How to Clone a Git Repository Along With Its Submodules

Wed, 01 Jan 2025 05:20:44 +0000

When you clone a Git repository with submodule(s) in it, by default you get the directories that contain submodule(s), but none of the files within them.

Clone with Submodules in One Command

If you pass --recurse-submodules option to the git clone command, it automatically initializes and updates all submodules in the repository, including nested ones if they exist.

 
 BASH
 
git clone --recurse-submodules <repository_url>

For example:

 
 BASH
 
git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/example/repo.git

Another Way to Initialize and Update Submodules

If you’ve already cloned a repository but forgot to use --recurse-submodules, you can run git submodule update --init to initialize and update the submodules. To make sure all submodules, including nested ones, are initialized, fetched, and checked out, use git submodule update --init --recursive.

Update Git Submodule to the Latest Commit

Thu, 26 Sep 2024 15:39:06 +0530

When working with Git submodules, it’s common to update them to incorporate changes from their upstream repositories. To do this you can run the following command:

 
 BASH
 
git submodule update --remote --merge

This process, in Git’s parlance, is known as updating and merging submodules. It ensures that your submodules are synchronized with the latest changes from their upstream repositories.

Important

After updating and merging the submodule, don’t forget to commit the change in your main repository. This ensures the new submodule state is recorded and shared with others working on the project. Here’s how to do that:

Submodules on Nerdsid.com

How to Clone a Git Repository Along With Its Submodules

Clone with Submodules in One Command

Another Way to Initialize and Update Submodules

Update Git Submodule to the Latest Commit