diff --git a/scripts/combo-layer b/scripts/combo-layer
index 8ed9be8f37..d11274e245 100755
--- a/scripts/combo-layer
+++ b/scripts/combo-layer
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import os, sys
 import optparse
 import logging
 import subprocess
+import tempfile
 import ConfigParser
 import re
 from collections import OrderedDict
@@ -190,6 +191,11 @@ def action_init(conf, args):
             subprocess.check_call("git clone %s %s" % (conf.repos[name]['src_uri'], ldir), shell=True)
     if not os.path.exists(".git"):
         runcmd("git init")
+        if conf.history:
+            # Need a common ref for all trees.
+            runcmd('git commit -m "initial empty commit" --allow-empty')
+            startrev = runcmd('git rev-parse master').strip()
+
         for name in conf.repos:
             repo = conf.repos[name]
             ldir = repo['local_repo_dir']
@@ -205,6 +211,25 @@ def action_init(conf, args):
                 lastrev = None
                 initialrev = branch
                 logger.info("Copying data from %s..." % name)
+            # Sanity check initialrev and turn it into hash (required for copying history,
+            # because resolving a name ref only works in the component repo).
+            rev = runcmd('git rev-parse %s' % initialrev, ldir).strip()
+            if rev != initialrev:
+                try:
+                    refs = runcmd('git show-ref -s %s' % initialrev, ldir).split('\n')
+                    if len(set(refs)) > 1:
+                        # Happens for example when configured to track
+                        # "master" and there is a refs/heads/master. The
+                        # traditional behavior from "git archive" (preserved
+                        # here) it to choose the first one. This might not be
+                        # intended, so at least warn about it.
+                        logger.warn("%s: initial revision '%s' not unique, picking result of rev-parse = %s" %
+                                    (name, initialrev, refs[0]))
+                        initialrev = rev
+                except:
+                    # show-ref fails for hashes. Skip the sanity warning in that case.
+                    pass
+                initialrev = rev
             dest_dir = repo['dest_dir']
             if dest_dir and dest_dir != ".":
                 extract_dir = os.path.join(os.getcwd(), dest_dir)
@@ -213,22 +238,155 @@ def action_init(conf, args):
             else:
                 extract_dir = os.getcwd()
             file_filter = repo.get('file_filter', "")
-            files = runcmd("git archive %s | tar -x -v -C %s %s" % (initialrev, extract_dir, file_filter), ldir)
             exclude_patterns = repo.get('file_exclude', '').split()
-            if exclude_patterns:
-                # Implement file removal by letting tar create the
-                # file and then deleting it in the file system
-                # again. Uses the list of files created by tar (easier
-                # than walking the tree).
-                for file in files.split('\n'):
-                    for pattern in exclude_patterns:
-                        if fnmatch.fnmatch(file, pattern):
-                            os.unlink(os.path.join(extract_dir, file))
-                            break
+            def copy_selected_files(initialrev, extract_dir, file_filter, exclude_patterns, ldir,
+                                    subdir=""):
+                # When working inside a filtered branch which had the
+                # files already moved, we need to prepend the
+                # subdirectory to all filters, otherwise they would
+                # not match.
+                if subdir:
+                    file_filter = ' '.join([subdir + '/' + x for x in file_filter.split()])
+                    exclude_patterns = [subdir + '/' + x for x in exclude_patterns]
+                # To handle both cases, we cd into the target
+                # directory and optionally tell tar to strip the path
+                # prefix when the files were already moved.
+                subdir_components = len(os.path.normpath(subdir).split(os.path.sep)) if subdir else 0
+                strip=('--strip-components=%d' % subdir_components) if subdir else ''
+                # TODO: file_filter wild cards do not work (and haven't worked before either), because
+                # a) GNU tar requires a --wildcards parameter before turning on wild card matching.
+                # b) The semantic is not as intendend (src/*.c also matches src/foo/bar.c,
+                #    in contrast to the other use of file_filter as parameter of "git archive"
+                #    where it only matches .c files directly in src).
+                files = runcmd("git archive %s %s | tar -x -v %s -C %s %s" %
+                               (initialrev, subdir,
+                                strip, extract_dir, file_filter),
+                               ldir)
+                if exclude_patterns:
+                    # Implement file removal by letting tar create the
+                    # file and then deleting it in the file system
+                    # again. Uses the list of files created by tar (easier
+                    # than walking the tree).
+                    for file in files.split('\n'):
+                        for pattern in exclude_patterns:
+                            if fnmatch.fnmatch(file, pattern):
+                                os.unlink(os.path.join(*([extract_dir] + ['..'] * subdir_components + [file])))
+                                break
+
+            if not conf.history:
+                copy_selected_files(initialrev, extract_dir, file_filter, exclude_patterns, ldir)
+            else:
+                # First fetch remote history into local repository.
+                # We need a ref for that, so ensure that there is one.
+                refname = "combo-layer-init-%s" % name
+                runcmd("git branch -f %s %s" % (refname, initialrev), ldir)
+                runcmd("git fetch %s %s" % (ldir, refname))
+                runcmd("git branch -D %s" % refname, ldir)
+                # Make that the head revision.
+                runcmd("git checkout -b %s %s" % (name, initialrev))
+                # Optional: rewrite history to change commit messages or to move files.
+                if 'hook' in repo or dest_dir and dest_dir != ".":
+                    filter_branch = ['git', 'filter-branch', '--force']
+                    with tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile() as hookwrapper:
+                        if 'hook' in repo:
+                            # Create a shell script wrapper around the original hook that
+                            # can be used by git filter-branch. Hook may or may not have
+                            # an absolute path.
+                            hook = repo['hook']
+                            hook = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(conf.conffile), '..', hook)
+                            # The wrappers turns the commit message
+                            # from stdin into a fake patch header.
+                            # This is good enough for changing Subject
+                            # and commit msg body with normal
+                            # combo-layer hooks.
+                            hookwrapper.write('''set -e
+tmpname=$(mktemp)
+trap "rm $tmpname" EXIT
+echo -n 'Subject: [PATCH] ' >>$tmpname
+cat >>$tmpname
+if ! [ $(tail -c 1 $tmpname | od -A n -t x1) == '0a' ]; then
+    echo >>$tmpname
+fi
+echo '---' >>$tmpname
+%s $tmpname $GIT_COMMIT %s
+tail -c +18 $tmpname | head -c -4
+''' % (hook, name))
+                            hookwrapper.flush()
+                            filter_branch.extend(['--msg-filter', 'bash %s' % hookwrapper.name])
+                        if dest_dir and dest_dir != ".":
+                            parent = os.path.dirname(dest_dir)
+                            if not parent:
+                                parent = '.'
+                            # May run outside of the current directory, so do not assume that .git exists.
+                            filter_branch.extend(['--tree-filter', 'mkdir -p .git/tmptree && mv $(ls -1 -a | grep -v -e ^.git$ -e ^.$ -e ^..$) .git/tmptree && mkdir -p %s && mv .git/tmptree %s' % (parent, dest_dir)])
+                        filter_branch.append('HEAD')
+                        runcmd(filter_branch)
+                        runcmd('git update-ref -d refs/original/refs/heads/%s' % name)
+                repo['rewritten_revision'] = runcmd('git rev-parse HEAD').strip()
+                repo['stripped_revision'] = repo['rewritten_revision']
+                # Optional filter files: remove everything and re-populate using the normal filtering code.
+                # Override any potential .gitignore.
+                if file_filter or exclude_patterns:
+                    runcmd('git rm -rf .')
+                    if not os.path.exists(extract_dir):
+                        os.makedirs(extract_dir)
+                    copy_selected_files('HEAD', extract_dir, file_filter, exclude_patterns, '.',
+                                        subdir=dest_dir if dest_dir and dest_dir != '.' else '')
+                    runcmd('git add --all --force .')
+                    if runcmd('git status --porcelain'):
+                        # Something to commit.
+                        runcmd(['git', 'commit', '-m',
+                                '''%s: select file subset
+
+Files from the component repository were chosen based on
+the following filters:
+file_filter = %s
+file_exclude = %s''' % (name, file_filter or '<empty>', repo.get('file_exclude', '<empty>'))])
+                        repo['stripped_revision'] = runcmd('git rev-parse HEAD').strip()
+
             if not lastrev:
-                lastrev = runcmd("git rev-parse %s" % initialrev, ldir).strip()
+                lastrev = runcmd('git rev-parse %s' % initialrev, ldir).strip()
                 conf.update(name, "last_revision", lastrev, initmode=True)
-        runcmd("git add .")
+
+        if not conf.history:
+            runcmd("git add .")
+        else:
+            # Create Octopus merge commit according to http://stackoverflow.com/questions/10874149/git-octopus-merge-with-unrelated-repositoies
+            runcmd('git checkout master')
+            merge = ['git', 'merge', '--no-commit']
+            with open('.git/info/grafts', 'w') as grafts:
+                grafts.write('%s\n' % startrev)
+                for name in conf.repos:
+                    repo = conf.repos[name]
+                    # Use branch created earlier.
+                    merge.append(name)
+                    for start in runcmd('git log --pretty=format:%%H --max-parents=0 %s' % name).split('\n'):
+                        grafts.write('%s %s\n' % (start, startrev))
+            try:
+                runcmd(merge)
+            except Exception, error:
+                logger.info('''Merging component repository history failed, perhaps because of merge conflicts.
+It may be possible to commit anyway after resolving these conflicts.
+
+%s''' % error)
+            # Create MERGE_HEAD and MERGE_MSG. "git merge" itself
+            # does not create MERGE_HEAD in case of a (harmless) failure,
+            # and we want certain auto-generated information in the
+            # commit message for future reference and/or automation.
+            with open('.git/MERGE_HEAD', 'w') as head:
+                with open('.git/MERGE_MSG', 'w') as msg:
+                    msg.write('repo: initial import of components\n\n')
+                    # head.write('%s\n' % startrev)
+                    for name in conf.repos:
+                        repo = conf.repos[name]
+                        # <upstream ref> <rewritten ref> <rewritten + files removed>
+                        msg.write('combo-layer-%s: %s %s %s\n' % (name,
+                                                                  repo['last_revision'],
+                                                                  repo['rewritten_revision'],
+                                                                  repo['stripped_revision']))
+                        rev = runcmd('git rev-parse %s' % name).strip()
+                        head.write('%s\n' % rev)
+
         if conf.localconffile:
             localadded = True
             try:
@@ -631,6 +789,9 @@ Action:
     parser.add_option("-n", "--no-pull", help = "skip pulling component repos during update",
                action = "store_true", dest = "nopull", default = False)
 
+    parser.add_option("-H", "--history", help = "import full history of components during init",
+                      action = "store_true", default = False)
+
     options, args = parser.parse_args(sys.argv)
 
     # Dispatch to action handler