Re: Bug when cloning a repository with a default branch called HEAD

[Bagas Sanjaya <bagasdotme@gmail.com>]

Hi,

On 29/05/21 02.05, Björn Kautler wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I'm not right now sure why this repo is in this state or how it got
> there, but that doesn't matter.
> But if you clone it, everything is fine.
> And if you then try to fetch it, Git goes havoc:
> 

I'm trying to create minimal reproducible test repo by switching initial 
branch to HEAD:

$ mkdir shark && cd shark
$ git init
$ git checkout -b HEAD

But when I checkout, it returned error as expected:

> fatal: 'HEAD' is not a valid branch name.

Thus I can't reproduce this issue.

> $ git clone https://gitlab.com/Vampire/whelk.git/ && cd whelk &&
> GIT_TRACE=1 git fetch; echo $?
> Cloning into 'whelk'...
> remote: Enumerating objects: 525, done.
> remote: Counting objects: 100% (525/525), done.
> remote: Compressing objects: 100% (227/227), done.
> remote: Total 525 (delta 280), reused 525 (delta 280), pack-reused 0
> Receiving objects: 100% (525/525), 165.63 KiB | 3.52 MiB/s, done.
> Resolving deltas: 100% (280/280), done.
> 21:04:15.761530 exec-cmd.c:237          trace: resolved executable
> dir: C:/Program Files/Git/mingw64/bin
> 21:04:15.765532 git.c:447               trace: built-in: git fetch
> warning: refname 'HEAD' is ambiguous.
> 21:04:15.769530 run-command.c:667       trace: run_command:
> GIT_DIR=.git git remote-https origin
> https://gitlab.com/Vampire/whelk.git/
> 21:04:15.795532 exec-cmd.c:237          trace: resolved executable
> dir: C:/Program Files/Git/mingw64/libexec/git-core
> 21:04:15.799535 git.c:734               trace: exec: git-remote-https
> origin https://gitlab.com/Vampire/whelk.git/
> 21:04:15.799535 run-command.c:667       trace: run_command:
> git-remote-https origin https://gitlab.com/Vampire/whelk.git/
> 21:04:15.832533 exec-cmd.c:237          trace: resolved executable
> dir: C:/Program Files/Git/mingw64/libexec/git-core
> 21:04:16.438060 run-command.c:667       trace: run_command: git
> rev-list --objects --stdin --not --all --quiet --alternate-refs
> 21:04:16.461060 run-command.c:667       trace: run_command: git
> rev-list --objects --stdin --not --all --quiet --alternate-refs
> 21:04:16.475738 exec-cmd.c:237          trace: resolved executable
> dir: C:/Program Files/Git/mingw64/libexec/git-core
> 21:04:16.478705 git.c:447               trace: built-in: git rev-list
> --objects --stdin --not --all --quiet --alternate-refs
> error: multiple updates for 'refs/remotes/origin/HEAD' (including one
> via symref 'refs/remotes/origin/HEAD') are not allowed
>  From https://gitlab.com/Vampire/whelk
>   ! [new branch]      HEAD       -> origin/HEAD  (unable to update local ref)
> error: some local refs could not be updated; try running
>   'git remote prune origin' to remove any old, conflicting branches
> 21:04:16.496254 run-command.c:667       trace: run_command: git
> maintenance run --auto --no-quiet
> 21:04:16.510254 exec-cmd.c:237          trace: resolved executable
> dir: C:/Program Files/Git/mingw64/libexec/git-core
> 21:04:16.512256 git.c:447               trace: built-in: git
> maintenance run --auto --no-quiet
> 1
> 
> Cheers
> Björn
> 

The remote [1] might misconfigured default branch, so instead of 
master/main it pointed to HEAD, and it caused the issue.

Thanks.

[1]: https://gitlab.com/Vampire/whelk

-- 
An old man doll... just what I always wanted! - Clara