VFS for Git

Windows

Branch	Unit Tests	Functional Tests	Large Repo Perf	Large Repo Build
master
shipped

Mac

Branch	Unit Tests	Functional Tests
master
shipped

What is VFS for Git?

VFS stands for Virtual File System. VFS for Git virtualizes the file system beneath your git repo so that git and all tools see what appears to be a normal repo, but VFS for Git only downloads objects as they are needed. VFS for Git also manages the files that git will consider, to ensure that git operations like status, checkout, etc., can be as quick as possible because they will only consider the files that the user has accessed, not all files in the repo.

New name

This project was formerly known as GVFS (Git Virtual File System). It is undergoing a rename to VFS for Git. While the rename is in progress, the code, protocol, built executables, and releases may still refer to the old GVFS name. See https://github.com/Microsoft/VFSForGit/projects/4 for the latest status of the rename effort.

Installing VFS for Git

• VFS for Git requires Windows 10 Anniversary Update (Windows 10 version 1607) or later
• Run the latest GVFS and Git for Windows installers from https://github.com/Microsoft/VFSForGit/releases

Building VFS for Git on Windows

If you'd like to build your own VFS for Git Windows installer:

• Install Visual Studio 2017 Community Edition or higher (https://www.visualstudio.com/downloads/).
  • Include the following workloads:
    • .NET desktop development
    • Desktop development with C++
    • .NET Core cross-platform development
  • Include the following additional components:
    • .NET Core runtime
    • Windows 10 SDK (10.0.10240.0)
• Install the .NET Core 2.1 SDK (https://www.microsoft.com/net/download/dotnet-core/2.1)
• Create a folder to clone into, e.g. C:\Repos\VFSForGit
• Clone this repo into the src subfolder, e.g. C:\Repos\VFSForGit\src
• Run \src\Scripts\BuildGVFSForWindows.bat
• You can also build in Visual Studio by opening src\GVFS.sln (do not upgrade any projects) and building. However, the very first build will fail, and the second and subsequent builds will succeed. This is because the build requires a prebuild code generation step. For details, see the build script in the previous step.

You can also use Visual Studio 2019. There are a couple of options for getting all the dependencies.

• You can install Visual Studio 2017 side by side with Visual Studio 2019, and make sure that you have all the dependencies from Visual Studio 2017 installed
• Alternatively, if you only want to have Visual Studio 2019 installed, install the following extra dependencies:
  • MSVC v141 VS 2017 C++ build tools via the optional components in the Visual Studio 2019 installer. It is under the "Desktop Development with C++" heading.
  • Windows 10 SDK (10.0.10240.0) via the archived SDK page: https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/downloads/sdk-archive

Visual Studio 2019 will automatically prompt you to install these dependencies when you open the solution. The .vsconfig file that is present in the root of the repository specifies all required components except the Windows 10 SDK (10.0.10240.0) as this component is no longer shipped with VS2019 - you'll still need to install that separately.

The installer can now be found at C:\Repos\VFSForGit\BuildOutput\GVFS.Installer.Windows\bin\x64\[Debug|Release]\SetupGVFS.<version>.exe

Building VFS for Git on Mac

Note that VFS for Git on Mac is under active development.

• Ensure you have Xcode installed, have accepted the terms of use, and have launched Xcode at least once.

• Install Visual Studio for Mac . (This will also install the dotnet CLI).

• If you still do not have the dotnet cli >= v2.1.300 installed [manually install it]. You can check what version you have with dotnet --version.(https://www.microsoft.com/net/download/dotnet-core/2.1)

• If you're using Xcode for the first time, you may have to login to Xcode with your Apple ID to generate a codesigning certificate. You can do this by launching Xcode.app, opening the ProjFS.Mac/PrjFS.xcodeproj and trying to build. You can find the signing options in the General->Accounts tab of the project's settings.

• Create a VFSForGit directory and Clone VFSForGit into a directory called src inside it:

  mkdir VFSForGit
  cd VFSForGit
  git clone https://github.com/Microsoft/VFSForGit.git src
  cd src
  

• Prep your machine to use VFS for Git. The following are all done by the script below.

  • install Homebrew
  • install and setup the Git Credential Manager (with brew)
  • install/update Java (with brew)
  • install a VFS for Git aware version of Git

  Scripts/Mac/PrepFunctionalTests.sh
  

• From the src directory run

  Scripts/Mac/BuildGVFSForMac.sh [Debug|Release]
  

  Troubleshooting if this fails

  If you get

  xcodebuild: error: SDK "macosx10.13" cannot be located.
  

  You may have the "Xcode Command Line Tools" installed (helpfully by Mac OS) instead of full Xcode. Make sure

  xcode-select -p
  

  shows /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer. If it does not, install Xcode and then launch it (you can close it afterwards.)

• In order to build VFS for Git on Mac (and PrjFSKext) you will have to disable the SIP (System Integrity Protection) in order to load the kext).

  This is dangerous and very bad for the security of your machine. Do not do this on any production machine! If you no longer need to develop VFS for Git on Mac we recommend re-enabling SIP ASAP.

  To disable SIP boot into recovery mode ([Win/⌘] + R while booting your Mac). Once booted into recovery mode open Utilities -> Terminal to launch a terminal. Enter:

  csrutil disable
  # use "csrutil enable" to re-enable when you no longer need to build VFS for Git on Mac
  

  Then click the Apple logo in the top left and restart.

• Now you have to load the ProjFS Kext.

  ProjFS.Mac/Scripts/LoadPrjFSKext.sh [Debug|Release]
  

• Add your built VFS for Git executable (gvfs) program to your path. A simple way to do that is by adding

  <Path to>/VFSForGit/Publish
  

  to your PATH.

  Confirm you have it by running

  command -v gvfs
  

  You should see a path to the gvfs executable.

• Try cloning a VFS for Git enabled repository!

  gvfs clone URL_TO_REPOSITORY --local-cache-path ~/.gvfsCache
  

  Note the current use of --local-cache-path. Without this argument VFS for Git will encounter a permissions error when it attempts to create its cache at the root of your hard-drive. Automatic picking of the cache path has not yet been ported to VFS for Git on Mac.

Trying out VFS for Git

• VFS for Git will work with any git service that supports the GVFS protocol. For example, you can create a repo in Azure DevOps (https://azure.microsoft.com/services/devops/), and push some contents to it. There are two constraints:
  • Your repo must not enable any clean/smudge filters
  • Your repo must have a .gitattributes file in the root that includes the line * -text
• gvfs clone <URL of repo you just created>
  • Please choose the Clone with HTTPS option in the Clone Repository dialog in Azure Repos, not Clone with SSH.
• cd <root>\src
• Run git commands as you normally would
• gvfs unmount when done

Licenses

The VFS for Git source code in this repo is available under the MIT license. See License.md.

VFS for Git relies on the PrjFlt filter driver, formerly known as the GvFlt filter driver, available as a prerelease NuGet package.