CODEWITHSUNDEEP
gitbfg-repo-cleaner
Yahya Uddin
Yahya Uddin

Reputation: 28931

Git: Delete a specific file using bfg (bfg-repo-cleaner)

I am trying to delete a file permanently from the Git history, because it contains sensitive data.

To do this, I am using bfg: https://rtyley.github.io/bfg-repo-cleaner/

The file is called app/config.json.

However there are other files called config.json in other folders that I don't want deleted.

I tried the following:

git clone --mirror git://example.com/some-repo.git
bfg --delete-files app/config.json my-repo.git

but I get the error message: 

Error: *** Can only match on filename, NOT path *** - remove '/' path segments

How do I delete just this specific file?

Upvotes: 10

Views: 8553

Answers (2)

KamilCuk
KamilCuk

Reputation: 141758

The other answer is almost correct. Specify the root for bfg. Use this:

cd my-repo/app
bfg --delete-files config.json ..

The .. tells bfg where is root. Otherwise you'll get:

. is not a valid Git repository.

Upvotes: 0

madnight
madnight

Reputation: 418

"Warning: Once you have pushed a commit to GitHub, you should consider any data it contains to be compromised. If you committed a password, change it! If you committed a key, generate a new one." https://help.github.com/articles/removing-sensitive-data-from-a-repository/

cd my-repo/app
bfg --delete-files config.json

You could also try: 

bfg --replace-text config.json

Upvotes: 3

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