Modifying the History - Git Recipes - page 282

Solution

Create a new repository containing revisions a through f :

$ cd git-recipes
$ git init 08-06
$ cd 08-06
$ git simple-commit a b c d e f

The $ git log --oneline command now prints the revisions in the following
order:

35cba5a f

4932572 e

bb7f037 d

93b7397 c

9219566 b

17e5231 a

You want to remove some commits from the history. The oldest commit you want to
remove is b . It is fifth commit in the history ( f is the first, e is the second, d is the
third, c is the fourth, and b is the fifth). The command you need is $ git rebase
-i HEAD ∼ 5 . It is interactive rebasing so git will start the editor. The original subcom-
mands of interactive rebasing are shown in in Listing 8-7 . Replace them with the sub-
commands shown in Listing 8-8 . Finally save the file and close the editor.

Listing 8-7. The original subcommands of interactive rebasing in Recipe 8-6

pick 9219566 b
pick 93b7397 c
pick bb7f037 d
pick 4932572 e
pick 35cba5a f

Listing 8-8. The commands that perform the transformation shown in Figure 8-6

pick 93b7397 c
pick 4932572 e