Purge Data from Github

Purge Unwanted Data from Github

If you commit sensitive data, such as a password or SSH key into a Git repository, you can remove it from the history. The easiest way to do this is to use the BFG Repo-Cleaner open-source tool.

Prerequisite

Install the BFG repo cleaner at: https://rtyley.github.io/bfg-repo-cleaner/.

Purge Text with BFG

1. First, delete the text from your local repo and then commit and push so that your repo is in the desired state.

   git add .
   git commit -m "message"
   git push
   

2. Create a file on your desktop called replace.txt and in this file add the specific texts that you want to replace in the following way:

   TEXT_TO_REPLACE1==>new_text
   TEXT_TO_REPLACE2==>new_text2
   TEXT_TO_REPLACE2==>             # (Replace with the empty string)
   

3. Next, in your local git repo, run the following:

   java -jar /Users/username/Local_Apps/bfg-1.14.0.jar --replace-text /Users/username/Desktop/replace.txt
   

4. Reflog and use the git gc command to strip out the unwanted dirty data, which Git will now recognize as surplus to requirements.

   git reflog expire --expire=now --all && git gc --prune=now --aggressive
   

5. After the file is removed, you must force push your changes to GitHub. Force pushing rewrites the repository history, which removes the file from the commit history.

   git push --force
   

Purge a File or Folder with BFG

1. First, delete the desired files from your local repo and then commit and push so that your repo is in the desired state.

   git add .
   git commit -m "message"
   git push
   

2. Delete a file or folder with the following.
   • To delete files, run BFG on the file you want to purge. BFG will purge the history of commits.

     java -jar /Users/username/Local_Apps/bfg-1.14.0.jar --delete-files 'File.txt'
     

   • To delete folders, run BFG on the folder you want to purge. BFG will purge the history of commits.

     java -jar /Users/username/Local_Apps/bfg-1.14.0.jar --delete-folders 'File'
     

3. Reflog and use the git gc command to strip out the unwanted dirty data, which Git will now recognize as surplus to requirements.

   git reflog expire --expire=now --all && git gc --prune=now --aggressive
   

4. After the file is removed, you must force push your changes to GitHub. Force pushing rewrites the repository history, which removes the file from the commit history.

   git push --force
   

Conclusion

BFG is a simple easy-to-use tool. Use it to fully purged your repo of unwanted files and data.