can't push to branch after rebase
We use git and have a master branch and developer branches. I need to add a new feature and then rebase the commits to master, then push master to CI server.
The problem is that if I have conflicts during rebase I cannot push to my remote developer branch (on Github) after the rebase is complete, until I pull my remote branch. This causes duplicate commits. When there are no conflicts, works as expected.
question: after rebase and conflict resolution, how do I sync up my local and remote developer branches without creating duplicate commits
Setup:
// master branch is the main branch
git checkout master
git checkout -b myNewFeature
// I will work on this at work and at home
git push origin myNewFeature
// work work work on myNewFeature
// master branch has been updated and will conflict with myNewFeature
git pull --rebase origin master
// we have conflicts
// solve conflict
git rebase --continue
//repeat until rebase is complete
git push origin myNewFeature
//ERROR
error: failed to push some refs to '[email protected]:ariklevy/dropLocker.git'
hint: Updates were rejected because the tip of your current branch is behind
hint: its remote counterpart. Merge the remote changes (e.g. 'git pull')
hint: before pushing again.
hint: See the 'Note about fast-forwards' in 'git push --help' for details.
// do what git says and pull
git pull origin myNewFeature
git push origin myNewFeature
// Now I have duplicate commits on the remote branch myNewFeature
EDIT
So it sounds like this will break the workflow:
developer1 working on myNewFeature developer2 working on hisNewFeature both use master as main branch
developer2 merges myNewFeature into hisNewFeature
developer1 rebases, resolves conflicts, then force pushes to remote branch for myNewFeature
a couple days later, developer2, merges myNewFeature into hisNewFeature again
Will this cause the other developers to hate developer1?
Answer
First, you and those you're working with need to agree whether a topic/devel branch is for shared development or just your own. Other developers know not to merge on my development branches because they'll be rebased at any time. Usually the workflow is as follows:
o-----o-----o-----o-----o-----o master
\
o-----o-----o devel0
\
o-----o-----o devel1
Then to stay up-to-date with remote I'll do the following:
git fetch origin
git checkout master
git merge --ff origin/master
I do this for two reasons. First because it allows me to see if there are remote changes without needing to switch from my devel branch. Second it's a safety mechanism to make sure I don't overwrite any un-stashed/committed changes. Also, if I can't fast-forward merge to the master branch that means either someone has rebased the remote master (for which they need to be flogged severely) or I accidentally committed to master and need to clean up my end.
Then when remote has changes and I've fast forwarded to the latest I'll rebase:
git checkout devel0
git rebase master
git push -f origin devel0
Other developers then know they'll need to rebase their devel branches off my latest:
git fetch <remote>
git checkout devel1
git rebase <remote>/devel0
Which results in much cleaner history:
o-----o master
\
o-----o-----o devel0
\
o-----o-----o devel1
Don't merge commits back and forth at your whim. Not only does it create duplicate commits and make history impossible to follow, finding regressions from a specific change becomes near impossible (which is why you're using version control in the first place, right?). The problem you're having is the result of doing just this.
Also it sounds like other developers may be making commits to your devel branches. Can you confirm this?
The only time to merge is when your topic branch is ready to be accepted into master.
On a side note. If multiple developers are committing to the same repository you should all consider having named branches to distinguish between developers devel branches. For example:
git branch 'my-name/devel-branch'
So all developers topic branches reside within their own nested set.