Can't push to GitHub because of large file which I already deleted
You can use
git filter-branch --index-filter 'git rm -r --cached --ignore-unmatch <file/dir>' HEAD
This will delete everything in the history of that file. The problem is that the file is present in the history.
This command changes the hashes of your commits which can be a real problem, especially on shared repositories. It should not be performed without understanding the consequences.
I found squashing more useful than filter-branch. I did the following:
- Locally delete large files.
- Commit the local deletes.
- Soft reset back X number of commits (for me it was 3):
git reset --soft HEAD~3. - Then recommit all the changes together (AKA squash)
git commit -m "New message for the combined commit" - Push squashed commit.
Special case (from user @lituo): If above doesn't work, then you may have this case. Commit 1 included the large file and Commit 1's push failed due to large file error. Commit 2 removed the large file by git rm --cached [file_name] but Commit 2's push still failed. You can follow the same steps above but instead of using HEAD~3, use HEAD~2.
Here's something I found super helpful if you've already been messing around with your repo before you asked for help. First type:
git status
After this, you should see something along the lines of
On branch master
Your branch is ahead of 'origin/master' by 2 commits.
(use "git push" to publish your local commits)
nothing to commit, working tree clean
The important part is the "2 commits"! From here, go ahead and type in:
git reset HEAD~<HOWEVER MANY COMMITS YOU WERE BEHIND>
So, for the example above, one would type:
git reset HEAD~2
After you typed that, your "git status" should say:
On branch master
Your branch is up to date with 'origin/master'.
nothing to commit, working tree clean
From there, you can delete the large file (assuming you haven't already done so), and you should be able to re-commit everything without losing your work.
I know this isn't a super fancy reply, but I hope it helps!