[git] Clone only one branch

I would like to know how I could clone only one branch instead of cloning the whole Git repository.

This question is related to git github

The answer is


You could create a new repo with

git init 

and then use

git fetch url-to-repo branchname:refs/remotes/origin/branchname

to fetch just that one branch into a local remote-tracking branch.


I have done with below single git command:

git clone [url] -b [branch-name] --single-branch

--single-branch” switch is your answer, but it only works if you have git version 1.8.X onwards, first check

#git --version 

If you already have git version 1.8.X installed then simply use "-b branch and --single branch" to clone a single branch

#git clone -b branch --single-branch git://github/repository.git

By default in Ubuntu 12.04/12.10/13.10 and Debian 7 the default git installation is for version 1.7.x only, where --single-branch is an unknown switch. In that case you need to install newer git first from a non-default ppa as below.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:pdoes/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install git
git --version

Once 1.8.X is installed now simply do:

git clone -b branch --single-branch git://github/repository.git

Git will now only download a single branch from the server.