[PATCH 1/2] shell doc: emphasize purpose and security model

From

Jonathan Nieder <jrnieder@gmail.com>

Date

Mar 9, 2013, 21:55 UTC

Message-ID

<20130309215537.GB24777@elie.Belkin>

In-Reply-To

<20130309215237.GA24777@elie.Belkin>

 - SYNOPSIS, describing how the shell gets used in practice
 - DESCRIPTION, which gives an overview of the purpose and guarantees
   provided by this restricted shell
 - COMMANDS, listing supported commands and restrictions on the
   arguments they accept
 - INTERACTIVE USE, describing the interactive mode

Also add a "see also" section with related reading.

Signed-off-by: Jonathan Nieder <jrnieder@gmail.com>
---
Changes since v2:

 - use "command -v" instead of "which" in synopsis to subtly reinforce
   good habits
 - use <user> instead of hardcoding "git" username in synopsis
 - give up on typesetting "git> " in monospace, since the toolchain
   doesn't seem to like lonely backticks :/
 - clarify change description

The actual text is pretty much the same.

 Documentation/git-shell.txt | 66 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-----------
 1 file changed, 51 insertions(+), 15 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Documentation/git-shell.txt b/Documentation/git-shell.txt
index 9b925060..544b21aa 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-shell.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-shell.txt
@@ -9,25 +9,61 @@ git-shell - Restricted login shell for Git-only SSH access
 SYNOPSIS
 --------
 [verse]
-'git shell' [-c <command> <argument>]
+'chsh' -s $(command -v git-shell) <user>
+'git clone' <user>`@localhost:/path/to/repo.git`
+'ssh' <user>`@localhost`
 
 DESCRIPTION
 -----------
 
-A login shell for SSH accounts to provide restricted Git access. When
-'-c' is given, the program executes <command> non-interactively;
-<command> can be one of 'git receive-pack', 'git upload-pack', 'git
-upload-archive', 'cvs server', or a command in COMMAND_DIR. The shell
-is started in interactive mode when no arguments are given; in this
-case, COMMAND_DIR must exist, and any of the executables in it can be
-invoked.
-
-'cvs server' is a special command which executes git-cvsserver.
-
-COMMAND_DIR is the path "$HOME/git-shell-commands". The user must have
-read and execute permissions to the directory in order to execute the
-programs in it. The programs are executed with a cwd of $HOME, and
-<argument> is parsed as a command-line string.
+This is a login shell for SSH accounts to provide restricted Git access.
+It permits execution only of server-side Git commands implementing the
+pull/push functionality, plus custom commands present in a subdirectory
+named `git-shell-commands` in the user's home directory.
+
+COMMANDS
+--------
+
+'git shell' accepts the following commands after the '-c' option:
+
+'git receive-pack <argument>'::
+'git upload-pack <argument>'::
+'git upload-archive <argument>'::
+	Call the corresponding server-side command to support
+	the client's 'git push', 'git fetch', or 'git archive --remote'
+	request.
+'cvs server'::
+	Imitate a CVS server.  See linkgit:git-cvsserver[1].
+
+If a `~/git-shell-commands` directory is present, 'git shell' will
+also handle other, custom commands by running
+"`git-shell-commands/<command> <arguments>`" from the user's home
+directory.
+
+INTERACTIVE USE
+---------------
+
+By default, the commands above can be executed only with the '-c'
+option; the shell is not interactive.
+
+If a `~/git-shell-commands` directory is present, 'git shell'
+can also be run interactively (with no arguments).  If a `help`
+command is present in the `git-shell-commands` directory, it is
+run to provide the user with an overview of allowed actions.  Then a
+"git> " prompt is presented at which one can enter any of the
+commands from the `git-shell-commands` directory, or `exit` to close
+the connection.
+
+Generally this mode is used as an administrative interface to allow
+users to list repositories they have access to, create, delete, or
+rename repositories, or change repository descriptions and
+permissions.
+
+SEE ALSO
+--------
+ssh(1),
+linkgit:git-daemon[1],
+contrib/git-shell-commands/README
 
 GIT
 ---

-- 
1.8.2.rc3