If you've been using Git for a while, it's possible that you've added files to your repository that should not be there. Git users may also intentionally commit large files to the repository, without being aware of the potential consequences. There are a few ways to fix this problem, while retaining the history that Git contains.
Find the large items
Git sometimes stores groups of incremental changes in a packfile . If you have large packfiles, these commands can help you find the large objects inside them:
Show the 20 largest items in a pack:
git verify-pack -v .git/objects/pack/pack-{hash}.idx | sort -k 3 -n | tail -n 20
Once you've determined what the item is, you can view the pack object.
git rev-list --objects --all | grep {hash}{hash} path/to/pack/object.ext
Branch filtering
The simplest method of removing files uses git filter-branch. This command enables you to eliminate particular files from your history. This can be especially useful if you've committed a small number of files.
As an example, you could use the following Git command to remove files ending with .ext from a particular path:
git filter-branch --index-filter 'git rm --cached --ignore-unmatch ./path/to/resource/*.ext' --tag-name-filter cat -- --all
You can change this command to use the file name or extension of your choice.
When you are satisfied with the changes that you've made, you will need to force the changes up to the remote repo:
git push origin --force --all
To remove the purged information from your tagged releases as well, you can run the following command:
git push origin --force --tags
Cherry-picking
If the files were added in one commit or a group of commits and there haven't been many commits since, reverting to an older branch and cherry-picking your code base is an option.
Assuming that you are on a single branch called the obese, and the last commit before the files were added was called, you can enter the following in the command line:
git checkout -b slim_branch
git cherry-pickUse this for each commit made since that checkout, excluding the commit that bloated the repository.
-
git push origin slim -
git branch -D obese -
git push origin :obese -
git prune origin
If the obese branch is your master branch, this process is more complex. Git won't let you delete the HEAD branch. In this instance, you will need to manipulate the HEAD file directly on the bare Git repository to point to a branch other than master temporarily, in order to delete the master branch. You will need to replace it with the slim branch afterwards:
Perform the following commands:
- Manipulate
HEADin the bare Git repository on the Git server to point toslim.
git branch -D master
git push origin master
git checkout -b master origin/slim
git push origin master
- Return the
HEADfile in Git to point atmasteragain.
Wiping and restarting
If your packfile is out of control, your best option is to wipe the repository and restart. If your repository doesn't shrink to its expected initial size even after you've performed the maintenance (+ git gc), the packfile may be causing the issue. You can use a command similar to the following one from within the repo:
find . -type f -name "*.pack" | xargs du -h
This is the last resort. If this is necessary, you may find the article to Reset a Git repository on Acquia Cloud useful.