threads / discuss / 26506

How to safely remove a blob

Subject: How to safely remove a blob

## tl;dr

4 messages between Feb 15, 2011 and Feb 15, 2011.

replies: 3people: 3as markdown or json

Rolf Wester· Feb 15, 2011, 08:13 UTC · lore

Hello,

in one of my git repos I found an 102 MB object that probably came in there more or less occasionally. Its a blob and I would like to remove it safely. I tried to figure out how to do it but I was not very successful. I guess simply deleting the file could corrupt my repo or at least the clones of that repo.

I would be very appreciative for any help.

With kind regards Rolf

-- 
------------------------------------
# Dr. Rolf Wester
# Fraunhofer Institut f. Lasertechnik
# Steinbachstrasse 15, D-52074 Aachen, Germany.
# Tel: + 49 (0) 241 8906 401, Fax: +49 (0) 241 8906 121
# EMail: rolf.wester@ilt.fraunhofer.de
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Alex Riesen· Feb 15, 2011, 08:40 UTC · re: Rolf Wester · lore

Re: How to safely remove a blob

On Tue, Feb 15, 2011 at 09:13, Rolf Wester <rolf.wester@ilt.fraunhofer.de> wrote:

> in one of my git repos I found an 102 MB object that probably came in there
> more or less occasionally.
> Its a blob and I would like to remove it safely. I tried to figure out how
> to do it but I was not very successful.

Take a look at "git filter-branch". There is even an example which does exactly this (search for "git filter-branch --tree-filter").

> I guess simply deleting the file could corrupt my repo
> or at least the clones of that repo.

The repo itself.

Alex Riesen· Feb 15, 2011, 08:42 UTC · re: Alex Riesen · lore

Re: How to safely remove a blob

On Tue, Feb 15, 2011 at 09:40, Alex Riesen <raa.lkml@gmail.com> wrote:

Show 9 quoted lines

> On Tue, Feb 15, 2011 at 09:13, Rolf Wester
> <rolf.wester@ilt.fraunhofer.de> wrote:
>> in one of my git repos I found an 102 MB object that probably came in there
>> more or less occasionally.
>> Its a blob and I would like to remove it safely. I tried to figure out how
>> to do it but I was not very successful.
>
> Take a look at "git filter-branch". There is even an example which
> does exactly this (search for "git filter-branch --tree-filter").

... search in the manpage of filter-branch. Sorry.

Michael J Gruber· Feb 15, 2011, 08:40 UTC · re: Rolf Wester · lore

Re: How to safely remove a blob

Rolf Wester venit, vidit, dixit 15.02.2011 09:13:

Show 8 quoted lines

> Hello,
> 
> in one of my git repos I found an 102 MB object that probably came in there more or less occasionally.
> Its a blob and I would like to remove it safely. I tried to figure out how to do it but I was
> not very successful. I guess simply deleting the file could corrupt my repo or at least the clones of
> that repo.
> 
> I would be very appreciative for any help.

If nothing references that blob then it will go away eventually. The last section of git-filter-branch's manpage (checklist for shrinking a repo) details the steps you can take to get rid of it now. (You should be already in the situation after applying filter-branch and removing refs/original/*.) If the blob still persists then it is referenced.

Michael