save old git repository versions

Question

For the project I'm working on, I need to save all the files of a specific version of a git repository. I've looked through a fair amount of information regarding git checkout but I can't figure out what that does to the files in the directory I have, let alone save the version of that specific commit. Does anyone know a way to get the files of a git repository at a specific commit? Thanks.

Answer 1

Do a "git export" (like "svn export")?

git checkout [commit sha]
git archive --format zip --output /full/path/to/zipfile.zip master

However, I don't know, why. Usually one use a vcs exactly because it saves every state, so why don't you just tag it and check it out, when you need it?

Answer 2

I think tag will help. Every time you like to save all the current files, type something like git tag -a v1.4 -m 'version 1.4'. So once you want those files back, commit or stash changes first, then type git checkout v1.4, the files will rollback to the time you tagged. Check these link for further infomation: how to tag and how to get them back.