26 posts tagged with "git"

How to Solve "Not Possible to Fast-Forward" with git pull​

The git pull "Not possible to fast-forward" error happens when your local branch and the remote branch have diverged. This means there are new commits on the remote branch that you don't have, and you also have local commits that are not on the remote branch. Git cannot simply move your branch pointer forward (fast-forward) because doing so would lose your local changes.

To fix this, you must explicitly tell Git how to merge the divergent histories. There are two primary solutions: using git pull with rebase or performing a standard git pull followed by a manual merge.

To save your username and password in Git, you can configure a credential helper. A credential helper is a Git component that securely stores your authentication information in memory or on disk, so you don't have to enter it every time you interact with a remote repository.

The fatal: unable to access error with the message "Write access to repository not granted" typically means you don't have the necessary permissions to push changes to the GitHub repository. It's a clear signal from the server that your authentication credentials, while valid, don't grant you the required write access.

Here's how to diagnose and solve this issue:

To fix a detached HEAD in Git, you need to save your work by creating a new branch or by checking out an existing one. A detached HEAD occurs when you check out a specific commit, tag, or a remote branch's commit instead of a local branch name (1). In this state, any new commits you make are not part of any branch, making them easy to lose.

The HEAD pointer in Git usually points to the tip of a branch (e.g., main, feature-a). A detached HEAD means the pointer is pointing directly to a commit instead of a branch.

Rebasing in Git is a powerful and often misunderstood tool. While its primary use is to integrate changes from one branch onto another, there are several "unusual" yet highly effective ways to leverage git rebase to clean up your commit history, fix mistakes, and collaborate more smoothly.

This guide explores some of these advanced use cases, focusing on their practical application and best practices.

In Git, the terms ours and theirs are used to refer to the two conflicting versions of a file during a merge or rebase. Understanding which version is which is critical for resolving conflicts correctly [1].

Replacing one Git branch with another is a destructive operation that rewrites the history of the target branch. The method you provided using git merge -s ours is a clever and safe way to achieve this without a hard reset. This guide will walk you through the process, explain the commands, and provide a clear, step-by-step example.

Rebasing is not recommended in two primary situations: when you are working on a public or shared branch and when the rebase operation would cause a significant loss of historical context.

How to Undo a Git Rebase​

Undoing a git rebase is a common task, especially if you've made a mistake or the rebase process introduced unexpected issues. The method you use depends on the state of your repository and whether you've pushed the changes to a remote repository.

Is rebase better than merge?​

Neither rebase nor merge is inherently "better"; they are different tools used for different purposes in Git. The choice between them depends on your workflow, your team's preferences, and whether you want a clean, linear history or an accurate, chronological record of events (3).