- +$ git help -a | grep credential- +credential-foo +------------------------------------------- + +2. Read its description. ++ +------------------------------------------- +$ git help credential-foo +------------------------------------------- + +3. Tell Git to use it. ++ +------------------------------------------- +$ git config --global credential.helper foo +------------------------------------------- + + +CREDENTIAL CONTEXTS +------------------- + +Git considers each credential to have a context defined by a URL. This context +is used to look up context-specific configuration, and is passed to any +helpers, which may use it as an index into secure storage. + +For instance, imagine we are accessing `https://example.com/foo.git`. When Git +looks into a config file to see if a section matches this context, it will +consider the two a match if the context is a more-specific subset of the +pattern in the config file. For example, if you have this in your config file: + +-------------------------------------- +[credential "https://example.com"] + username = foo +-------------------------------------- + +then we will match: both protocols are the same, both hosts are the same, and +the "pattern" URL does not care about the path component at all. However, this +context would not match: + +-------------------------------------- +[credential "https://kernel.org"] + username = foo +-------------------------------------- + +because the hostnames differ. Nor would it match `foo.example.com`; Git +compares hostnames exactly, without considering whether two hosts are part of +the same domain. Likewise, a config entry for `http://example.com` would not +match: Git compares the protocols exactly. + +If the "pattern" URL does include a path component, then this too must match +exactly: the context `https://example.com/bar/baz.git` will match a config +entry for `https://example.com/bar/baz.git` (in addition to matching the config +entry for `https://example.com`) but will not match a config entry for +`https://example.com/bar`. + + +CONFIGURATION OPTIONS +--------------------- + +Options for a credential context can be configured either in +`credential.*` (which applies to all credentials), or +`credential.<url>.*`, where <url> matches the context as described +above. + +The following options are available in either location: + +helper:: + + The name of an external credential helper, and any associated options. + If the helper name is not an absolute path, then the string `git + credential-` is prepended. The resulting string is executed by the + shell (so, for example, setting this to `foo --option=bar` will execute + `git credential-foo --option=bar` via the shell. See the manual of + specific helpers for examples of their use. ++ +If there are multiple instances of the `credential.helper` configuration +variable, each helper will be tried in turn, and may provide a username, +password, or nothing. Once Git has acquired both a username and a +password, no more helpers will be tried. ++ +If `credential.helper` is configured to the empty string, this resets +the helper list to empty (so you may override a helper set by a +lower-priority config file by configuring the empty-string helper, +followed by whatever set of helpers you would like). + +username:: + + A default username, if one is not provided in the URL. + +useHttpPath:: + + By default, Git does not consider the "path" component of an http URL + to be worth matching via external helpers. This means that a credential + stored for `https://example.com/foo.git` will also be used for + `https://example.com/bar.git`. If you do want to distinguish these + cases, set this option to `true`. + + +CUSTOM HELPERS +-------------- + +You can write your own custom helpers to interface with any system in +which you keep credentials. See the documentation for Git's +link:technical/api-credentials.html[credentials API] for details. + +GIT +--- +Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite |