master TOC | chapter TOC | support

side note: "R" permissions for refs

You can control "read" access only at the repo level, not at the branch level. For example, this won't limit Wally to reading only the master branch:

repo foo
    R master    =   wally       # WILL NOT DO WHAT YOU THINK IT DOES!!

and this won't prevent him from reading it:

repo foo
    - master    =   wally       # WILL NOT DO WHAT YOU THINK IT DOES!!
    R           =   wally

This (inability to distinguish one ref from another during a read operation) is a git issue, not a gitolite issue.

There are 3 ways around this, though:

• switch to gerrit, which has its own git stack, its own sshd, and God knows what else. All written in Java, the COBOL of the internet era ;-)
• bug the git people to add this feature in ;-)
• use a separate repo for Wally.

Using separate repos is not that hard with gitolite. Here's how to maintain a partial copy of the main repo and keep it synced (while not allowing the secret branches into it).