gitctl's purpose is to implement a particular workflow for using Git to manage a project that consists of multiple independent subprojects. The original motivation is a zc.buildout driven system, but the implementation is not dependent on this. This is not a 100% generic tool, but the workflow is fairly common so it may be adaptable for other use cases also.
The workflow consists of using three pre-defined branches to model the development, staging and production phases of code. We assume the use of a canonical central repository that developers use to sync their official changes. This repository is considered to be the canonical source and provides the "official" state of the projects. Developers are free to use any number of branches, tags and repositories as part of their daily work.
The code normally flows from development to staging to production and the package provides tools to facilitate this process. Each individual Git repository is managed using any of the tools that Git provides.
In addition, the package provides a light-weight "externals" mechanism for easily pulling in and managing the subprojects. This differs from the functionality provided by git-submodule in that both pinned-down and open dependencies can be defined. This resembles the way externals are handled in Subversion. Also, the individual Git repositories are not aware of the externals and the externals configuration is kept in a single location.
Configuration
The package uses two different configuration files. The gitctl.cfg file provides the higher level configuration and allows you to specify things like the canonical repository and the names of your development, staging and production branches. The gitexternals.cfg defines your project specific configuration of required sub-components.
gitctl.cfg
upstream
The name used to refer to the canonical repository server, e.g. "origin".
upstream-url
The address of the canonical repository server. This address needs to point to the server in a manner that supports pushing. Currently only SSH is tested. Example: git@my.gitserver.com
branches
List of newline separated branches that will be tracked in the local repository. When the repositories are clone for each branch listed here a local tracking branch will be automatically created.
development-branch
Name of the development branch. The above branches listing will be made to implicitly contain this branch.
staging-branch
Name of the staging branch. The above branches listing will be made to implicitly contain this branch.
production-branch
Name of the production branch. The above branches listing will be made to implicitly contain this branch.
commit-email
Email address where commit emails will be sent. Only used when creating new repositories.
commit-email-prefix
The commit email prefix. Only used when creating new repositories.
An example configuration follows:
[gitctl]
upstream = origin
upstream-url = git@myserver.com
branches =
development
staging
production
development-branch = development
staging-branch = staging
production-branch = production
commit-email = commit@myserver.com
commit-email-prefix = [GIT]
gitexternals.cfg
The externals configuration consists of one or more sections that have the following properties. Each section name will be used to name the directory where the external will be cloned into.
url (mandatory)
Full URL to the remote repository, e.g git@myserver.com:my.project.git
type (optional)
The type of the remote repository. Currently only git is supported.
treeish (optional)
The name of a "treeish" object that is checked out by default when first cloning the remote repository. The treeish object may refer, for example, to a branch or a tag. Defaults to master.
container (optional)
The name of the directory where the project will be checked out into. An additional directory will be created under this one where the project files will be located so it is safe to use the same value for multiple projects. Relative paths are considered relative to the location of the config file.
An example configuration follows:
[my.project]
url = git@myserver.com:my.project.git
type = git
treeish = v1.0-dev
container = src
This results in the my.project.git repository to be cloned into ./src/my.project and the v1.0-dev to be checked out into the working directory.
gitctl script
The gitctl script provides subcommands to implement the workflow. Each subcommand provides additional options. See gitctl [subcommand] --help for details:
usage: gitctl [-h] [--config CONFIG] [--externals EXTERNALS]
{status,create,update,branch,fetch,pending} ...
Git workflow utility for managing projects containing multiple git
repositories.
positional arguments:
{status,create,update,branch,fetch,pending}
Commands
create Initializes a new local repository and creates a
matching upstream repository.
update Updates the configured repositories by either pulling
existing ones or cloning new ones.
status Shows the status of each external project and alerts
if any are out of sync with the upstream repository.
branch Provides information and operates on the branches of
the projects.
pending Checks if there are any pending changes between two
consecutive states in the workflow.
fetch Updates the remote branches on all projects without
merging.
optional arguments:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
--config CONFIG Location of the configuration file. If omitted the
following locations will be search: $PWD/gitctl.cfg,
~/.gitctl.cfg.
--externals EXTERNALS
Location of the externals configuration file. Defaults
to $PWD/gitexternals.cfg
Product's homepage
Requirements:
· Python
· GIT
· Argparse
· GitPython
What's New in This Release: [ read full changelog ]
· Bound GitPython dependency at version 0.1.7. gitctl is not compatible with the newer versions. [dokai]
· Added experimental Growl support. You need to have the Growl python bindings installed for it to work.
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