Can't add git submodule when specified as a relative path

Question

I\'m trying to add a submodule to my git repo, and I\'m getting this error in return:

remote origin does not have a url defined in .git/config

Answer 1

(I've summarized just the solution here. Credit goes to VonC.)

In the containing repository (say containing.git/), git interprets relative paths as relative to the origin remote, which is not defined. We want it to be relative to the containing.git/ directory, so run

git remote add origin ..

(Not sure why it's .. rather than ..)

Now you can add the sub-module:

git submodule add ../extern/Lib1 lib