gitlab revert merge

Shinanala

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02-10-2024

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Undoing a Merge Request: A Guide to GitLab's revert Command

Sometimes, after merging a branch into your main branch, you might realize that the changes introduced were not as expected or caused unforeseen issues. In such cases, GitLab provides a powerful tool called revert that allows you to safely undo the merge without losing the original history.

Let's say you had a branch called feature-branch that you merged into your main branch. After the merge, you discover a bug introduced by the changes in feature-branch. You can use the revert command to create a new commit that reverses the effects of the merge, effectively undoing it.

Here's an example of how you can use revert in GitLab:

Original Code:

git revert <commit-hash>

Explanation:

1. git revert: This command instructs Git to create a new commit that undoes the changes introduced by the specified commit.
2. <commit-hash>: This is the SHA-1 hash of the commit you want to revert. You can find this by navigating to your merge request in GitLab and copying the commit hash from the "Commits" tab.

Using revert in GitLab:

1. Navigate to the merge request: Find the merge request you want to undo.
2. Locate the commit hash: Look for the commit hash of the merge commit you want to revert.
3. Create a new branch: It's good practice to create a new branch from main to isolate your revert changes.
4. Execute the revert command: Open a terminal and run the command git revert <commit-hash>.
5. Add a commit message: This message should clearly explain why you are reverting the commit. For example, "Revert merge of feature-branch: Bug fix".
6. Push your changes: Push your new commit to your branch.
7. Open a new merge request: Create a new merge request to merge your revert branch into main.

Benefits of using revert:

• Preserves history: revert creates a new commit that undoes the changes, making it clear what happened and why. It does not rewrite history, ensuring that the history remains intact.
• Safe and controlled: By creating a separate commit, you can review the changes before merging them into your main branch, giving you more control over the process.
• Collaborative: Since revert commits are clearly documented, they make it easier for others to understand the changes and track the evolution of your codebase.

Things to consider:

• Merge conflicts: If someone else has made changes to the main branch since the original merge, you might encounter merge conflicts. You'll need to resolve these conflicts before pushing your changes.
• Reverting multiple commits: You can also revert multiple commits by specifying their hashes separated by spaces. For example: git revert <hash1> <hash2>.
• Re-merging: Once you've reverted the changes, you can re-merge the branch after addressing the issue.

Resources:

• GitLab Documentation: https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/project/merge_requests/revert_merge_request.html
• Git Documentation: https://git-scm.com/docs/revert

By understanding and utilizing the revert command, you can manage your GitLab workflow effectively and undo unwanted changes in a safe and controlled manner.