I'm working on using "git filter-branch" to remove the history of a large file from my repository so as to reduce the size of the repository. This pattern of use is effective for me:
1. $ git filter-branch --index-filter 'git rm --cached --ignore-unmatch core.4563' HEAD 2. edit .git/packed-refs to remove the line "c6589bef2c776277407686a3a81c5a76bfe41ba2 refs/original/refs/heads/hobgoblin" (so that there is no reference to the old HEAD) 3. git gc --quiet --aggressive The difficulty I am having is that I do not want to disturb the working copy while doing this. The working copy is my entire home directory, because I am using the repository as a historical backup system for my home directory. Currently, Git will not execute filter-branch if there are unstaged changes in the working copy, despite the fact that "git filter-branch --index-filter" does not touch the working copy itself. (In this case, the file to be deleted, "core.4563", is not now in the working copy.) A further difficulty is that the repository is "remote", the .git directory is not in my home directory, and core.worktree is "/home/worley". The best set of steps I have found that accomplishes my goals is to (1) "disconnect" the repository from the working copy by removing the core.worktree value, (2) use "git checkout -q -f master" to create in the repository's location an entire copy of my home directory, (3) perform the above filtering steps, (4) "reconnect" the repository by adding the core.worktree value, and (5) deleting the temporary working copy files. Surely there is a better way than this. Dale -- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe git" in the body of a message to majord...@vger.kernel.org More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
