In GitHub accidental pushes and commits are very common, you should have the knowledge to know how remove/delete a large file from commit history in the Git repository so that your repository history can remain clean.
First, you will have to make sure that if you are working on a large scale project that you do not make unnecessary commits as removing or deleting a large file from commit history in the Git repository as it is extremely tedious and disruptive for other developers using the repository.
A very common error associated with this is:
Error encountered while pushing branch to the remote repository: Failed to push to the remote repository. See the Output window for more details.
Failed to push the branch to the remote repository. See the Output window for more details.The below article how to remove/delete a large file from commit history in the Git repository in detail:
How to Fix Failed to push to the remote repository?
To fix the error Failed to push to the remote repository, you can use the BFG Repo-Cleaner. it is the quickest and the best way to remove you git history.
You will have to write the command: strip-blobs-bigger-than 100M my-repo.git after your file name to remove all history above 100MB.
If you still face a problem while pushing you will have to push the modified repo history to a brand-new empty repo and finally you can use the command git push –force to remove/delete a large file from commit history
To know and understand how to remove/delete a large file from commit history in the Git repository, you will have to follow one of the below mentioned methods:
Method 1: Use the BFG Repo-Cleaner
To remove/delete a large file from commit history in the Git repository, you can use the BFG Repo-Cleaner.
It is a more user-friendly and quick replacement for git-filter-branch, which many people use for deleting git history.
BFG Repo-Cleaner is created specifically for deleting unnecessary files from Git history.
You can follow the code mentioned below to get started with BFG Repo-Cleaner. Here we are taking the example of a java file named nc.jar
$ java -jar nc.jar --strip-blobs-bigger-than 100M my-repo.git
The above code will clear out the history of your Git repository if any files larger than 100MB, which are not included in your most recent commit are added.
After that, you can run the code git gc to remove the outdated data, like the below mentioned code:
$ git gc --prune=now --aggressive
This should help you understand how to remove/delete a large file from commit history in the Git repository as this is the easiest method.
Method 2: Changing the Settings
If you followed the above method then sometimes it is possible that when you try to push the repo, it fails by saying that you will have to pull first.
To fix this you will have to follow the below mentioned steps:
The reason for this is that your remote server is set up to refuse non-fast-forward updates, preventing you from losing history, which is what you want to accomplish.
You must alter that setting on the remote, or in the event that you are unable to do so, push the modified repo history to a brand-new empty repo.
If you still face any problems while pushing you can try the code: git push --force after the steps mentioned above.
This should help you understand how to remove/delete a large file from commit history in the Git repository .
Conclusion
To remove/delete a large file from commit history in the Git repository, you can use the BFG Repo-Cleaner. it is the quickest and the best way to remove you git history.
You will have to write the command: strip-blobs-bigger-than 100M my-repo.git after your file name to remove all history above 100MB.
If you still face a problem while pushing you will have to push the modified repo history to a brand-new empty repo and finally you can use the command git push –force to remove/delete a large file from commit history