Multiple remote with git lfs

1

I work on renkulab, but a collaborator works in a different remote. I can add the different remote without problems. However git LFS is not behaving the same way.
In particular, when I try to checkout a git LFS file from this other remote, it tries to download, then give a [404] error.

attempt for checking out the git LFS file

git checkout remote_origin/branch_on_remote -- OBJECT

OBJECT corresponds to the path of the file from root of the repo, remote_origin is the remote where I’m trying to fetch the git LFS file from.

Error message:

Downloading OBJECT (273 B)
Error downloading object: OBJECT (c902841): Smudge error: Error downloading OBJECT (c902841c5cf3623d8f79985e16412fe436d4ff3a55b0094cfa02947xxxxxxxxx): [c902841c5cf3623d8f79985e16412fe436d4ff3a55b0094cfa02947xxxxxxxxx] Object does not exist on the server or you don’t have permissions to access it: [404] Object does not exist on the server or you don’t have permissions to access it

Errors logged to project/.git/lfs/logs/20210601T112524.125834236.log
Use git lfs logs last to view the log.
error: external filter git-lfs smudge – %f failed 2
error: external filter git-lfs smudge – %f failed
fatal: OBJECT: smudge filter lfs failed

I read that git LFS cannot handle multiple remotes, is that really the case? Do I need to download the file and manually add it?

Thanks!
Firat

Edit: If I use a regular git file for OBJECT instead of a git LFS object, it works.

2

Hi @firat - can you include the actual commands you used?

3

Hi @rrrrrok, I just edited my question to include it, thanks!

4

are you sure the LFS objects have been pushed to this other remote? i.e. if you clone that repo by itself, it works?

5

Yes, I can confirm it is in the repo and I can pull it if I clone that repo

6

I think using git LFS with multiple remotes isn’t properly supported by LFS, see

and

the last of which contains a workaround.

7

Hi @ralf.grubenmann,

When I first came across the last issue you referenced, I thought that cannot be it, because it didn’t seem to do anything at first. I tried again on a clean clone of the other repo, trying to git lfs pull from renkulab this time.
1st attempt, same error (for a different git LFS object, obviously). Git checked out git files, but lfs failed, so I was still on the old branch from other remote with all the different files.

git stash save

and one more attempt, then it worked! I don’t know why git LFS tried to download objects the first time I checked out a branch from renkulab even though I disabled it

git lfs install --skip-smudge --local

Regardless, it now seems to work, thanks!

For future reference, exact steps are the following. For the setting where I am on remoteA and I want to fetch git LFS from branch branchB from remoteB:

git lfs install --skip-smudge --local
git checkout -b branchBfromremoteB remoteB/branchB
git lfs pull remoteB

If second step fails, git stash save, and repeat again… :slight_smile:

Firat

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