| Developer(s) | Microsoft |
|---|---|
| Stable release | |
| Preview release | 1.0.20175.6 / June 23, 2020; 4 years ago (2020-06-23) |
| Repository | |
| Written in | C++ andC# |
| Operating system | Windows 10 Creators Update and later,macOS |
| Type | Virtual file system forGit |
| License | MIT License |
| Website | github |
Virtual File System for Git (VFS for Git), developed byMicrosoft, is an extension to theGit version control system.
VFS for Git is designed to ease the handling of enterprise-scale Git repositories, such as theMicrosoft Windows operating system (whose development switched to Git under Microsoft's internal "One Engineering System" initiative). The system exposes avirtual file system that only downloads files to local storage as they are needed.
VFS for Git was originally namedGit Virtual File System (GVFS). However due to complaints by the developers ofGNOME over confusion withGNOME Virtual File System, Microsoft announced that it would solicit ideas for a new name of the software in June 2018, following its acquisition of GitHub.[2] Its first release[3] under the new name was in August 2018.
In November 2017,GitHub announced that it would support VFS for Git.[4][5]
VFS for Git has been superseded byScalar.[6] Scalar was then integrated into theMicrosoft Git project.[7][8]
We transitioned our large repository strategy to focus on usinggit sparse-checkout instead of filesystem virtualization. We then forked the VFS for Git codebase to createScalar.The Scalar executable has now been ported to be included in themicrosoft/git fork.
