How to rename a git repo (project) which contains submodules in its subdirectories

Question

I never expect renaming a git repo, which, more specifically, is the top-level folder holds the project, would be so hard. Yes, the project containing some submodules, but it is

Answer 1

You also need to check each sub-module's gitdir.

It should be in sub-module's folder .git file.

Answer 2

When moving a project that has git submodules from one folder to another, on the same machine, there are some hardcoded links that have to be updated.

First, all submodules have a .git file where they store the absolute path to their git configuration folder ( these are inside the main's project .git folder, grouped into the modules folder). To fix all of these, run the following command from the root of the main project:

find . -name .git -print0 -type f | xargs -0 sed -i 's|<OLD PATH>|<NEW PATH>|g'

Second, the configuration files for the git submodules have a line where the working directory is saved, also absolute. To update all of the references at once, run the following command from the root of the main project:

find . -name config -print0 -type f | xargs -0 sed -i 's|<OLD PATH>|<NEW PATH>|g'

The assumptions made are that your OS is some form of *nix, and that you have the package sed installed.

Answer 3

You need to actually modify two files

.git/modules/<path-to-submodule>/config
<path-to-submodule>/.git

Answer 4

You have a couple of options, they end up being the same thing:

clone again

Instead of renaming the folder - just clone again

$ cd /project/original
$ cd ..
$ mkdir moved
$ git init
$ git pull ../original master
$ git submodule init
$ git submodule update

Compare original/.git/config to moved/.git/config and address any significant differences (missing branches need creating - missing remotes just need adding to the config file).

fix paths

You can rename your project folder, it just needs a little tweaking.

• Fix your submodule .git file references.

I.e. these files:

$ cd /project/moved
$ find -name .git -type f

All you need to do is edit them to point at the right directory

• Fix your submodule .git config files

I.e. these files:

$ cd /project/moved
$ find .git/modules/ -name config

Here, update the worktree setting:

[core]
    ...
    worktree = /original/path/submodule

To

[core]
    ...
    worktree = /moved/path/submodule

And that's it.

A note about versions

1.7.8 introduced the use of a .git file for submodules and used absolute paths, this was fixed in 1.7.10 - therefore the problem only applies to git repos created with git version 1.7.8, and 1.7.9.