git Cheat Sheet
This cheat sheet serves as a convenient reference for NetBox contributors who already somewhat familiar with using git. For a general introduction to the tooling and workflows involved, please see GitHub's guide Getting started with git.
Common Operations
Clone a Repo
This copies a remote git repository (e.g. from GitHub) to your local workstation. It will create a new directory bearing the repo's name in the current path.
git clone https://github.com/$org-name/$repo-name
$ git clone https://github.com/netbox-community/netbox
Cloning into 'netbox'...
remote: Enumerating objects: 95112, done.
remote: Counting objects: 100% (682/682), done.
remote: Compressing objects: 100% (246/246), done.
remote: Total 95112 (delta 448), reused 637 (delta 436), pack-reused 94430
Receiving objects: 100% (95112/95112), 60.40 MiB | 45.82 MiB/s, done.
Resolving deltas: 100% (74979/74979), done.
Pull New Commits
To update your local branch with any recent upstream commits, run git pull.
git pull
$ git pull
remote: Enumerating objects: 1, done.
remote: Counting objects: 100% (1/1), done.
remote: Total 1 (delta 0), reused 0 (delta 0), pack-reused 0
Unpacking objects: 100% (1/1), done.
From https://github.com/netbox-community/netbox
28bc76695..e0741cc9a develop -> origin/develop
Updating 28bc76695..e0741cc9a
Fast-forward
docs/release-notes/version-3.3.md | 1 +
netbox/netbox/settings.py | 1 +
2 files changed, 2 insertions(+)
List Branches
git branch lists all local branches. Appending -a to this command will list both local (green) and remote (red) branches.
git branch -a
$ git branch -a
* develop
remotes/origin/10170-changelog
remotes/origin/HEAD -> origin/develop
remotes/origin/develop
remotes/origin/feature
remotes/origin/master
Switch Branches
To switch to a different branch, use the checkout command.
git checkout $branchname
$ git checkout feature
Branch 'feature' set up to track remote branch 'feature' from 'origin'.
Switched to a new branch 'feature'
Create a New Branch
Use the -b argument with checkout to create a new local branch from the current branch.
git checkout -b $newbranch
$ git checkout -b 123-fix-foo
Switched to a new branch '123-fix-foo'
Rename a Branch
To rename the current branch, use the git branch command with the -m argument (for "modify").
git branch -m $newname
$ git branch -m jstretch-testing
$ git branch
develop
feature
* jstretch-testing
Merge a Branch
To merge one branch into another, use the git merge command. Start by checking out the destination branch, and merge the source branch into it.
git merge $sourcebranch
$ git checkout testing
Switched to branch 'testing'
Your branch is up to date with 'origin/testing'.
$ git merge branch2
Updating 9a12b5b5f..8ee42390b
Fast-forward
newfile.py | 0
1 file changed, 0 insertions(+), 0 deletions(-)
create mode 100644 newfile.py
Avoid Merging Remote Branches
You generally want to avoid merging branches that exist on the remote (upstream) repository, such as develop and feature: Merges into these branches should be done via a pull request on GitHub. Only merge branches when it is necessary to consolidate work you've done locally.
Show Pending Changes
After making changes to files in the repo, git status will display a summary of created, modified, and deleted files.
git status
$ git status
On branch 123-fix-foo
Changes not staged for commit:
(use "git add <file>..." to update what will be committed)
(use "git checkout -- <file>..." to discard changes in working directory)
modified: README.md
Untracked files:
(use "git add <file>..." to include in what will be committed)
foo.py
no changes added to commit (use "git add" and/or "git commit -a")
Stage Changed Files
Before creating a new commit, modified files must be staged. This is typically done with the git add command. You can specify a particular path, or just append -A to automatically staged all changed files within the current directory. Run git status again to verify what files have been staged.
git add -A
$ git add -A
$ git status
On branch 123-fix-foo
Changes to be committed:
(use "git reset HEAD <file>..." to unstage)
modified: README.md
new file: foo.py
Review Staged Files
It's a good idea to thoroughly review all staged changes immediately prior to creating a new commit. This can be done using the git diff command. Appending the --staged argument will show staged changes; omitting it will show changes that have not yet been staged.
git diff --staged
$ git diff --staged
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 93e125079..4344fb514 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+
+Added some lines here
+and here
+and here too
+
<div align="center">
<img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/netbox-community/netbox/develop/docs/netbox_logo.svg" width="400" alt="NetBox logo" />
</div>
diff --git a/foo.py b/foo.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e69de29bb
Create a New Commit
The git commit command records your changes to the current branch. Specify a commit message with the -m argument. (If omitted, a file editor will be opened to provide a message.
git commit -m "Fixes #123: Fixed the thing that was broken"
$ git commit -m "Fixes #123: Fixed the thing that was broken"
[123-fix-foo 9a12b5b5f] Fixes #123: Fixed the thing that was broken
2 files changed, 5 insertions(+)
create mode 100644 foo.py
Automatically Closing Issues
GitHub will automatically close any issues referenced in a commit message by Fixes: or Closes: when the commit is merged into the repository's default branch. Contributors are strongly encouraged to follow this convention when forming commit messages. (Use "Closes" for feature requests and "Fixes" for bugs.)
Push a Commit Upstream
Once you've made a commit locally, it needs to be pushed upstream to the remote repository (typically called "origin"). This is done with the git push command. If this is a new branch that doesn't yet exist on the remote repository, you'll need to set the upstream for it when pushing.
git push -u origin $branchname
$ git push -u origin testing
Counting objects: 3, done.
Delta compression using up to 16 threads.
Compressing objects: 100% (3/3), done.
Writing objects: 100% (3/3), 377 bytes | 377.00 KiB/s, done.
Total 3 (delta 2), reused 0 (delta 0)
remote: Resolving deltas: 100% (2/2), completed with 2 local objects.
remote:
remote: Create a pull request for 'testing' on GitHub by visiting:
remote: https://github.com/netbox-community/netbox/pull/new/testing
remote:
To https://github.com/netbox-community/netbox
* [new branch] testing -> testing
Branch 'testing' set up to track remote branch 'testing' from 'origin'.
Tip
You can apply the following git configuration to automatically set the upstream for all new branches. This obviates the need to specify -u origin.
git config --global push.default current
The GitHub CLI Client
GitHub provides a free CLI client to simplify many aspects of interacting with GitHub repositories. Note that this utility is separate from git, and must be installed separately.
This guide provides some examples of common operations, but be sure to check out the GitHub CLI manual for a complete accounting of available commands.
List Open Pull Requests
gh pr list
$ gh pr list
Showing 3 of 3 open pull requests in netbox-community/netbox
#10223 #7503 API Bulk-Create of Devices does not check Rack-Space 7503-bulkdevice about 17 hours ago
#9716 Closes #9599: Add cursor pagination mode lyuyangh:cursor-pagination about 1 month ago
#9498 Adds replication and adoption for module import sleepinggenius2:issue_9361 about 2 months ago
Check Out a PR
This command will automatically check out the remote branch associated with an open pull request.
gh pr checkout $number
$ gh pr checkout 10223
Branch '7503-bulkdevice' set up to track remote branch '7503-bulkdevice' from 'origin'.
Switched to a new branch '7503-bulkdevice'
Fixing Mistakes
Modify the Previous Commit
Sometimes you'll find that you've overlooked a necessary change and need to commit again. If you haven't pushed your most recent commit and just need to make a small tweak or two, you can amend your most recent commit instead of creating a new one.
First, stage the desired files with git add and verify the changes, the issue the git commit command with the --amend argument. You can also append the --no-edit argument if you would like to keep the previous commit message.
git commit --amend --no-edit
$ git add -A
$ git diff --staged
$ git commit --amend --no-edit
[testing 239b16921] Added a new file
Date: Fri Aug 26 16:30:05 2022 -0400
2 files changed, 1 insertion(+)
create mode 100644 newfile.py
Don't Amend After Pushing
Never amend a commit you've already pushed upstream unless you're certain no one else is working on the same branch. Force-pushing will overwrite the change history, which will break any commits from other contributors. When in doubt, create a new commit instead.
Undo the Last Commit
The git reset command can be used to undo the most recent commit. (HEAD~ is equivalent to HEAD~1 and references the commit prior to the current HEAD.) After making and staging your changes, commit using -c ORIG_HEAD to replace the erroneous commit.
git reset HEAD~
$ git add -A
$ git commit -m "Erroneous commit"
[testing 09ce06736] Erroneous commit
Date: Mon Aug 29 15:20:04 2022 -0400
1 file changed, 1 insertion(+)
create mode 100644 BADCHANGE
$ git reset HEAD~
$ rm BADFILE
$ git add -A
$ git commit -m "Fixed commit"
[testing c585709f3] Fixed commit
Date: Mon Aug 29 15:22:38 2022 -0400
1 file changed, 65 insertions(+), 20 deletions(-)
Don't Reset After Pushing
Resetting only works until you've pushed your local changes upstream. If you've already pushed upstream, use git revert instead. This will create a new commit that reverts the erroneous one, but ensures that the git history remains intact.
Rebase from Upstream
If a change has been pushed to the upstream branch since you most recently pulled it, attempting to push a new local commit will fail:
$ git push
To https://github.com/netbox-community/netbox.git
! [rejected] develop -> develop (fetch first)
error: failed to push some refs to 'https://github.com/netbox-community/netbox.git'
hint: Updates were rejected because the remote contains work that you do
hint: not have locally. This is usually caused by another repository pushing
hint: to the same ref. You may want to first integrate the remote changes
hint: (e.g., 'git pull ...') before pushing again.
hint: See the 'Note about fast-forwards' in 'git push --help' for details.
To resolve this, first fetch the upstream branch to update your local copy, and then rebase your local branch to include the new changes. Once the rebase has completed, you can push your local commits upstream.
git fetch
git rebase origin/$branchname
$ git fetch
remote: Enumerating objects: 1, done.
remote: Counting objects: 100% (1/1), done.
remote: Total 1 (delta 0), reused 0 (delta 0), pack-reused 0
Unpacking objects: 100% (1/1), done.
From https://github.com/netbox-community/netbox
815b2d8a2..8c35ebbb7 develop -> origin/develop
$ git rebase origin/develop
First, rewinding head to replay your work on top of it...
Applying: Further tweaks to the PR template
Applying: Changelog for #10176, #10217
$ git push
Counting objects: 9, done.
Delta compression using up to 16 threads.
Compressing objects: 100% (9/9), done.
Writing objects: 100% (9/9), 1.02 KiB | 1.02 MiB/s, done.
Total 9 (delta 6), reused 0 (delta 0)
remote: Resolving deltas: 100% (6/6), completed with 5 local objects.
To https://github.com/netbox-community/netbox.git
8c35ebbb7..ada745324 develop -> develop