Gitflow: git flow init fails on cloned repo.
I might be doing this wrong, but if I attempt to clone a repo that only has a develop branch and then try to start a feature using git flow feature start foo then it tells me to re-initialize git flow. Running git flow init fails because the master branch doesn't exist. I have to manually create it for it to work.
This seems wrong to me. Behind the scenes, surely, git flow should either create the required branches or just deal with them not being there. Does this sound like a bug?
Here's a sample session:
oj@mint ~/tmp $ git init test
Initialized empty Git repository in /home/oj/tmp/test/.git/
oj@mint ~/tmp $ cd test
oj@mint ~/tmp/test $ git flow init
No branches exist yet. Base branches must be created now.
Branch name for production releases: [master]
Branch name for "next release" development: [develop]
How to name your supporting branch prefixes?
Feature branches? [feature/]
Release branches? [release/]
Hotfix branches? [hotfix/]
Support branches? [support/]
Version tag prefix? []
oj@mint ~/tmp/test $ echo "foo" > test.txt
oj@mint ~/tmp/test develop * $ git add test.txt
oj@mint ~/tmp/test develop * $ git commit -m "testing"
[develop 9ebdd64] testing
1 files changed, 1 insertions(+), 0 deletions(-)
create mode 100644 test.txt
oj@mint ~/tmp/test develop $ cd ..
oj@mint ~/tmp $ git clone ./test test2
Cloning into test2...
done.
oj@mint ~/tmp $ cd test2
oj@mint ~/tmp/test2 develop $ git flow feature start foo
fatal: Not a gitflow-enabled repo yet. Please run "git flow init" first.
oj@mint ~/tmp/test2 develop $ git flow init
Which branch should be used for bringing forth production releases?
- develop
Branch name for production releases: [] master
Local branch 'master' does not exist.
oj@mint ~/tmp/test2 develop $ git branch master
oj@mint ~/tmp/test2 develop $ git flow init
Which branch should be used for bringing forth production releases?
- develop
- master
Branch name for production releases: [master]
Which branch should be used for integration of the "next release"?
- develop
Branch name for "next release" development: [develop]
How to name your supporting branch prefixes?
Feature branches? [feature/]
Release branches? [release/]
Hotfix branches? [hotfix/]
Support branches? [support/]
Version tag prefix? []
oj@mint ~/tmp/test2 develop $ git flow feature start foo
Switched to a new branch 'feature/foo'
Summary of actions:
- A new branch 'feature/foo' was created, based on 'develop'
- You are now on branch 'feature/foo'
Now, start committing on your feature. When done, use:
git flow feature finish foo
oj@mint ~/tmp/test2 feature/foo $
Thanks!
OJ
OJ
All 29 comments
I'm having the exact same problem. I haven't created a master branch locally yet (as that does seem wrong to me as well), but I haven't found a different solution yet. Will post again if I can find something, however.
davekapp
on 20 May 2011
So far, the only solution I've found is to create the master branch, even if it's not being used. It's not pleasant, but it works. Hopefully there'll be a fix for it soon!
OJ
on 21 May 2011
Wouldn't it be wisest to track the initial master branch, e.g.
git checkout -t origin/master
shuane
on 1 Jul 2011
Sure... If there is one! When creating new projects, I don't push an
empty master branch, and after pushing develop, there is no master in
github either.
So its still a problem.
Sent from my Windows Phone (yes you read that correctly) From: shuane
Sent: Saturday, 2 July 2011 6:33
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [gitflow] git flow init fails on cloned repo. (#121)
Wouldn't it be wisest to track the initial master branch, e.g.
git checkout -t origin/master
Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub:
https://github.com/nvie/gitflow/issues/121#issuecomment-1486906
OJ
on 1 Jul 2011
+1 same issue...
pulkitsinghal
on 30 Apr 2012
+1 same issue
tmcgilchrist
on 9 Jul 2012
What is the philosophical reason behind not wanting to push the empty initial master branch (that is created by default) when the repository is first created?
If you don't push the master branch (as it seems the commenters here have intentionally not done), then you cannot pull it into a clone. Git-flow is correct in not trying to create a new one, incase you have forgotten to check out a preexisting master branch and would then have a conflict if it created a new branch.
ansell
on 9 Jul 2012
There's nothing philosophical about this. It's to do with workflow. I can push a master branch, but it might not stop people grabbing just the development branch.
Git-flow might be correct in not trying to create a new one. But instead of failing, why not ask me? "Do you want me to create a new branch or shall I track the remote master for you?"
Thoughts?
OJ
on 9 Jul 2012
In the case of some people here there is no remote master because they think it would be wrong to push an empty branch. It would be useful for them to perform
git push --all origin
to push both the develop and master branches initially to fix that part of the issue.
If there was a remote master it would be useful to ask that question at that point, and shouldn't be too difficult for someone to implement. It is a simple fallback and won't affect anyone elses workflow if they create the master branch themselves.
ansell
on 9 Jul 2012
Here's how we ran into the issue. Most of our development right now in our git repo is on feature branches off of develop.
I had set "develop" as the default branch of the repository on github. I wanted to work on a feature branch of a new machine. I cloned the repo, did "git flow init", and it failed.
lorin
on 9 Jul 2012
@lorin This goes to show there are a stack of ways that we can get bitten by this. Makes a lot of sense to me to have git-flow handle this case, even if it requires an annoying prompt it's still better than not working at all and relying people figuring it out by themselves.
OJ
on 9 Jul 2012
Part of this issue may be that git may only to fetch a single branch when you run git clone, and if you set the GitHub default branch to be something other than master, as I do myself as well, then master will not be there as a remote reference until you run git fetch origin (I think). If that is the case for many people, the commit that added the change for git-flow-init to support checking for remotes/origin/master [1] may need to be extended to add a "git fetch origin" call before checking whether the master exists.
[1] https://github.com/nvie/gitflow/commit/baf163e07d579bec3dd0e21d00297832e8848b8b
ansell
on 9 Jul 2012
then master will not be there as a remote reference until you run git fetch origin (I think).
The git clone operation literally clone the repository as noted in the progit boot, you can disconnect your network wire and do:
git checkout -b master origin/master
git will create you the local branch called master as a copy of origin/master.
baby-gnu
on 9 Jul 2012
Note:
git checkout master
is sufficient as if the branch is not found but there is a tracking branch that one is used.
kasterma
on 1 Oct 2013
@kasterma thank you!
$ git flow init
Which branch should be used for bringing forth production releases?
- develop
Branch name for production releases: []
Local branch '' does not exist.
$ git branch -a
* develop
remotes/origin/HEAD -> origin/develop
remotes/origin/develop
remotes/origin/master
To get the local branch:
$ git checkout master
$ git checkout develop
$ git branch -a
* develop
master
remotes/origin/HEAD -> origin/develop
remotes/origin/develop
remotes/origin/master
Now run git flow init as normal.
$ git flow init
michaellenahan
on 11 Apr 2014
git config gitflow.branch.master master to set your master branch properly when you cannot "cancel" a git flow init.
SgtPooki
on 24 Apr 2014
Same here, I have the same issue.
simonweil
on 18 May 2014
+1 same issue
Tapefabrik
on 4 Sep 2014
+1
shan-lyons
on 27 Feb 2015
Just ran into this. Garrrgh! +1
chrisRidgers
on 4 Mar 2015
Make sure to checkout master at least once on your local repo.
rob-moore
on 18 Nov 2016
I will thanks
On Nov 18, 2016 6:41 PM, "Rob Moore" [email protected] wrote:
Make sure to checkout master at least once on your local repo.
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CocoFox
on 18 Nov 2016
+1 Happened to me too.
yylian
on 19 Jul 2017
did following steps to fix the issue on cloned repo
git checkout -b master
git checkout develop
git flow init
bipin000
on 9 Jan 2018
My TeamCity CI process can wrap a build within a _git flow release_ via _ant_ scripts, but I learned along the way that it was necessary to checkout both master and develop, and then run the default initialization prior to the build:
git flow init -d
tvkit
on 14 Mar 2018
Wouldn't it be wisest to track the initial master branch, e.g.
git checkout -t origin/master
works for me! thank you
karsilama
on 16 Jul 2019
The solution is:
-git ckeckout master
-git checkout develop
-git flow init
andres310597
on 2 Mar 2020
@andres310597 That may be the answer for you. It did not help on my repo.
➜ mobile_provider git:(develop) git checkout master
Updating files: 100% (17199/17199), done.
Switched to branch 'master'
Your branch is up to date with 'origin/master'.
➜ mobile_provider git:(master) ✗ git checkout develop
Updating files: 100% (17199/17199), done.
Switched to branch 'develop'
Your branch is up to date with 'origin/develop'. /3.1s
➜ mobile_provider git:(develop) git flow init
Which branch should be used for integration of the "next release"?
- bug/mstelly/prov/2449-leave-job-crash
- master
- poc/realmdb
Branch name for "next release" development: [develop]
And my .gitconfig file contains no reference to any flow setting. So I don't know where the values are being stored.
mjstelly
on 20 May 2020
The fact that this issue has remained open for 9 years says a lot about our chances that it'll get resolved any time soon. However, I accepted the defaults and received this message:
To force reinitialization, use: git flow init -f
So, it's not broken. I guess it's not well documented. Someone should probably close this issue.
mjstelly
on 20 May 2020
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Most helpful comment
@kasterma thank you!
To get the local branch:
Now run git flow init as normal.