Some libraries that Ceph uses are incorporated into the build tree through a technique known as git subtrees. This is an alternative to git submodules, that is also used in Ceph. One such library is the dmclock library. Here are some basic notes on the use of git subtrees. When a subtree is added to the repo, commands such as these were run from the top-level ceph directory: git subtree add --prefix src/dmclock \ git@github.com:ceph/dmclock.git master --squash That essentially brings in a full copy of the library into the subdirectory src/dmclock, but squashes all the commits into a single one. If in time the library is updated and you'd like to bring the updates in, you could run: git subtree pull --prefix src/dmclock \ git@github.com:ceph/dmclock.git master --squash WARNINGS If you'd like to modify the library contained in a subtree it's likely best to modify it in the library's repo and then pull in the changes with "git subtree pull ..." (see above). IMPORTANT: If you modify the library within the ceph tree, then do NOT combined changes within the subtree and outside the subtree in a single commit. Each commit should either only contain changes within the subtree or outside the subtree. That gives you the option to cleanly push those changes back to the library's repo. IMPORTANT: If you do a rebase and the commits that are redone include the commits that encapsulate a "git subtree add ..." or "git subtree pull ..." you have to be VERY CAREFUL. Those commits lose the prefix and try to apply the changes to the wrong paths! Instead, you essentially have to do the rebase interactively, remove the commits for the subtree add/pull, and manually re-do them between the other commits. Some developers prefer not to even do a "git rebase ..." and instead cherry-pick the commits and manually do the subtree adds/pulls.