git submodule status does not report branch. Bug?

Windflower Waters

I set the branch that I want my submodule to point to using this command:

git submodule set-branch -b <branch-name> <path to submodule>

That works. I can see the branch = <branch name> in .gitmodules.

Then I update the submodule to the head of the branch like this:

git submodule update --remote <path to submodule>

That does update to the commit that matches the head of the branch.

However, when I ask:

git submodule status <path to submodule>

It reports that the submodule is on the main track, not on my branch. 

I just want it to read the <branch name> from .gitmodules.

I think this is a bug in git because all the git documentation shows that it the branch should be displayed by git submodule status. 

Theodora Boudale

Hi @Windflower Waters,

The following page has info on how/where to report bugs with Git:

• http://git-scm.com/community

However, I would suggest first checking what version of Git you have installed locally and upgrading to the latest version.

I have tried the steps you mentioned in your question on my machine (with the latest version of Git installed) and git submodule status <path to submodule> returns the HEAD of the branch I determined.

You can check the version of Git on your machine with the command git --version

The latest version available is listed here: https://git-scm.com/downloads

If you have an older version locally, can you try upgrading to the latest one and see if the issue persists?

Kind regards,
Theodora