Pushing all submodules recursively

Question

I wrote the below script to push all the changes in the workspace, both in the submodules and the superproject. However, it sounds a little odd that, it is this complex to do wh

Answer 1

The command git push --recurse-submodules=on-demand does not work if you have submodules which contain submodules. (git version: 2.20.1)

Add the following alias in your ~/.gitconfig file:

[alias]
    push-all = "! find . -depth -name .git -exec dirname {} \\; 2> /dev/null | sort -n -r | xargs -I{} bash -c \"cd {}; git status | grep ahead > /dev/null && { echo '* Pushing: {}'; git push; }\""

Then issue git push-all in your parent git folder.

Explanation

• !: We are issuing a non-git command.
• find . -depth -name .git -exec dirname {} \\; 2> /dev/null : Find all submodules (and git repositories, which wouldn't harm)
• | sort -n -r: Sort by path depth, deepest will be first.
• | xargs -I{} bash -c \": Pass directories to the following commands:
  • cd {};: cd to the target directory.
  • git status | grep ahead > /dev/null: Test if it is necessary to push this repository.
  • && { echo '* Pushing: {}'; git push; }\"": Inform and push.