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Git Workflow for Non-Committers

Git Workflow for Non-Committers

Jan 06, 2014
# retrieve the updates from the upstream repository $ git fetch upstream -p # switch to the master branch $ git checkout master # rebase your master branch upon the upstream master # this rewrites history as if you had made your local changes upon the latest and greatest # WARNING: DO NOT DO THIS UNLESS YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT IT MEANS TO REBASE # In particular, if you've shared your local master branch with others, you *might* # want to avoid rebasing so as to avoid the inconvenience of changes to a shared history. # In this as in many things, effective communication and shared expectations are essential. # Littering your history with merge commits has a noise cost too. It's probably worth it to rebase. # If you can't use rebase, instead do git merge upstream/master $ git rebase upstream/master # now you're ready to update your fork $ git push origin master

Never Commit to Master!

Or any other branch that exists in the https://github.com/Jasig/uPortal repository. If you do make a commit on a branch that is tracking a real uPortal branch and that commit is not accepted as part of a pull request you will be maintaining that customization for the rest of your fork's life. It is always better to not commit on project branches for a project that you do not have push access to and to use topic or vendor branches instead.

Making a Change

Use these instructions when making a change that you intend to be merged into the Jasig/uPortal repository.

  1. Follow the steps in Keeping Up To Date 

  2. Create a Topic Branch 

    # Create a topic branch, use the Jira Issue ID for ease of tracking $ git checkout -b UP-XXXX

  3. Make your changes

  4. Commit your changes 

    # View the list of your changes $ git status # If all new/modified/deleted files should be committed $ git commit -a # If only some new/modified/deleted files should be committed $ git add each new/changed file $ git rm each deleted file $ git commit

  5. Repeat Steps 3 & 4 until the Topic work is complete

  6. If during the work on the topic branch there is a change on master that you need to complete the work on the topic branch use the rebase command to replay your changes on the latest state of the master branch

    # Fetch the latest changes from the GitHub repository $ git fetch --all # Rebase your topic branch commits on the latest changes from master $ git rebase upstream/master

  7. Push your Topic Branch 

    # Push the branch to your fork for others to review $ git push origin UP-XXXX

  8. Follow http://help.github.com/send-pull-requests/ to make a pull request from your UP-XXXX topic branch to Jasig/uPortal

  9. Once the pull request has been merged delete your topic branch

    # Delete the local branch reference $ git branch -d UP-XXXX # Delete the remote branch reference $ git push origin :UP-XXXX