Download a specific tag with Git

user_64895 0
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I'm trying to figure out how I can download a particular tag of a Git repository - it's one version behind the current version.

I saw there was a tag for the previous version on the git web page, with object name of something long hex number.

But the version name is "Tagged release 1.1.5" according the site.

I tried a command like this (with names changed):

git clone http://git.abc.net/git/abc.git my_abc

And I did get something - a directory, a bunch of subdirectories, etc.

If it's the whole repository, how do I get at the version I'm seeking? If not, how do I download that particular version?

git-tag git-clone git
16 Answers
$ git clone

will give you the whole repository.

After the clone, you can list the tags with $ git tag -l and then checkout a specific tag:

$ git checkout tags/<tag_name>

Even better, checkout and create a branch (otherwise you will be on a branch named after the revision number of tag):

$ git checkout tags/<tag_name> -b <branch_name>
user_2896510

I'm not a git expert, but I think this should work:

git clone http://git.abc.net/git/abc.git
cd abc
git checkout my_abc

OR

git clone http://git.abc.net/git/abc.git
cd abc
git checkout -b new_branch my_abc

The second variation establishes a new branch based on the tag, which lets you avoid a 'detached HEAD'. (git-checkout manual)

Every git repo contains the entire revision history, so cloning the repo gives you access to the latest commit, plus everything that came before, including the tag you're looking for.

user_149570

Checking out Tags

If you want to view the versions of files a tag is pointing to, you can do a git checkout, though this puts your repository in “detached HEAD” state, which has some ill side effects:

$ git checkout 2.0.0
Note: checking out '2.0.0'.

You are in 'detached HEAD' state. You can look around, make experimental
changes and commit them, and you can discard any commits you make in this
state without impacting any branches by performing another checkout.

If you want to create a new branch to retain commits you create, you may
do so (now or later) by using -b with the checkout command again. Example:

  git checkout -b <new-branch-name>

HEAD is now at 99ada87... Merge pull request #89 from schacon/appendix-final

$ git checkout 2.0-beta-0.1
Previous HEAD position was 99ada87... Merge pull request #89 from schacon/appendix-final
HEAD is now at df3f601... add atlas.json and cover image

In “detached HEAD” state, if you make changes and then create a commit, the tag will stay the same, but your new commit won’t belong to any branch and will be unreachable, except for by the exact commit hash. Thus, if you need to make changes—say you’re fixing a bug on an older version, for instance—you will generally want to create a branch:

$ git checkout -b version2 v2.0.0
Switched to a new branch 'version2'

If you do this and make a commit, your version2 branch will be slightly different than your v2.0.0 tag since it will move forward with your new changes, so do be careful.

user_57542230

I frequently used one

git clone  --branch <tag_name> <repo_url>
user_116246470

I did as below

git checkout tags/20210511 -b 20210511-release
user_26790330
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