'git init -b ' command in terminal is throwing an 'unknown switch' error

Question

I am trying to add an existing project to GitHub using the command line. I am in the relevant working directory in the terminal and am trying to use the git init -b main command.

Initially, I was getting an error relating to xcode:

xcrun: error: invalid active developer path (/Library/Developer/CommandLineTools), missing xcrun at: /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/usr/bin/xcrun

I tried xcode-select --install but the software was unavailable from the update server, so I downloaded 'Command Line Tools for Xcode 12' from https://developer.apple.com/download/more/.

Now on entering git init -b main I am getting the following:

error: unknown switch `b'
usage: git init [-q | --quiet] [--bare] [--template=] [--shared[=]] []

--template 
                      directory from which templates will be used
--bare                create a bare repository
--shared[=]
                      specify that the git repository is to be shared amongst several users
-q, --quiet           be quiet
--separate-git-dir 
                      separate git dir from working tree

I am running git version: 2.24.3 (Apple Git-128)

Any help much appreciated!

user_2622900 · Answer

The -b flag is only available in version 2.28 or later, you need to upgrade your Git.

On debian-based Linux systems such as Ubuntu, do the following:

sudo add-apt-repository -y ppa:git-core/ppa
sudo apt update
sudo apt install git -y

user_7976758 · Answer

git 2.24 doesn't have option -b/--initial-branch. It was added in git 2.28. You need to upgrade to use the option.

Or, as @matt said, create a repo and then rename the branch:

git init repo
cd repo
git branch -m master slave

user_1157557 · Answer

prior to git v2.28

git init                              # ①
git symbolic-ref HEAD refs/heads/main # ②

① After git init, the branch master does not actually exist. Branches get created only when they have at least one commit.

② This updates .git/HEAD to contain ref: refs/heads/main instead of ref: refs/heads/master. Alternatively, git checkout -b main.

git v2.28+

As @phd said, the -b/--initial-branch option was added in git v2.28. git 2.28 also introduces a config option to specify your preferred default branch:

git config --global init.defaultBranch main

Learn more about the new init.defaultBranch setting in GitHub's blog post.

user_5078874 · Answer

In case you need to install the latest git version (in Ubuntu)

sudo add-apt-repository -y ppa:git-core/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install git -y

Ref: https://gist.github.com/YuMS/6d7639480b17523f6f01490f285da509

user_6168115 · Answer

This is happening due to the unavailability of a tool called Xcode Select, running xcode-select --install in your terminal fixes these issues with Git not working.

'git init -b <branch name>' command in terminal is throwing an 'unknown switch' error

5 Answers

prior to git v2.28

git v2.28+