What is the equivalent of TFVC "Rollback" in Git?

Question

If I use Team Foundation Source Control I can easily rollback to old changeset.

Assuming I have a file with 4 versions, each version have a changset:

Changeset a126 - Version 1.
Changeset b347 - Version 2.
Changeset c560 - Version 3.
Changeset d912 - Version 4.

Now I found a lot of bugs in Versions 3 & 4 and I want quickly return back to Version 2.

In Visual Studio I can click "View History" on the file, click on Changeset b347 ("Version 2") and then "Rollback".

Now I have a new changeset with the file in Version 2 and I can check-in it (I still have Version 3/4 in my history, so I can also return to them sometime).

In Git, I know there are revert, reset (hard, soft) but I don't know exactly what I need to do to reach the same result.

So what is the best way to rollback to old version in Git (preferred via Visual Studio)?

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 10 '19 at 10:01

Suppose you have 4 commits A-B-C-D, the file foo.txt is changed in each of them, and the codes of C and D have bugs introduced by foo.txt.

1.Other files may be changed in C and D. If you want to rollback only foo.txt to the version of B:

git checkout B -- foo.txt

If you want to commit the rollback,

git commit

And the history will be A-B-C-D-R1.

2.If you want to rollback all the changes of C and D (including those of other files if any), and CD have been pushed to the remote repository:

git revert D C

And the history will be A-B-C-D-R2-R3.

3.If you want to rollback all the changes of C and D, and CD have NOT been pushed to the remote repository:

git reset B --hard

The history will be A-B. You could also use this solution for Case 2, but you then need to force-push the branch to overwrite the branch in the remote repository. If other contributors have fetched the old history, you need to tell them to fetch the new history.

Great answer! thank you! I don't think I can revert 2 commits in VS in one revert, but I can do it in Command Line :) — Shayki Abramczyk, Apr 11 '19 at 07:36
@ShaykiAbramczyk Here `git revert B..D` also works. `B..D` means `C` and `D`, and Git will revert them in the reverse sequence correctly. It's convenient when you want to revert a set of consecutive commits. Besides, the option `--no-edit` makes the process more smoothly if you don't want to edit the default revert message. — ElpieKay, Apr 11 '19 at 07:49

phd · Answer 2 · 2019-04-10T11:58:22.487

1

git reset --hard b347
git push -f origin master

This removes c560 and d912 completely, but after that you need to force-push.

See What's the difference between Git Revert, Checkout and Reset?

To undo changes creating new commits:

git revert d912 c560

edited Apr 10 '19 at 11:58

answered Apr 10 '19 at 09:43

phd

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But it will delete Version 3/4 commits and I don't want it. in TFVC the rollback not delete chengesets, but rather add a new changeset with Version 2. – Shayki Abramczyk Apr 10 '19 at 09:57
Thanks! I accepted @ElpieKay answer because is more detailed. – Shayki Abramczyk Apr 11 '19 at 07:37

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 10 '19 at 09:52

0

Don't know what check-in is in TFVC, but if you just want to view the v2 file, you can git checkout b347 -- thefilenameyouwant

answered Apr 10 '19 at 09:52

escitalopram

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checkin = commit & push. I don't want only to view I want to view v2 file, them commit and push, to update my repo back to v2. – Shayki Abramczyk Apr 10 '19 at 09:53
do you want the changes you made to v2 also to be in v3 and v4? – escitalopram Apr 10 '19 at 09:54
no. I want my repo return to v2 (but not delete v3 and v4 from commits history). – Shayki Abramczyk Apr 10 '19 at 09:55
do you want the other files at v2 too or should they stay v4? – escitalopram Apr 10 '19 at 09:57
I want all files be back to v2 – Shayki Abramczyk Apr 10 '19 at 10:26

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Apr 10 '19 at 10:40

To continue work on the v2 state of the repository in your working copy, you can do

# get uncommitted changes out of the way
git stash

# recreate v2 in the working copy
git checkout commit-hash-or-tag-of-v2 

# create new branch based on v2
git checkout -b branchname-for-new-branch

BenKoshy · Answer 5 · 2019-04-10T12:25:20.223

(1) How to roll back and "lose" Versions 3 & 4:

It's as simple as:

git reset --hard b347

Explanation:

goes back to version 2.
you will "lose" versions 3 and 4.
if you still want to get versions 3 & 4 then those commits are still available in your reflog for a certain period of time depending on your settings (default time period is 90 days from memory).

or (2) Create a new branch (to keep versions 3 & 4):

You can simply create a new branch at version 2.

git checkout b347

git checkout -b redo-work-from-version-2

Explanation:

You'll go back to b347, in a headless state. Just ignore this for the moment.
We create a new branch called redo-work-from-version-2.
Version 3 and version 4 will still exist and are available, but they will be on a different branch.

What is the equivalent of TFVC "Rollback" in Git?

5 Answers5

(1) How to roll back and "lose" Versions 3 & 4:

or (2) Create a new branch (to keep versions 3 & 4):