git-annex

Initialize git-annex

$ git annex init "[description]"

$ git annex add [largefile.zip]

$ git annex get [file]

$ git annex drop [file]

$ git annex sync

git annex command [options] [files]

git-annex manages large files with git without storing file contents in git history. Files are replaced with symlinks to content stored in a separate annex, enabling version control of large datasets.
The tool tracks which repositories have copies of which files, enabling distributed storage across local drives, servers, and cloud services. Content can be retrieved on demand with git annex get and removed locally with git annex drop.
git-annex supports special remotes including Amazon S3, rsync, and many other backends, making it ideal for managing research datasets, media archives, and any large file collections.

init DESC

Initialize repository for annex.

Add files to annex.

Download file content.

Remove local content.

Synchronize with remotes.

Show where content is stored.

Copy to remote.

Display help information.

.git/annex/

Local annex storage directory containing file content and metadata.

Repository configuration including remote repository settings and annex preferences.

Learning curve for concepts. Some special remotes need setup. Windows support limited.

git-annex was created by Joey Hess in 2010 to solve the problem of managing large files in git repositories.

git(1), git-lfs(1)