Git: Unable to copy file from one branch to another

Question

I have 2 branches dev & prod. Would like to copy 1 file from dev to prod.

I'm already on the prod branch on remote server.

So i tried

git checkout dev <file-name>

If i do

git checkout dev -- <file-name>

Then it gives

fatal: invalid reference: dev

What do you mean by `on remote server`? Is there some reason why you can't do this work locally? — Tim Biegeleisen, Jun 29 '17 at 01:56
Maybe this can help: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/307579/how-do-i-copy-a-version-of-a-single-file-from-one-git-branch-to-another — Etherealm, Jun 29 '17 at 01:57
I'd recommend that you do the work locally. With Git typically you do things on your local machine and then push/pull to sync up with the remote server. — Tim Biegeleisen, Jun 29 '17 at 02:03
Hi @TimBiegeleisen Yes I know that is the best way. But in this situation what we can do? — Jackson, Jun 29 '17 at 02:05
Um...do the exact same steps, except do it from your local Git bash? — Tim Biegeleisen, Jun 29 '17 at 02:06
Is this a fresh clone? What is the output of `git branch -a`? — Scott Weldon, Jun 29 '17 at 22:39
Nope it's not fresh clone. it gives dev & prod branch @ScottWeldon — Jackson, Jun 30 '17 at 03:19
And `dev` is on a line by itself, not just e.g. `remotes/origin/dev`? — Scott Weldon, Jun 30 '17 at 14:13
Not sure what you're asking, but I was asking about the output of `git branch -a`. Please [edit] the output of that command into your question. — Scott Weldon, Jul 03 '17 at 17:48

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Sep 20 '21 at 12:21

You need the checkout the other branch and pull down the changes from the server, before trying to get the file from the other branch.

# checkout other branch
git checkout dev

# pull down changes
git pull

# checkout your working branch
git checkout prod

# checkout file from other branch
git checkout dev -- <file-name>

Git: Unable to copy file from one branch to another

1 Answers1