Git pulling depends on the current dir
I am trying to git pull some repository via root user from any directory.
For example, executing git pull from /root/:
#> cd ~
#> sudo -u dmalikov git --git-dir=/home/dmalikov/path/to/repo/.git pull
/usr/libexec/git-core/git-sh-setup: line 142: cd: /root/.: Permission denied
Cannot chdir to /root/., the toplevel of the working tree
And executing git pull from /:
#> cd /
#> sudo -u dmalikov git --git-dir=/home/dmalikov/path/to/repo/.git pull
Already up-to-date.
Why did current directory affects git pulling command?
How can that redundant cd be avoided?
Answer
In your first example, the git command runs as user dmalikov with the current directory /root. Since the git pull command is equivalent to a git fetch followed by a git merge, and since git merge operates on the working tree, git tries to hunt for the working tree. As this user does not have permission to cd /root, the git command fails.
Even your second example doesn't work as you would expect. If there are actual changes to be pulled (instead of "Already up-to-date"), then the git pull will fail because it can't find the working tree.
You have a few simple options:
1) You can just do the git fetch portion of the operation by doing:
sudo -u dmalikov git --git-dir=/home/dmalikov/path/to/repo/.git fetch
which doesn't give any error for me.
2) You can add a cd to the working tree:
(cd /home/dmalikov/path/to/repo; sudo -u dmalikov git pull)