Automatic repacking when cloning - Only seems to work via file but not ssh or git

Hi all,

I already posted this question in the git users groups (https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!topic/git-users/dguTJFrw5MI) but was advised to better ask the experts in this list. So here we go:

The question is regarding the packs and the repacking of those during cloning. I'm migrating a big repository which after initial commit of all files contains only one pack file of 120MB in size (about 800 extracted).

On this big repo I created various subtree branches (using git subtree split) so I can clone some of the folders individually (without getting the whole big thing). The problem is, however, that all my subtree branch clones seem to get a copy of the big 120MB pack (where often only 2MB will be extracted from it).

After testing a little bit I figured that this only happens if I use ssh or the git protocol to clone the repo. When using file:// to specify the remote repository some repacking seems to happen automatically and I end up with a new pack file for my clone that only contains the stuff that is really needed for my branch (which obviously results in much smaller size).

Running the following commands on the clone created via ssh or git helps removing the unnecessary overhead and repacks my repo creating a small pack, discarding the unneded stuff:

git pack-refs --prune git reflog expire --all git repack -a -d -f -l

So although that helps me getting a small clone via ssh I have some questions / doubts:

1. Is it "as designed" that the repacking only happens automatically
when cloning using the file url or could it be a bug that it is not
supported for ssh and git native protocol?
2. Is there already a way to achieve the repacking when cloning using
ssh or git protocol (as obviously I'd prefer to use those over file://
)?
3. Can I provide multiple pre-made packs for my different subtree
branches already on server side to make the cloning even faster and
avoid always having to repack when someone clones a subtree branch?

Thanks a lot, Haasip