git-proxy

An utility to use remote git instance — helpful when you keep sources on VM and mount it via CIFS on host.

how it works

For example, Docker for Windows has a completely pathetic performance on I/O, so I found out a workflow on Windows which allows to work on projects almost painless:

1. Create a VM with project runtime, store project files on this machine,
2. Set up a CIFS/Samba share and mount it on Windows side.

Then open this project using an IntelliJ tool, eg. PHPStorm. Indexing performance is acceptable, but git updates/commits/diffs are very slow. So I came across idea to proxy IntelliJ's git requests to VM where it runs under native filesystem, not mounted one. All you need is setup this tool and forget.

Basicly, git-proxy:

1. Proxies stdin/arguments to defined VM (according to default deployment configuration),
2. Sniffs paths to files (especially on git commit message) and makes sure they are available on VM (using SCP, executing git and cleaning up),
3. Returns stdout to IntelliJ.

usage

1. Install Git for Windows,
2. Create ~/.ssh/config with an entry pointing to your VM:

Host dev
	User me
	IdentityFile...

Make sure it's loginless, eg. run ssh-agent or passwordless key login. 2. Create a project within your virtual machine and configure deployment for project. Use the same name as in SSH configuration, make it default (as the git-proxy uses the default connection to map directories). Make sure you fill up the remote directory field: 3. Extract release archive anywhere you want and modify config.ini file:

[proxy]
default_host=dev

4. Change IntelliJ git binary path to point on executable:

configuration

Put config.ini file in the same directory as the executable:

[proxy]
;debug= ; eg. D:\\log.txt store some debug information if something works wrong
default_host=dev	; default host used for git --version
;scp_path=c:\\Program Files\\Git\\usr\\bin\\scp.exe	; custom SCP binary path
;ssh_path=c:\\Program Files\\Git\\usr\\bin\\ssh.exe ; custom SSH binary path
;git_path=c:\\Program Files\\Git\\bin\\git.exe ; custom git binary path
;locals=log	; comma-separated list of commands executed local
;remote_tmp=/tmp	; writable directory for translating paths

building

It was created using Visual Studio 2017 and Boost libraries. Pull this repository, install packages and download git submodules:

git clone --recurse-submodules -j8 https://github.com/er1z/git-proxy.git

disclaimer

I'm not a C++ developer and take no responsibility on any data lose. You're now aware.

But honestly, I'm using this tool daily and nothing is lost. Feel free to experiment with code and post issues, submit pull requests.