--exec=<git-receive-pack>

Path to the git-receive-pack program on the remote end. Sometimes useful when pushing to a remote repository over ssh, and you do not have the program in a directory on the default $PATH.

--all

Instead of explicitly specifying which refs to update, update all refs that locally exist.

--force

Usually, the command refuses to update a remote ref that is not an ancestor of the local ref used to overwrite it. This flag disables the check. What this means is that the remote repository can lose commits; use it with care.

<host>

A remote host to house the repository. When this part is specified, git-receive-pack is invoked via ssh.

<directory>

The repository to update.

<ref>The remote refs to update.

With --all flag, all refs that exist locally are transferred to the remote side. You cannot specify any <ref> if you use this flag.

Without --all and without any <ref>, the refs that exist both on the local side and on the remote side are updated.

When one or more <ref> are specified explicitly, it can be either a single pattern, or a pair of such pattern separated by a colon ":" (this means that a ref name cannot have a colon in it). A single pattern <name> is just a shorthand for <name>:<name>.

Each pattern pair consists of the source side (before the colon) and the destination side (after the colon). The ref to be pushed is determined by finding a match that matches the source side, and where it is pushed is determined by using the destination side.

*

It is an error if <src> does not match exactly one of the local refs.

*

It is an error if <dst> matches more than one remote refs.

*

If <dst> does not match any remote ref, either

*

it has to start with "refs/"; <dst> is used as the destination literally in this case.

*

<src> == <dst> and the ref that matched the <src> must not exist in the set of remote refs; the ref matched <src> locally is used as the name of the destination.

Without --force, the <src> ref is stored at the remote only if <dst> does not exist, or <dst> is a proper subset (i.e. an ancestor) of <src>. This check, known as "fast forward check", is performed in order to avoid accidentally overwriting the remote ref and lose other peoples' commits from there.

With --force, the fast forward check is disabled for all refs.

Optionally, a <ref> parameter can be prefixed with a plus + sign to disable the fast-forward check only on that ref.