title: Can I clone from a simple file server that has absolutely no Git commands installed?
body: <p>I have a NAS setup that has a minimal Linux system installed. I can SSH to it, but I haven't had any luck installing a package manager and subsequently software like GCC or Git, so it is an extremely bare bones system right now.</p>
  
  <p>I have copied a small Git repository to a directory of the NAS via SFTP, and I'm trying to clone it, but I've had no success. I've tried multiple variations of the path, but I always get this error:</p>
  
  <pre><code>sh: git-upload-pack: not found
  fatal: Could not read from remote repository.
  
  Please make sure you have the correct access rights
  and the repository exists.
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I'm confused about what it means. The <a href="https://git-scm.com/docs/git-upload-pack/2.19.2" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><code>git-upload-pack</code> documentation</a> says:</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>Invoked by <em>git fetch-pack</em>, learns what objects the other side is missing, and sends them after packing.</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>The command exists on my client computer.</p>
  
  <p>Is <code>git upload-pack</code> invoked on the server? Does this mean I need to have Git (or parts of it) installed on both sides in order for Git SSH access to work? Or am I misdiagnosing and probably just getting the path wrong?</p>