Git submodule add: "a git directory is found locally" issue
GitGit SubmodulesGit Problem Overview
I'm actually trying to learn how to use git, including the git submodule
subcommands.
I already set up a server on which I can host, push and pull git repositories by using SSH.
I created a main git repository "Travail" on this server in which I would like to put all my projects as submodules.
In my Travail repository, I already added a project of mine as a submodule at tools/libft
:
I'm able to develop this submodule, to push and to pull it.
But when I try to add another submodule (named fdf, from fdf.git on my server), I get the following issue :
git submodule add ssh://XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX:XXXXX/opt/git/fdf.git projets/fdf
>A git directory for 'projets/fdf' is found locally with remote(s): origin ssh://[email protected]:XXXXX/opt/git/fdf.git If you want to reuse this local git directory instead of cloning again from ssh://XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX:XXXXX/opt/git/fdf.git use the '--force' option. If the local git directory is not the correct repo or you are unsure what this means choose another name with the '--name' option.
There is actually no subdirectory in projets/
I read on another thread that I should use git submodule sync
or edit the .gitmodules file in which the URL to my submodule's origin repository could have changed.
But my .gitmodules file only contains the information about my first submodule (tools/libft), not about projets/fdf :
[submodule "tools/libft"]
path = tools/libft
url = ssh://[email protected]:XXXXX/opt/git/libft.git
As a French student I could have missed something in the English documentation I have, but I searched and I really don't understand why I get this issue.
I would be glad if I would get a solution but just an explanation would be helpful too.
Git Solutions
Solution 1 - Git
I came to this SO post trying to add a submodule with the same path as a submodule that I recently deleted.
This is what ultimately worked for me (this article helped out a lot):
If you haven't already run
git rm --cached path_to_submodule
(no trailing slash) as well as
rm -rf path_to_submodule
Then:
- Delete the relevant lines from the
.gitmodules
file. e.g. delete these:
[submodule "path_to_submodule"]
path = path_to_submodule
url = https://github.com/path_to_submodule
- Delete the relevant section from .git/config. e.g. delete these:
[submodule "path_to_submodule"]
url = https://github.com/path_to_submodule
rm -rf .git/modules/path_to_submodule
Then, you can finally:
git submodule add https://github.com/path_to_submodule
Solution 2 - Git
i tried jbmilgrom's solution, specifically i tried git rm --cache
and that didn't work for me either as the directory/submodule wasn't there. What worked for me was:
rm -rf .git/modules/blah
git submodule add git://path.to.new
I did this after trying --force
within the git submodule
commands and rm
all the other directories, pushes to master etc... the directory didn't exist and there was no reason for the cache. Turns out in .git/modules
that is where this error was lying.
Solution 3 - Git
You may have deleted your 'projets/fdf'
from disk, but your Git repository still has it. Use git rm -rf projets/fdf
to remove it from Git, then commit the changes. After that you'll be able to add this folder as a submodule.
Solution 4 - Git
If you already deleted the submodule directory, like I did, follow the rest of jbmilgrom's instructions. The key is rm -rf .git/modules/path_to_submodule
but go ahead and backup your whole parent repo directory first.
If you only had one submodule just delete .gitmodules
Solution 5 - Git
These two commands works for me.
rm path/to/submodule -rf
rm .git/modules/path/to/module -rf
Solution 6 - Git
You can do this while cloning your submodule:
git submodule add --name submodule_name submodule path
This will add your submodule into your project and will be added as a structure under .gitmodules
file.
And then if you don't want the older one you can remove it from .gitmodules
structure and delete the submodule folder from the project.