2.4.3. Checking Out by Tag in Poky

Similar to branches, the upstream repository uses tags to mark specific commits associated with significant points in a development branch (i.e. a release point or stage of a release). You might want to set up a local branch based on one of those points in the repository. The process is similar to checking out by branch name except you use tag names.

Note

Checking out a branch based on a tag gives you a stable set of files not affected by development on the branch above the tag.

  1. Switch to the Poky Directory: If you have a local poky Git repository, switch to that directory. If you do not have the local copy of poky, see the "Cloning the poky Repository" section.

  2. Fetch the Tag Names: To checkout the branch based on a tag name, you need to fetch the upstream tags into your local repository:

         $ git fetch --tags
         $
                        

  3. List the Tag Names: You can list the tag names now:

         $ git tag
         1.1_M1.final
         1.1_M1.rc1
         1.1_M1.rc2
         1.1_M2.final
         1.1_M2.rc1
            .
            .
            .
         yocto-2.2
         yocto-2.2.1
         yocto-2.3
         yocto-2.3.1
         yocto-2.4
         yocto_1.5_M5.rc8
                        

  4. Checkout the Branch:

         $ git checkout tags/yocto-2.6 -b my_yocto_2.6
         Switched to a new branch 'my_yocto_2.6'
         $ git branch
           master
         * my_yocto_2.6
                        

    The previous command creates and checks out a local branch named "my_yocto_2.6", which is based on the commit in the upstream poky repository that has the same tag. In this example, the files you have available locally as a result of the checkout command are a snapshot of the "thud" development branch at the point where Yocto Project 2.6 was released.