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P4 Server Administration Documentation | 2025.2

# Clone results in "remote HEAD refers to nonexistent ref"

Running the following command:

    $ git clone git@ConnectorHost:gD1/repo8

results in:

Copy

    Cloning into 'repo8'...
    remote: Counting objects: 3, done.
    remote: Total 3 (delta 0), reused 0 (delta 0)
    Receiving objects: 100% (3/3), done.
    Checking connectivity... done.
    warning: remote HEAD refers to nonexistent ref, unable to checkout.

To resolve this issue, do one of the following:

- Edit the repo spec to specify `refs/heads/main` as the default branch to clone from. This is required for any repo not using the `refs/heads/branch` default branch. For details, see Specify a default branch.

- Run the following special command to set the default branch to `refs/heads/main`:

      $ git clone git@ConnectorHost:@defaultbranch:gD1/repo8=refs/heads/main

  This results in the following output:

  Copy

      git clone git@ConnectorHost:@defaultbranch:gD1/repo8=refs/heads/main
      Cloning into 'repo8=refs/heads/main'...
      repo='gD1/repo8', old DefaultBranch='', new DefaultBranch='refs/heads/main'
      fatal: Could not read from remote repository.

  The special command sets the default branch even if Git cannot parse it and the commands terminates with:

      Fatal: Could not read from remote repository.

  You can also run `@defaultbranch:gD1/repo8` to show the default branch and `@defaultbranch:gD1/repo8=` to clear the default branch.

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