# phpman > man > GIT-HTTP-BACKEND(1)

[GIT-HTTP-BACKEND(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/GIT-HTTP-BACKEND/1/markdown)                          Git Manual                          [GIT-HTTP-BACKEND(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/GIT-HTTP-BACKEND/1/markdown)



## NAME
       git-http-backend - Server side implementation of Git over HTTP

## SYNOPSIS
       _git_ _http-backend_


## DESCRIPTION
       A simple CGI program to serve the contents of a Git repository to Git clients accessing the
       repository over http:// and https:// protocols. The program supports clients fetching using
       both the smart HTTP protocol and the backwards-compatible dumb HTTP protocol, as well as
       clients pushing using the smart HTTP protocol. It also supports Git’s more-efficient "v2"
       protocol if properly configured; see the discussion of **GIT**___**PROTOCOL** in the ENVIRONMENT
       section below.

       It verifies that the directory has the magic file "git-daemon-export-ok", and it will refuse
       to export any Git directory that hasn’t explicitly been marked for export this way (unless
       the **GIT**___**HTTP**___**EXPORT**___**ALL** environmental variable is set).

       By default, only the **upload-pack** service is enabled, which serves _git_ _fetch-pack_ and _git_
       _ls-remote_ clients, which are invoked from _git_ _fetch_, _git_ _pull_, and _git_ _clone_. If the client
       is authenticated, the **receive-pack** service is enabled, which serves _git_ _send-pack_ clients,
       which is invoked from _git_ _push_.

## SERVICES
       These services can be enabled/disabled using the per-repository configuration file:

       http.getanyfile
           This serves Git clients older than version 1.6.6 that are unable to use the upload pack
           service. When enabled, clients are able to read any file within the repository, including
           objects that are no longer reachable from a branch but are still present. It is enabled
           by default, but a repository can disable it by setting this configuration item to **false**.

       http.uploadpack
           This serves _git_ _fetch-pack_ and _git_ _ls-remote_ clients. It is enabled by default, but a
           repository can disable it by setting this configuration item to **false**.

       http.receivepack
           This serves _git_ _send-pack_ clients, allowing push. It is disabled by default for anonymous
           users, and enabled by default for users authenticated by the web server. It can be
           disabled by setting this item to **false**, or enabled for all users, including anonymous
           users, by setting it to **true**.

## URL TRANSLATION
       To determine the location of the repository on disk, _git_ _http-backend_ concatenates the
       environment variables PATH_INFO, which is set automatically by the web server, and
       GIT_PROJECT_ROOT, which must be set manually in the web server configuration. If
       GIT_PROJECT_ROOT is not set, _git_ _http-backend_ reads PATH_TRANSLATED, which is also set
       automatically by the web server.

## EXAMPLES
       All of the following examples map **http://$hostname/git/foo/bar.git** to
       **/var/www/git/foo/bar.git**.

       Apache 2.x
           Ensure mod_cgi, mod_alias, and mod_env are enabled, set GIT_PROJECT_ROOT (or
           DocumentRoot) appropriately, and create a ScriptAlias to the CGI:

               SetEnv GIT_PROJECT_ROOT /var/www/git
               SetEnv GIT_HTTP_EXPORT_ALL
               ScriptAlias /git/ /usr/libexec/git-core/git-http-backend/

               # This is not strictly necessary using Apache and a modern version of
               # git-http-backend, as the webserver will pass along the header in the
               # environment as HTTP_GIT_PROTOCOL, and http-backend will copy that into
               # GIT_PROTOCOL. But you may need this line (or something similar if you
               # are using a different webserver), or if you want to support older Git
               # versions that did not do that copying.
               #
               # Having the webserver set up GIT_PROTOCOL is perfectly fine even with
               # modern versions (and will take precedence over HTTP_GIT_PROTOCOL,
               # which means it can be used to override the client's request).
               SetEnvIf Git-Protocol ".*" GIT_PROTOCOL=$0

           To enable anonymous read access but authenticated write access, require authorization for
           both the initial ref advertisement (which we detect as a push via the service parameter
           in the query string), and the receive-pack invocation itself:

               RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} service=git-receive-pack [OR]
               RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} /git-receive-pack$
               RewriteRule ^/git/ - [E=AUTHREQUIRED:yes]

               <LocationMatch "^/git/">
                       Order Deny,Allow
                       Deny from env=AUTHREQUIRED

                       AuthType Basic
                       AuthName "Git Access"
                       Require group committers
                       Satisfy Any
                       ...
               </LocationMatch>

           If you do not have **mod**___**rewrite** available to match against the query string, it is
           sufficient to just protect **git-receive-pack** itself, like:

               <LocationMatch "^/git/.*/git-receive-pack$">
                       AuthType Basic
                       AuthName "Git Access"
                       Require group committers
                       ...
               </LocationMatch>

           In this mode, the server will not request authentication until the client actually starts
           the object negotiation phase of the push, rather than during the initial contact. For
           this reason, you must also enable the **http.receivepack** config option in any repositories
           that should accept a push. The default behavior, if **http.receivepack** is not set, is to
           reject any pushes by unauthenticated users; the initial request will therefore report **403**
           **Forbidden** to the client, without even giving an opportunity for authentication.

           To require authentication for both reads and writes, use a Location directive around the
           repository, or one of its parent directories:

               <Location /git/private>
                       AuthType Basic
                       AuthName "Private Git Access"
                       Require group committers
                       ...
               </Location>

           To serve gitweb at the same url, use a ScriptAliasMatch to only those URLs that _git_
           _http-backend_ can handle, and forward the rest to gitweb:

               ScriptAliasMatch \
                       "(?x)^/git/(.*/(HEAD | \
                                       info/refs | \
                                       objects/(info/[^/]+ | \
                                                [0-9a-f]{2}/[0-9a-f]{38} | \
                                                pack/pack-[0-9a-f]{40}\.(pack|idx)) | \
                                       git-(upload|receive)-pack))$" \
                       /usr/libexec/git-core/git-http-backend/$1

               ScriptAlias /git/ /var/www/cgi-bin/gitweb.cgi/

           To serve multiple repositories from different [**gitnamespaces**(7)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/gitnamespaces/7/markdown) in a single repository:

               SetEnvIf Request_URI "^/git/([^/]*)" GIT_NAMESPACE=$1
               ScriptAliasMatch ^/git/[^/]*(.*) /usr/libexec/git-core/git-http-backend/storage.git$1


       Accelerated static Apache 2.x
           Similar to the above, but Apache can be used to return static files that are stored on
           disk. On many systems this may be more efficient as Apache can ask the kernel to copy the
           file contents from the file system directly to the network:

               SetEnv GIT_PROJECT_ROOT /var/www/git

               AliasMatch ^/git/(.*/objects/[0-9a-f]{2}/[0-9a-f]{38})$          /var/www/git/$1
               AliasMatch ^/git/(.*/objects/pack/pack-[0-9a-f]{40}.(pack|idx))$ /var/www/git/$1
               ScriptAlias /git/ /usr/libexec/git-core/git-http-backend/

           This can be combined with the gitweb configuration:

               SetEnv GIT_PROJECT_ROOT /var/www/git

               AliasMatch ^/git/(.*/objects/[0-9a-f]{2}/[0-9a-f]{38})$          /var/www/git/$1
               AliasMatch ^/git/(.*/objects/pack/pack-[0-9a-f]{40}.(pack|idx))$ /var/www/git/$1
               ScriptAliasMatch \
                       "(?x)^/git/(.*/(HEAD | \
                                       info/refs | \
                                       objects/info/[^/]+ | \
                                       git-(upload|receive)-pack))$" \
                       /usr/libexec/git-core/git-http-backend/$1
               ScriptAlias /git/ /var/www/cgi-bin/gitweb.cgi/


       Lighttpd
           Ensure that **mod**___**cgi**, **mod**___**alias**, **mod**___**auth**, **mod**___**setenv** are loaded, then set
           **GIT**___**PROJECT**___**ROOT** appropriately and redirect all requests to the CGI:

               alias.url += ( "/git" => "/usr/lib/git-core/git-http-backend" )
               $HTTP["url"] =~ "^/git" {
                       cgi.assign = ("" => "")
                       setenv.add-environment = (
                               "GIT_PROJECT_ROOT" => "/var/www/git",
                               "GIT_HTTP_EXPORT_ALL" => ""
                       )
               }

           To enable anonymous read access but authenticated write access:

               $HTTP["querystring"] =~ "service=git-receive-pack" {
                       include "git-auth.conf"
               }
               $HTTP["url"] =~ "^/git/.*/git-receive-pack$" {
                       include "git-auth.conf"
               }

           where **git-auth.conf** looks something like:

               auth.require = (
                       "/" => (
                               "method" => "basic",
                               "realm" => "Git Access",
                               "require" => "valid-user"
                              )
               )
               # ...and set up auth.backend here

           To require authentication for both reads and writes:

               $HTTP["url"] =~ "^/git/private" {
                       include "git-auth.conf"
               }


## ENVIRONMENT
       _git_ _http-backend_ relies upon the **CGI** environment variables set by the invoking web server,
       including:

       •   PATH_INFO (if GIT_PROJECT_ROOT is set, otherwise PATH_TRANSLATED)

       •   REMOTE_USER

       •   REMOTE_ADDR

       •   CONTENT_TYPE

       •   QUERY_STRING

       •   REQUEST_METHOD

       The **GIT**___**HTTP**___**EXPORT**___**ALL** environmental variable may be passed to _git-http-backend_ to bypass
       the check for the "git-daemon-export-ok" file in each repository before allowing export of
       that repository.

       The **GIT**___**HTTP**___**MAX**___**REQUEST**___**BUFFER** environment variable (or the **http.maxRequestBuffer** config
       variable) may be set to change the largest ref negotiation request that git will handle
       during a fetch; any fetch requiring a larger buffer will not succeed. This value should not
       normally need to be changed, but may be helpful if you are fetching from a repository with an
       extremely large number of refs. The value can be specified with a unit (e.g., **100M** for 100
       megabytes). The default is 10 megabytes.

       Clients may probe for optional protocol capabilities (like the v2 protocol) using the
       **Git-Protocol** HTTP header. In order to support these, the contents of that header must appear
       in the **GIT**___**PROTOCOL** environment variable. Most webservers will pass this header to the CGI
       via the **HTTP**___**GIT**___**PROTOCOL** variable, and **git-http-backend** will automatically copy that to
       **GIT**___**PROTOCOL**. However, some webservers may be more selective about which headers they’ll
       pass, in which case they need to be configured explicitly (see the mention of **Git-Protocol** in
       the Apache config from the earlier EXAMPLES section).

       The backend process sets GIT_COMMITTER_NAME to _$REMOTE_USER_ and GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL to
       _${REMOTE_USER}@http.${REMOTE_ADDR}_, ensuring that any reflogs created by _git-receive-pack_
       contain some identifying information of the remote user who performed the push.

       All **CGI** environment variables are available to each of the hooks invoked by the
       _git-receive-pack_.

## GIT
       Part of the [**git**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/git/1/markdown) suite



Git 2.34.1                                   02/26/2026                          [GIT-HTTP-BACKEND(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/GIT-HTTP-BACKEND/1/markdown)