I have a local repository called TestRepo. I clone it with the --bare option, zip this clone up, and throw it on my server. Unzip it, and it's still bare.

I then clone the bare remote repository locally over ssh with something like

git clone ssh://[email protected]/~/TestRepo.git TestRepoCloned

The local TestRepoCloned is not bare and has a remote called "origin." It appears to be tracking correctly from the looks of its config file

[core]
    repositoryformatversion = 0
    filemode = true
    bare = false
    logallrefupdates = true
    ignorecase = true
[remote "origin"]
    fetch = +refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/origin/*
    url = ssh://[email protected]/~/TestRepo.git
[branch "master"]
    remote = origin
    merge = refs/heads/master

I edit an existing file. I commit the change to the current branch (master) via

git commit -a -m "Edited a file."

The commit succeeds and all is well.

I decide to push this change to the remote repository via SSH with a

git push

The remote repository is now no longer bare, but has a complete working directory, and I get continuous error messages on all further attempts to push to it.

Everything I've read seems to suggest that what I'm doing is correct, but it simply is not working. How am I supposed to push changes to a bare remote repo and actually keep it bare?