On Fri, 16 Dec 2016 09:20:07 +0000, Junio C Hamano wrote: ... > > error: cannot lock ref 'stash-refs/pull-requests/18978/to': Unable to create '/opt/apps/..../repositories/68/stash-refs/pull-requests/18978/to.lock': File exists. ... > I think (and I think you also think) these messages come from the > Bitbucket side, not your "git push" (or "git fetch"). I *know* that this is the case - we don't have refs like that on the local side. (Our users are more scared about them.) ... > when there are locked refs. I'd naively think that unless you are > pushing to that ref you showed an error message for, the receiving > end shouldn't care if the ref is being written by somebody else, but > who knows ;-) They may have their own reasons wanting to lock that > ref that we think would be irrelevant for the operation, causing > errors. Possible. I'm going Byrans way for now, disabling the gc there. But: In a different instance, we have a simple bare git repo that we use for backup purposes. Which means there are lots of pushes going there (all to disjunct refs), and I now cared to look into those logfiles: ----snip Wed Dec 21 05:08:14 CET 2016 fatal: Unable to create '/data/git-backup/backup.git/packed-refs.lock': File exists. If no other git process is currently running, this probably means a git process crashed in this repository earlier. Make sure no other git process is running and remove the file manually to continue. error: failed to run pack-refs To git-backup-user@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx:backup.git + 8aac9ae...2df6d56 refs/zz/current -> refs/backup/socvm217/ZworkspacesZsocvm217ZjohanabtZws-release_tools.Ycurr (forced update) ----snip I interpret this as "I updated the refs files, but packing them didn't work because someone else was also packing right now." Is that happening as designed, or do I need to be afraid that some refs didn't make the push? To ask differently, is git relying on people reading such messages and following up on them? And thus isn't that easy to use in automated processes? (Additional problem: The user in question, besides being an automat, doesn't have the capability to work in the target repository.) Andreas -- "Totally trivial. Famous last words." From: Linus Torvalds <torvalds@*.org> Date: Fri, 22 Jan 2010 07:29:21 -0800