In this article you will learn that what are git modules and how you can clone a repo with all its git submodules 
 

Git submodules:

Git submodules are a way to include one Git repository within another Git repository. A submodule allows you to keep another Git repository in a subdirectory of your repository, while still allowing you to independently version the submodule and track its history.

Here are some common Git submodule tasks:

• Add a submodule to a Git repository:

git submodule add <repo_url> <directory>

Replace "<repo_url>" with the URL of the submodule repository you want to add, and "<directory>" with the path where you want to place the submodule in your main repository.

• Clone a repository with submodules:

git clone --recursive <repo_url>

Replace "<repo_url>" with the URL of the repository you want to clone. The "--recursive" option tells Git to clone the repository, as well as all of its submodules, recursively.

• Update submodules to latest commit:

git submodule update --init --recursive

This will initialize and update all submodules to their latest committed state.

• Remove a submodule from a Git repository:

git submodule deinit <directory>
git rm <directory>
rm -rf .git/modules/<directory>

Replace "<directory>" with the path to the submodule in your main repository. This will remove the submodule from your main repository, including all submodule-related files.

How to clone a repo including its submodules ?

To clone a Git repository, including its submodules, you need to use the "--recursive" option when running the "git clone" command. This will tell Git to clone the repository, as well as all of its submodules, recursively. Here's how to do it:

• Open a terminal or command prompt.
• Run the following command to clone the repository, including its submodules:

git clone --recursive <repo_url>

Replace "<repo_url>" with the URL of the repository you want to clone.

• Once the cloning process is complete, navigate into the newly cloned repository:

cd <repo_name>

Replace "<repo_name>" with the name of the repository.

With the "--recursive" option, Git will automatically clone all of the submodules in the repository, along with the main repository. The submodules will be cloned into separate subdirectories within the main repository. Note that you will need to initialize and update the submodules in the repository separately. You can do this by running the following command in the main repository:

git submodule update --init --recursive