Day 30 · Git

Git Hard Reset

By Published Git / Linux~1h to complete

Technical Overview

During software development, it is common to create commits that are later deemed unnecessary, buggy, or part of a failed experiment. When you want to discard unwanted local changes or roll back a branch history completely to a previous stable state, Git provides the git reset command.

What is Git Reset and Why is it Needed?

git reset is a powerful Git command used to undo changes by moving the current branch pointer (HEAD) to a specific historical commit. Unlike git revert, which creates a new commit that applies the inverse of changes, git reset rewrites history by moving the tip of the branch backwards.

When is it Needed?

  1. Discarding Test/Experiment Commits: Safely wiping out trial commits that should not be merged into stable branches.
  2. Undoing local commits: Cleaning up your local branch before sharing it with team members.
  3. Aligning local with remote: Resetting a local branch that has diverged or has unwanted commits to match the authoritative state of a remote tracking branch.

The Three Modes of Git Reset

Depending on the flag used, git reset modifies the three trees of Git (Working Directory, Staging Area, and Commit History) in different ways:

Reset Mode Moves HEAD / Branch pointer? Resets Staging Area (Index)? Resets Working Directory? Safety Level
--soft Yes (moves to target commit) No (changes remain staged) No (local files remain intact) Safe: No work is lost. Changes since the target commit are staged and ready to be recommitted.
--mixed (Default) Yes (moves to target commit) Yes (unstages all changes) No (local files remain intact) Safe: Changes since the target commit are preserved in your working directory but need to be restaged (git add).
--hard Yes (moves to target commit) Yes (clears index changes) Yes (wipes working directory) Dangerous: Any uncommitted changes and all commits after the target hash are permanently discarded from the working directory.
graph TD subgraph "Before Hard Reset" A["Commit A"] --> B["Commit B (Target State)"] B --> C["Commit C (Unwanted Test)"] C --> D["Commit D (HEAD -> master)"] end subgraph "After git reset --hard B" A2["Commit A"] --> B2["Commit B (HEAD -> master)"] B2 -.-> C2["Commit C (Orphaned)"] C2 -.-> D2["Commit D (Orphaned)"] end style B fill:#bbf,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px style B2 fill:#4ade80,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px style C2 stroke-dasharray: 5 5,fill:#f9f9f9 style D2 stroke-dasharray: 5 5,fill:#f9f9f9

Git Reset vs. Git Revert

  • git reset is best for local branches where commits have not yet been shared with others. Since it rewrites history, pushing a reset branch requires a force push (git push --force), which can disrupt other developers if done on a public, shared branch.
  • git revert is best for shared public branches (like master/main). It preserves history by appending a new "revert" commit to undo changes, making it safe for other team members to pull.

Infrastructure & Configuration Requirements

  • Target Host: Nautilus Storage Server (ststor01)
  • SSH User: natasha
  • Local Repo Path: /usr/src/kodekloudrepos/news
  • Target Branch: master
  • Target State: Revert history so only the "initial commit" and the "add data.txt file" commit remain.

Step-by-Step Implementation

Step 1: Connect to the Storage Server

From the Jump Host, SSH into the Nautilus storage server as natasha:

ssh natasha@ststor01

Step 2: Navigate to the Repository

Switch directory to the designated local Git repository:

cd /usr/src/kodekloudrepos/news

Step 3: Inspect the Commit History

Display the list of commits in the repository to locate the target commit hash:

git log --oneline -n 10

Example commit log showing unwanted commits on top:

f8e9d2c (HEAD -> master, origin/master) Remove temporary test logs
a1b2c3d Add buggy script to news
7d8e9fa Add data.txt file
1d2f3e4 Initial commit

The target commit we want to keep is 7d8e9fa ("Add data.txt file"). We want to discard all commits above it (a1b2c3d and f8e9d2c).

Step 4: Perform the Hard Reset

Execute the hard reset command targeting the commit hash identified in Step 3:

git reset --hard 7d8e9fa

(Replace 7d8e9fa with your actual target commit hash from git log).

Expected output:

HEAD is now at 7d8e9fa Add data.txt file

Step 5: Force Push Changes to the Remote

Because the local branch's commit history has changed, a normal git push will be rejected by the remote repository. Enforce the update using the --force (or -f) flag:

git push origin master --force

Expected output:

Counting objects: 3, done.
Delta compression using up to 4 threads.
Compressing objects: 100% (2/2), done.
Writing objects: 100% (3/3), 282 bytes | 282.00 KiB/s, done.
Total 3 (delta 0), reused 0 (delta 0)
To /opt/news.git
 + f8e9d2c...7d8e9fa master -> master (forced update)

Post-Deployment Verification

1. Verify Clean Commit History

Verify that the branch tip is now pointing at the target commit and that all unwanted commits have been removed:

git log --oneline

Expected output:

7d8e9fa (HEAD -> master, origin/master) Add data.txt file
1d2f3e4 Initial commit

2. Check the Working Directory State

Ensure the working directory is clean and files introduced by the deleted commits (if any) are discarded:

git status

Expected output:

On branch master
Your branch is up to date with 'origin/master'.

nothing to commit, working tree clean

Log out of the Storage Server:

exit

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