The submodule is updated according to where `origin/HEAD` points. The `origin/HEAD` ref of a repository is not automatically updated when the upstream default branch changes. However, this can be forced with `git remote set-head origin -a`. I think it is a little bit surprising that `origin/HEAD` does not necessarily point to the remote default branch. However, changing the default branch should be pretty rare, so I understand this is not checked every time. Regards, Sjoerd Langkemper On Fri, Oct 15, 2021 at 10:34 AM Sjoerd Langkemper <sjoerd-2021@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > I am having trouble with git 2.33.1 checking out the wrong branch for > submodules for which the default branch has changed. `git submodule > update --remote` seems to remember the branch name to retrieve, while > I expect it to use the remote HEAD every time. This causes unexpected > behaviour when the remote HEAD starts pointing to another branch. > > I create a new git project and add a submodule, with `git submodule > add git@host:foo/testproject.git`. > > This checks out the default branch, `master` in this case. `git remote > show origin` also shows that `master` is the HEAD branch. Running `git > submodule update --remote` updates the submodule to the latest master. > > Now I change the default branch on the remote (using Gitlab's web > interface) to `newmaster`. > > `git remote show origin` now correctly shows `newmaster` as the > remote's HEAD branch. However, running `git submodule update --remote` > still updates the submodule to the latest `master` branch, while I > expect it to update to the lastest `newmaster` branch. > > There's no branch specified in .gitmodules or .git/config. I am not > sure how git remembers the branch. When switching `testproject` to > `newmaster` manually and then running `git submodule update --remote`, > it is reset to `master` again. > > Is this a bug? Can I change the branch somehow? > > Regards, > > Sjoerd Langkemper
