Git Ignore Changes – How to Ignore Changes to a Tracked File in Git

configgitgitignore

I have a file with database settings in my project which I have set to some defaults. The file is tracked by Git and checked in. Since this file will be edited with different values various developer machines, is there a way I can tell Git to ignore new changes to this file?

I tried adding the file to the .gitignore file, but since the file is tracked it isn't ignored. This is alright and good in other situations, but I am wondering if there is something I can do here?

Best Answer

One may use git update-index --skip-worktree FILE for this purpose.

It is similar to --assume-unchanged but, unlike --assume-unchanged, is not just an unpredictable performance trick.

To cancel --skip-worktree effects and unset the flag use --no-skip-worktree.

Downsides

This flag is for local repository only and cannot be pushed to the remote. Thus every clone that needs to ignore the file should do it manually.
You may face conflicts when switching to another branch or using git pull. (more details)

Related Solutions

Git – How to Stop Tracking and Ignore Changes to a File

Just calling git rm --cached on each of the files you want to remove from revision control should be fine. As long as your local ignore patterns are correct you won't see these files included in the output of git status.

Note that this solution removes the files from the repository, so all developers would need to maintain their own local (non-revision controlled) copies of the file

To prevent git from detecting changes in these files you should also use this command:

git update-index --assume-unchanged [path]

What you probably want to do: (from below @Ryan Taylor answer)

This is to tell git you want your own independent version of the file or folder. For instance, you don't want to overwrite (or delete) production/staging config files.

git update-index --skip-worktree <path-name>

The full answer is here in this URL: http://source.kohlerville.com/2009/02/untrack-files-in-git/

Git Ignore Guide – How to Ignore a File or Directory Whether Tracked, Untracked, or Part of Commit

You can easily remove and untrack the files with git rm which seems to be what you want to do. If the files are automatically generated during the build process, this seems to be the route you want to take.

However, if only a single person has their machine setup to properly generate these files, I believe a bigger problem exists. But to do what you want, this is the way

Start ignoring changes git update-index --assume-unchanged <dir>

Start caring again git update-index --no-assume-unchanged <dir>

Best Answer

Downsides

Related Solutions

Git – How to Stop Tracking and Ignore Changes to a File

Git Ignore Guide – How to Ignore a File or Directory Whether Tracked, Untracked, or Part of Commit

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