Error when creating branch in git

Question

I am using git-svn repo on Windows, using msysgit 1.8.5. Here is my .git/config:

[core]
    repositoryformatversion = 0
    filemode = false
    bare = false
    logallrefupdates = true
    symlinks = false
    ignorecase = true
    hideDotFiles = dotGitOnly
[svn-remote "svn"] 
    url = https://svn.domain.com:8443/svn
    fetch = trunk:refs/remotes/trunk
    branches = branches/{BR_4_1_4}:refs/remotes/branches/*

And my list of branches:

$ git branch -a
  BR_4_1_4
* trunk
  remotes/branches/BR_4_1_4
  remotes/trunk

And I want to create a branch off of trunk named trunk_work, so I issue the following command (you can also see the subsequent error):

$ git branch trunk_work
warning: refname 'trunk' is ambiguous.
fatal: Ambiguous object name: 'trunk'.

Any idea why this is failing? I Googled a bit but didn't see anything specific to this problem. Thanks in advance.

@SamSullivan I'm not creating a tag, I'm trying to create a branch with a completely different name. Not sure what you expected me to find... — void.pointer, Jan 09 '14 at 22:29
Potentially helpful: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4644380/git-warning-refname-xxx-is-ambiguous (the second highest rates answer might at least give a workaround). — Chris, Jan 09 '14 at 22:47
@Chris Perfect! If you post an answer I'll give you a green checkmark! Thanks! — void.pointer, Jan 09 '14 at 23:04

score 2 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:33

I mentioned in the comments, I think you can probably solve your problem using the solutions given in this answer: Git: warning: refname 'xxx' is ambiguous when using git-svn

I think the second highest rated answer may be the one you're most interested in:

git config --global core.warnambiguousrefs false

Although it also looked like, from those comments, that specifiying the branch in the format heads/trunk (if that's the one you're interested in), may do the job.

Some documentation: Git config

Error when creating branch in git

1 Answers1