git - can't delete file permanently from repository

Question

I'm trying to delete some huge, 100MB binary file from my repository. I followed these instructions, detailed here:

http://stevelorek.com/how-to-shrink-a-git-repository.html

The instructions are based on the command:

git filter-branch --tag-name-filter cat --index-filter 'git rm -r --cached --ignore-unmatch filename' --prune-empty -f -- --all

When I ran the script again, after allegedly removing the file, it was indeed gone. But then, when I cloned the repository again, after pushing the changes, the file was back again.

How can I apply the changes after deleting the big file?

git push origin --force --all

simply won't cut it.

EDIT: The file has been deleted 2 years ago, so there's nothing to commit/delete. I tried creating a dummy commit with some file addition, still no go.

Why won't `git push origin --force --all` "cut it"? That *is* how you "apply the changes". — zwol, May 04 '13 at 16:43
My guess would be you've got tags on the remote that still reference commits with that file in their histories. — Ryan Stewart, May 04 '13 at 16:44
Did you commit after deleting the file? Push only uploads what is commited — vguzmanp, May 04 '13 at 16:44
The file has been deleted 2 years ago :) There is nothing to commit... — Tsury, May 04 '13 at 19:05
I'm 99% sure we didn't use tags that early... Besides, shouldn't this method also affect the tags? — Tsury, May 04 '13 at 19:07

score 0 · Answer 1 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:31

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I ended up converting the local, clean repository into a bare repository, mentioned here and replacing the old bare repository with it.

Still no idea as to why I couldn't apply the changes to the central repository.

edited May 23 '17 at 12:31

Community

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answered May 04 '13 at 19:14

Tsury

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michas · Answer 2 · 2013-05-04T19:22:15.523

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You can use BGF to do such cleanups.

Simply pushing the new cleaned commits, will not clean the other repository as long the old commits are still reachable.

edited May 04 '13 at 19:22

answered May 04 '13 at 19:17

michas

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git - can't delete file permanently from repository

2 Answers2