git move directory to another repository while keeping the history

by

I can’t help you with git subtree, but with filter-branch it’s possible.

First you need to create a common repository that will contain both source and destination branches. This can be done by adding a new “remote” beside “origin” and fetching from the new remote.

Use filter-branch on the source branch to rm -rf all directories except dir-to-move. After that you’ll have a commit history that can be cleanly rebased or merged into the destination branch. I think the easiest way is to cherry-pick all non-empty commits from the source branch. The list of these commits can be obtained by running git rev-list --reverse source-branch -- dir-to-move

Of course, if the history of dir-to-move is non-linear (already contains merge commits), then it won’t be preserved by cherry-pick, so git merge can be used instead.

Example create common repo:

cd repo-2
git remote add source ../repo-1
git fetch source

Example filter branch

cd repo-2
git checkout -b source-master source/master
CMD="rm -rf dir1 dir2 dir3 dir5"
git filter-branch --tree-filter "$CMD"

Example cherry-pick into destination master

cd repo-2
git checkout master
git cherry-pick `git rev-list --reverse source-master -- dir-to-move`

More Related Contents:

  1. How can I selectively merge or pick changes from another branch in Git?
  2. Git: How to solve Permission denied (publickey) error when using Git?
  3. Git push requires username and password
  4. How to undo ‘git reset’?
  5. How to convert a Git shallow clone to a full clone?
  6. git pull while not in a git directory
  7. How to prune local tracking branches that do not exist on remote anymore
  8. How to squash commits in git after they have been pushed?
  9. Link to the issue number on GitHub within a commit message
  10. My Git repository is in the wrong root directory. Can I move it? (../ instead of ./)
  11. What’s the easiest way to deal with project configuration files?
  12. Is there a way to trigger a hook after a new branch has been checked out in Git?
  13. Copy a git repo without history
  14. List all the files that ever existed in a Git repository
  15. How to only update specific git submodules?
  16. Difference between different git search commands
  17. Finding most changed files in Git
  18. difference between origin/branch_name and branch_name?
  19. How to commit no change and new message?
  20. Git clone without .git directory
  21. Understanding the basics of Git and GitHub [closed]
  22. git clone can’t resolve proxy
  23. GIT commit as different user without email / or only email
  24. Changing the Git user inside Visual Studio Code
  25. Git gives me a “Permission Denied” error when writing files that I am pulling
  26. Git changes my file permissions upon checkout
  27. Clone only the .git directory of a git repo
  28. Git – head (lowercase) vs HEAD (uppercase)
  29. PowerShell Capture Git Output
  30. How do I move forward and backward between commits in git?

Leave a Comment