====== starting a new remote branch ======
In the examples below, there is a shared repo (shared), a user1 (doing the branch changes), and a user2 (needs to pull the branch changes).

Method 1 may be better for you if the branch already exists locally, and you need that history pushed to the shared repo.


===== method 1: start a local branch and push it to the remote =====
  * shared repo has one branch: master
  * user1 creates a new local branch called dev<code>
$ git checkout -b dev
</code>
  * push the new local branch to the shared repo:<code>
$ git push origin dev
</code>
  * but wait - even though user1 created the branch and pushed it to the remote, the local branch is not yet tracking the shared branch
    * option 1 - use %%--set-upstream%%<code>
git branch --set-upstream dev origin/dev
(output should be: Branch dev set up to track remote branch dev from origin.)
</code>
    * option 2 - delete the local branch and create it again with %%--track%%<code>
$ git checkout master
$ git branch -D dev
$ git checkout --track -b dev origin/dev
</code>
    * option 3 - manually edit your .git/config by adding lines similar to the following (this is what %%--set-upstream%% does for you)<code>
[branch "dev"]
	remote = origin
	merge = refs/heads/dev
</code>
  * user2 can pull changes to see the new branch, then use the same command as user1 to create a local branch and track the remote branch:<code>
$ git pull

From /path/to/shared/repo
 * [new branch]      dev        -> origin/dev
Already up-to-date.

$ git checkout --track -b dev origin/dev
$ git branch -a

* dev
  master
  remotes/origin/HEAD -> origin/master
  remotes/origin/dev
  remotes/origin/master
</code>

===== method 2: push a new branch directly to the shared repo =====
  * shared repo has one branch: master
  * user1 pushes a new branch (dev) to the shared repo<code>
$ git push origin origin:refs/heads/dev
</code>
  * user1 now has the following branches locally:<code>
$ git branch -a

* master
  remotes/origin/HEAD -> origin/master
  remotes/origin/dev
  remotes/origin/master
</code>
  * user1 now must create a local branch which is set to "track" the new remote branch:<code>
$ git checkout --track -b dev origin/dev
$ git branch -a

* dev
  master
  remotes/origin/HEAD -> origin/master
  remotes/origin/dev
  remotes/origin/master
</code>
  * user2 can pull changes to see the new branch, then use the same command as user1 to create a local branch and track the remote branch:<code>
$ git pull

From /path/to/shared/repo
 * [new branch]      dev        -> origin/dev
Already up-to-date.

$ git checkout --track -b dev origin/dev
$ git branch -a

* dev
  master
  remotes/origin/HEAD -> origin/master
  remotes/origin/dev
  remotes/origin/master
</code>

===== Advanced Topics =====
==== creating a new remote branch from a branch other than master ====
we want to create a new remote branch called foo2 from an existing remote branch called foo
<code>
$ git push origin origin/foo:refs/heads/foo2
</code>

==== remove a remote branch ====
<code>
git push origin :old_branch_to_be_deleted
</code>

===== External Links =====
  * http://cheat.errtheblog.com/s/git