Re: [External] git keeps recreating packs, exploding backup increments

From: Pierre Ossman <ossman@cendio.se>
Date: Feb 20, 2025, 08:26 UTC
Message-ID: <ba212d4e-32c5-472a-8604-2a2653bde17c@cendio.se>
In-Reply-To: <CAG1j3zGmA30w545+-6qFV6x+3HvM+fueYH-rv-_gaSTpZStMHg@mail.gmail.com>

On 20/02/2025 04:03, Han Young wrote:

Show 9 quoted lines

> On Wed, Feb 19, 2025 at 5:58 PM Pierre Ossman <ossman@cendio.se> wrote:
>> We tried gc.bigPackThreshold in the hope it would force it to reuse
>> packs better. But all we got instead was duplication. It still creates
>> new packs with everything. It just stopped removing the old ones.
> 
> Is the repo partially cloned? git-repack will always pack promisor
> packs even if it's a keep pack. This patch would fix it
> https://lore.kernel.org/git/2728513.vuYhMxLoTh@mintaka.ncbr.muni.cz/
>

Yes, the big offender is often partially cloned. So that could be part of it, thanks.

But we're seeing it in other repositories as well. E.g. I have a long-lived TigerVNC repository where the biggest pack file is just one week old. In that case, it's merely 21 MiB, so it's not a practical issue. But it does show that git keeps replacing it.

Anything I/we can do to shed more light on the issue?

Regards,

-- 
Pierre Ossman           Software Development
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A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
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