Fix Git Permission Drift (Windows + WSL)

The Clean Way to Stop “mode 100755 → 100644” Permission Drift in Git When Sharing Repos Between Windows and WSL on NTFS

Windows WSL Git Permissions Shared NTFS EOL LF CRLF

Seeing old mode 100755 → new mode 100644 and CRLF/LF warnings when working on Git repos from both Windows PowerShell and WSL via a shared NTFS drive? This guide explains the root cause and gives a one-click PowerShell fix script, recommended global Git settings, .gitattributes, and WSL mount options to permanently stop permission drift—without breaking anything.

Why this matters (1-minute story)

You switch between Windows and WSL on the same repo and Git starts showing permission diffs you never intended. Reviews get noisy; CI fails on scripts that “lost” execute bits. The fix is straightforward: make Windows ignore Unix permission changes, help WSL remember them on NTFS, and normalize line endings. Copy, paste, done.

TL;DR

Prerequisites

Step 1 — One-click PowerShell (global defaults + auto-fix all repos under a root)

Save as fix-git-permission-drift.ps1 and run in PowerShell. It sets global Git defaults and then finds every Git repo under a chosen root, fixing each automatically.

Code Language
 1# --- fix-git-permission-drift.ps1 ---
 2# Purpose: Stop Git permission-bit drift on shared NTFS (Windows + WSL)
 3
 4param(
 5  [Parameter(Mandatory=$false)]
 6  [string]$Root = "D:\Code"   # ← change this to your repos root folder
 7)
 8
 9# 1) Global Git defaults (affects future clones)
10git config --global core.fileMode false       # ignore Unix exec-bit changes on Windows
11git config --global core.autocrlf input       # keep LF in repo; avoid CRLF churn
12git config --global core.symlinks false       # consistent behavior on NTFS
13
14Write-Host "`n[OK] Global Git config set." -ForegroundColor Green
15Write-Host "[i] Scanning for Git repos under: $Root`n" -ForegroundColor Cyan
16
17# 2) Find all .git folders under $Root (non-recursive .git detection)
18$gitDirs = Get-ChildItem -Path $Root -Recurse -Force -Directory -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue `
19           | Where-Object { $_.Name -eq ".git" }
20
21if (-not $gitDirs) {
22  Write-Host "[!] No Git repositories found under $Root" -ForegroundColor Yellow
23  exit 0
24}
25
26foreach ($gitDir in $gitDirs) {
27  $repo = $gitDir.Parent.FullName
28  Write-Host "Fixing repo: $repo" -ForegroundColor Cyan
29  Set-Location $repo
30
31  # 3) Ignore permission changes in this repo
32  git config core.fileMode false
33
34  # 4) Ensure shell scripts are executable in index (avoid mode flip-flop)
35  #    Safe no-op if none exist
36  git update-index --chmod=+x *.sh 2>$null
37
38  # 5) If .gitattributes exists, renormalize line endings (optional but recommended)
39  if (Test-Path ".gitattributes") {
40    git add --renormalize . | Out-Null
41  }
42
43  # 6) Quick status for visibility
44  git status --short
45  Write-Host "[OK] Done: $repo" -ForegroundColor Green
46  Write-Host "------------------------------"
47}
48
49# 7) Return to original location
50Pop-Location 2>$null
51Write-Host "`nAll repositories processed. Permission drift should now be resolved ✅" -ForegroundColor Green

Run it:

Code Language
1Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope Process -ExecutionPolicy Bypass
2.\fix-git-permission-drift.ps1 -Root "D:\Code"

Step 2 — Add a minimal .gitattributes (once per repo)

Keeps scripts on LF and prevents CRLF noise across platforms.

Code Language
 1# Keep Unix line endings for scripts
 2*.sh text eol=lf
 3
 4# Normalize common text files
 5*.js  text
 6*.ts  text
 7*.jsx text
 8*.tsx text
 9*.css text
10*.html text
11*.md  text
12
13# Never normalize binaries
14*.png binary
15*.jpg binary
16*.jpeg binary
17*.gif binary
18*.pdf binary
19*.zip binary

Then normalize the index (PowerShell or WSL):

Code Language
1git add --renormalize .
2git status

Step 3 — Help WSL remember Unix perms on NTFS (one-time)

Enables metadata so WSL can persist Unix permission bits on NTFS.

In WSL:

Code Language
1sudo sh -c 'printf "[automount]\noptions = \"metadata\"\n" > /etc/wsl.conf'

Restart WSL from Windows:

Code Language
1wsl --shutdown

Verify mount options (in WSL):

Code Language
1mount | grep -E "/mnt/|drvfs"

You should see metadata in the options for your NTFS mounts.

Step 4 — Verify

In both Windows PowerShell and WSL, inside any repo:

Code Language
1git config --show-origin core.fileMode   # should show false at repo level
2git status                               # should be clean (no mode flips)

If a script still shows mode changes:

Code Language
1git update-index --chmod=+x path/to/script.sh
2git commit -m "Normalize script execute bit"

Common pitfalls

Copy-paste checklist

Final word

With core.fileMode=false, a sane .gitattributes, and WSL metadata, cross-platform work on shared NTFS is quiet and predictable. Clean diffs, fewer surprises, smoother reviews.

Keywords for SEO

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