There's one other crazy finding I should note explicitly here, which is that force-pushing a branch can, for reasons I cannot explain, cause you to redownload all the repo's commits & trees again (during the forced push, as a just-in-time fetch). And again (if the branch changes and you force-push again). And again for as long as you're overwriting others' changes. For the linux kernel repo without blobs, that's 1.09GB a pop, of purely duplicated promisor packfiles containing the whole (no-blob-filtered) repo. Interestingly, the behavior is the same regardless of your configured filter - so the "blob=none" behavior must be hardcoded or implied somehow in the codepath that produces this weird outcome.
That said, so far I think everything I'm finding is manageable:
* To avoid "non-promisor packfile" issues in the initial dual-stage
clone, we just need to add extra promisor marker files when we
"upgrade" the remote to a promisor remote.
* Git repack performance will (presumably?) only affect background GC jobs
* Any repack-originated non-promissor packfiles can be cleaned up
(made promissor packfiles) by our tooling
* Any weird re-downloads of the commits+trees during force-pushes
should be OK, they would "only" cost 400MB in our repo
If these are issues that someone is interested in looking into, I'd be very happy to work with them, but my understanding of the codebase (and even the language) is... poor.
Thanks, Tao
# # This file is a log of investigations into non-obvious behaviors of "partial clone" repositories, # using a (writable, throwaway) fork of the linux kernel as test repository. # # The OUTCOMES described here are for git 2.31.1 on fedora linux 33 as of 2021-06-03 #
# ----- # SETUP # -----
# Enable perf tracing, including child process details export GIT_TRACE2_PERF=1
# Set up a suitable read & writable linux kernel remote URL export REMOTE_URL="https://github.com/TaoK/linux.git"
# ------- # OBSERVATIONS: # - repos without promisor packfiles run a "git rev-list" process as part of "fetch.c", right after the "remote_refs" and within the "consume_refs" labelled code areas # - these processes are generally very fast # - these processes *don't run* if the packfiles containing the "tips"/refs shared/fetched from the remote are all promisor packfiles # - these processes *run differently* if *any* of the packfiles containing the "tips"/refs shared/fetched from the remote are not promisor packfiles, but the remote is a promisor # - Specifically, the same child processes do run, but an extra "--exclude-promisor-objects" parameter is added. # - these child processes, running with a promisor remote, run very fast if promisor packfiles are small # - these same child processes run very *slow* if promisor packfiles are large # - that slowness is not *proportional* to packfile size, but it is related; this relationship appears to be non-linear # - that slowness is substantially increased, for example, by using a "loose" filter, and ending up with many or all blobs *not missing* from the promisor packfile # - that slowness seems to depend exclusively on the size/content of the promisor packfiles; non-promisor packfiles "trigger" the behavior but do not appear to impact its speed # -------
# Regular single-branch quite-shallow clone without checkout, followed by a regular fetch
# -> in the fetch, the "remote_refs" and "consume_refs" labelled areas spawn "git rev-list --objects --stdin --not --all --quiet --alternate-refs" processes
# -> these processes complete instantaneously in this context
# -> an equivalent process (same args) is invoked during clone, and labels progress as "Checking connectivity"
TESTFOLDER="linuxtest_$RANDOM" &&
git clone $REMOTE_URL $TESTFOLDER --no-checkout --shallow-since=2018-01-01 &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER fetch
# Fully blob-filtered single-branch quite-shallow clone without checkout, followed by a regular fetch
# -> "remote_refs" and "consume_refs" don't call "rev-list" child processes at all
TESTFOLDER="linuxtest_$RANDOM" &&
git clone $REMOTE_URL $TESTFOLDER --no-checkout --shallow-since=2018-01-01 --filter=blob:none &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER fetch
# Regular single-branch quite-shallow clone, with a blob-filtered "tip"
# (another repo is created just to move the tip for the promisor packfile to be created)
# -> "remote_refs" and "consume_refs" don't call "rev-list" child processes at all
TESTFOLDER="linuxtest_$RANDOM" &&
TIP_MOVER_FOLDER="linuxtest_$RANDOM" &&
git clone $REMOTE_URL $TESTFOLDER --no-checkout --shallow-since=2018-01-01 &&
git clone $REMOTE_URL $TIP_MOVER_FOLDER --depth=1 &&
echo "Something $RANDOM" > "$TIP_MOVER_FOLDER/test_file_$RANDOM" &&
git -C $TIP_MOVER_FOLDER add -A &&
git -C $TIP_MOVER_FOLDER commit --no-gpg-sign -m "test file commit" &&
git -C $TIP_MOVER_FOLDER push origin HEAD &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER config remote.origin.promisor true &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER config remote.origin.partialclonefilter blob:none &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER fetch &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER fetch
# Regular single-branch quite-shallow clone, upgraded to a promisor remote
# -> "remote_refs" and "consume_refs" *do* call "rev-list" child processes, with an extra parameter
# -> these rev-list child processes complete very fast (presumably their speed relates to the volume of promisor packfiles in some way)
TESTFOLDER="linuxtest_$RANDOM" &&
git clone $REMOTE_URL $TESTFOLDER --no-checkout --shallow-since=2018-01-01 &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER config remote.origin.promisor true &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER config remote.origin.partialclonefilter blob:none &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER fetch
# Regular single-branch quite-shallow clone, with *short* blob-filtered "roots" added later
# (the deepening is a little chaotic, with lots of blobs being retrieved, presumably from the different shallow roots)
# -> the presence of small promisor packfiles (NOT at the tip) makes no difference; non-promisor packfiles at the tip trigger the rev-list call, it completes fast
TESTFOLDER="linuxtest_$RANDOM" &&
git clone $REMOTE_URL $TESTFOLDER --no-checkout --shallow-since=2018-01-01 &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER config remote.origin.promisor true &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER config remote.origin.partialclonefilter blob:none &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER fetch --shallow-since=2017-12-30 &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER fetch
# Regular single-branch quite-shallow clone, with both a blob-filtered "tip" and a non-promisor-packfile "tip"
# (another repo is created just to move the tip for the promisor packfile to be created)
# -> the presence of small promisor packfiles (at the tip) makes no difference; non-promisor packfiles at the tip trigger the rev-list call, it completes fast
TESTFOLDER="linuxtest_$RANDOM" &&
TIP_MOVER_FOLDER="linuxtest_$RANDOM" &&
ORIGINAL_TIP_BRANCH="testbranch_$RANDOM" &&
git clone $REMOTE_URL $TESTFOLDER --no-checkout --shallow-since=2018-01-01 &&
git clone $REMOTE_URL $TIP_MOVER_FOLDER --depth=1 &&
echo "Something $RANDOM" > "$TIP_MOVER_FOLDER/test_file_$RANDOM" &&
git -C $TIP_MOVER_FOLDER add -A &&
git -C $TIP_MOVER_FOLDER commit --no-gpg-sign -m "test file commit" &&
git -C $TIP_MOVER_FOLDER push origin HEAD &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER config --add remote.origin.fetch "+refs/heads/$ORIGINAL_TIP_BRANCH:refs/remotes/origin/$ORIGINAL_TIP_BRANCH" &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER push origin "HEAD:refs/heads/$ORIGINAL_TIP_BRANCH" &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER config remote.origin.promisor true &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER config remote.origin.partialclonefilter blob:none &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER fetch &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER fetch
# Regular single-branch very-shallow clone, with full blob-filtered history added later
# -> the presence of *large* promisor packfiles (with non-promisor packfiles at the tip) means the rev-list call runs, and runs long...
# (size: 205MB + 1.09GB, clone & unshallow: 60s + 314s, fetch: 324s made up of 2X 162s rev-list)
TESTFOLDER="linuxtest_$RANDOM" &&
git clone $REMOTE_URL $TESTFOLDER --no-checkout --depth=1 &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER config remote.origin.promisor true &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER config remote.origin.partialclonefilter blob:none &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER fetch --unshallow &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER fetch
# Regular single-branch very-shallow clone, with full barely-filtered history added later
# -> the presence of *huge* promisor packfiles (with non-promisor packfiles at the tip) means the rev-list call runs even longer
# (size: 205MB + 2.73GB, clone & unshallow: 60s + 1420s, fetch: 1900s made up of 2X 940s rev-list)
TESTFOLDER="linuxtest_$RANDOM" &&
git clone $REMOTE_URL $TESTFOLDER --no-checkout --depth=1 &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER config remote.origin.promisor true &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER config remote.origin.partialclonefilter blob:limit=1m &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER fetch --unshallow &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER fetch
# Regular single-branch "deep" clone *of a very old ref*, tag "v2.6.13", and then full blob-filtered history *since then* added later
# -> the presence of *large* promisor packfiles (with non-promisor packfiles at the root) has exactly the same impact as with non-promisors at tip
# (size: 76MB + 1.09GB, clone & fetch: 9s + 265s, fetch: 320s made up of 2X 160s rev-list)
TESTFOLDER="linuxtest_$RANDOM" &&
git clone $REMOTE_URL $TESTFOLDER --no-checkout -b v2.6.13 --single-branch &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER config --add remote.origin.fetch "+refs/heads/master:refs/remotes/origin/master" &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER config remote.origin.promisor true &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER config remote.origin.partialclonefilter blob:none &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER fetch &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER fetch
# ------- # OBSERVATIONS: # - running git repack on a fully-promisored repo can/will yield non-promisor packfiles (if there are loose objects from initially-local commits) # - if/when such a locally-packed non-promisor packfile contains any "tip" commits for the promisor remote, then: # - fetch will be slow (depending on the size of promissor packfiles) # - this will continue until you manually mark the pack file as ".promisor" OR you get a later tip for the affected branch(es) from a promisor remote # -------
#
# (clone: 180s, add: 70s warmup, fetch: 1s, repack: 173s, fetch: 340s from 2X rev-list at 170s)
# -> after repack, fetch is *very* slow until one of two corrective circumstances arise:
# 1. you make the stray packfile a promisor packfile, or
# 2. you fetch another change (to that branch) from the promisor remote / the tip of the branch "naturally" becomes a promisor again
TESTFOLDER="linuxtest_$RANDOM" &&
git clone $REMOTE_URL $TESTFOLDER --single-branch --filter=blob:none &&
echo "Something $RANDOM" > "$TESTFOLDER/test_file_$RANDOM" &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER add -A &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER commit --no-gpg-sign -m "test file commit" &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER push &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER fetch
git -C $TESTFOLDER repack &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER fetch
FIXUPFOLDER="linuxtest_$RANDOM" &&
git clone $REMOTE_URL $FIXUPFOLDER --depth=1 &&
echo "Something $RANDOM" > "$FIXUPFOLDER/test_file_$RANDOM" &&
git -C $FIXUPFOLDER add -A &&
git -C $FIXUPFOLDER commit --no-gpg-sign -m "test file commit" &&
git -C $FIXUPFOLDER push
git -C $TESTFOLDER fetch
# ------- # OBSERVATIONS: # - Under some specific circumstances, force-pushing a branch from a partial clone causes this repo # to *re-fetch the repo's commits & trees* into another new promisor packfile. # - This can be repeated any number of times, yielding effectively identical (large) duplicate packfiles # - The preconditions appear to be that the remote and the local repo each have mutually unknown commits at the tip... # - The behavior is to re-download the commits & trees only, even if the filter settings on the repo are "lax" (eg "limit=1M") # -------
# Get a fully filtered full clone, commit to the branch from elsewhere, and force the originally cloned branch state back
# -> during the forced push we randomly, strangely, re-retrieve the whole filtered clone data - commits + trees
TESTFOLDER="linuxtest_$RANDOM" &&
INTERFERINGFOLDER="linuxtest_$RANDOM" &&
git clone $REMOTE_URL $INTERFERINGFOLDER --depth=1 &&
git clone $REMOTE_URL $TESTFOLDER --filter=blob:none &&
git -C $INTERFERINGFOLDER commit --allow-empty --no-gpg-sign -m "test file commit" &&
git -C $INTERFERINGFOLDER push &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER push -f
# Confirm - there are two 1.09-GB packfiles ll "$TESTFOLDER/.git/objects/pack"
# This can be repeated any number of times, each time creating yet another 1.09GB promisor packfile...
git -C $INTERFERINGFOLDER commit --allow-empty --no-gpg-sign -m "test file commit" &&
git -C $INTERFERINGFOLDER push -f &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER push -f
# Confirm - there are three 1.09-GB packfiles ll "$TESTFOLDER/.git/objects/pack"
# This can be repeated any number of times, each time creating yet another 1.09GB promisor packfile...
git -C $INTERFERINGFOLDER commit --allow-empty --no-gpg-sign -m "test file commit" &&
git -C $INTERFERINGFOLDER push -f &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER push -f
# Confirm - there are four 1.09-GB packfiles ll "$TESTFOLDER/.git/objects/pack"
# Again with a "loosely" filtered clone
# -> Even though the original clone size is 3GB, the later "duplicated" download is once again 1.09 GB - commits + trees only.
TESTFOLDER="linuxtest_$RANDOM" &&
INTERFERINGFOLDER="linuxtest_$RANDOM" &&
git clone $REMOTE_URL $INTERFERINGFOLDER --depth=1 &&
git clone $REMOTE_URL $TESTFOLDER --filter=blob:limit=1M &&
git -C $INTERFERINGFOLDER commit --allow-empty --no-gpg-sign -m "test file commit" &&
git -C $INTERFERINGFOLDER push &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER push -f
# ---- # OBSERVATIONS: # - git repack is slow on filtered repos (repos with promisor packfiles) # - git repack's speed is *directly related to the size of the promisor packfiles* # (but given that repos with a mix of promisor and non-promisor packfiles misbehave in other ways, this conclusion is of limited value) # ----
# Baseline - regular full clone
# (size = 3.11GB, clone = 235s, repack = 10s)
TESTFOLDER="linuxtest_$RANDOM" &&
git clone $REMOTE_URL $TESTFOLDER &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER repack
# Baseline - very-shallow single-branch clone
# (size = 203MB, clone = 74s, repack = 0s)
TESTFOLDER="linuxtest_$RANDOM" &&
git clone $REMOTE_URL $TESTFOLDER --depth=1 &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER repack
# Demo - fully blob-filtered full clone, normal checkout
# (size = 1.09GB + 203MB, clone = 90s + 100s, repack = 180s)
TESTFOLDER="linuxtest_$RANDOM" &&
git clone $REMOTE_URL $TESTFOLDER --filter=blob:none &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER repack
# Demo - fully blob-filtered full clone, no checkout
# (size = 1.09GB, clone = 70s, repack = 160s)
TESTFOLDER="linuxtest_$RANDOM" &&
git clone $REMOTE_URL $TESTFOLDER --filter=blob:none --no-checkout &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER repack
# Demo - fully blob-filtered very-shallow single-branch clone, normal checkout
# (size = 203MB, clone = 150s, repack = 8s)
TESTFOLDER="linuxtest_$RANDOM" &&
git clone $REMOTE_URL $TESTFOLDER --filter=blob:none --depth=1 &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER repack
# Demo - fully blob-filtered very-shallow single-branch clone, no checkout
# (size = 2MB, clone = 2s, repack = 0s)
TESTFOLDER="linuxtest_$RANDOM" &&
git clone $REMOTE_URL $TESTFOLDER --filter=blob:none --no-checkout --depth=1 &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER repack
# Demo - barely blob-filtered single-branch clone, no checkout
# (size = 3.1GB, clone = 200s, repack = 810s)
TESTFOLDER="linuxtest_$RANDOM" &&
git clone $REMOTE_URL $TESTFOLDER --filter=blob:limit=10m --single-branch --no-checkout &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER repack
# Demo - medium-deep shallow single-branch clone (no checkout), followed by fully filtered unshallow
# (promisor packfile "in the past" of the single tip ref, with most history in the "tip" non-promisor packfile)
# (size = 2.63GB + 200MB, clone = 337s + 108s, repack = 28s)
# -> Repack time is directly related to promisor packfile size/content/scope when further back in history
TESTFOLDER="linuxtest_$RANDOM" &&
git clone $REMOTE_URL $TESTFOLDER --no-checkout --shallow-since=2010-01-01 --single-branch &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER config remote.origin.promisor true &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER config remote.origin.partialclonefilter blob:none &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER fetch --unshallow &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER repack
# Demo - reasonably shallow single-branch clone (no checkout), followed by extra commit appearing at tip on the remote,
# followed by filtered fetch of that new tip
# (promisor packfile "at the tip", with most of the history in a non-promisor packfile "behind the tip")
# (size = 981MB + , clone = 2s, repack = 3s)
# (TIP_MOVER clone time ignored)
# -> Repack time is directly related to promisor packfile size/content/scope when at tip
TESTFOLDER="linuxtest_$RANDOM" &&
TIP_MOVER_FOLDER="linuxtest_$RANDOM" &&
git clone $REMOTE_URL $TESTFOLDER --no-checkout --shallow-since=2018-01-01 --single-branch &&
git clone $REMOTE_URL $TIP_MOVER_FOLDER --depth=1 &&
echo "Something $RANDOM" > "$TIP_MOVER_FOLDER/test_file_$RANDOM" &&
git -C $TIP_MOVER_FOLDER add -A &&
git -C $TIP_MOVER_FOLDER commit --no-gpg-sign -m "test file commit" &&
git -C $TIP_MOVER_FOLDER push origin HEAD &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER config remote.origin.promisor true &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER config remote.origin.partialclonefilter blob:none &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER fetch &&
git -C $TESTFOLDER repack
# ------- # CLEANUP # -------
# Delete all the weird repos created. rm -rf linuxtest_*