Git - Moving the .git directory to another drive, keep the source code where it is

Question

I have my source code and .git folder on a small fast ssd, I would like to have the .git directory on my second bigger slower hdd and keep my working code on my fast smaller

Answer 1

Yes you can

Symlinks

You can symlink (or use junction points) the .git dir to a different location:

$ cd my/project
$ mv .git /over/here/.git
ln -s /over/here/.git .

And the repository will work fine.

gitdir:

Or you can replace the .git folder with a file that tells git where the .git folder really is. This is exactly how git submodules are setup by default in version 1.7.8 or later.

The steps to re-configure an existing checkout are:

1. move the .git dir to where it needs to be
2. replace it with a file .git containing: gitdir: path/to/.git
3. define core.worktree to point at the working copy

As a script that would be:

$ cd my/project
$ mv .git /tmp/.git
$ echo "gitdir: /tmp/.git" > .git
$ git config core.worktree $PWD

Junctions on Windows

Easily create junctions on Windows using junction.exe from Microsoft.

> junction.exe c:\fast-ssd\proj\.git d:\slow-hdd\proj\.git