By installing git-flow, you'll have a handful of extra commands available. Each of these commands performs multiple tasks automatically and in a predefined order. And voila - there we have our workflows!
git-flow is by no means a replacement for Git. It's just a set of scripts that combine standard Git commands in a clever way.
Strictly speaking, you wouldn't even have to install anything to use the git-flow workflows: you could easily learn which workflow involves which individual tasks - and simply perform these Git commands (with the right parameters and in the right order) on your own. The git-flow scripts, however, save you from having to memorize all of this.
- Install git-flow.
sudo apt-get install git-flow
- We can check if
git-flowis successfully installed by:
dev@jino:~/git-demo$ git flow --version
usage: git flow <subcommand>
Available subcommands are:
init Initialize a new git repo with support for the branching model.
feature Manage your feature branches.
bugfix Manage your bugfix branches.
release Manage your release branches.
hotfix Manage your hotfix branches.
support Manage your support branches.
version Shows version information.
config Manage your git-flow configuration.
log Show log deviating from base branch.
Try 'git flow <subcommand> help' for details.
- List the available commands:
dev@jino:~/git-demo$ git flow feature help
usage: git flow feature [list]
or: git flow feature start
or: git flow feature finish
or: git flow feature publish
or: git flow feature track
or: git flow feature diff
or: git flow feature rebase
or: git flow feature checkout
or: git flow feature pull
or: git flow feature delete
Manage your feature branches.
For more specific help type the command followed by --help
1.) Let's initialize it in a new project with git flow init
dev@jino:~/git-demo$ git flow init
Initialized empty Git repository in /home/dev/git-demo/.git/
No branches exist yet. Base branches must be created now.
Branch name for production releases: [master]
Branch name for "next release" development: [develop]
How to name your supporting branch prefixes?
Feature branches? [feature/]
Bugfix branches? [bugfix/]
Release branches? [release/]
Hotfix branches? [hotfix/]
Support branches? [support/]
Version tag prefix? []
Hooks and filters directory? [/home/dev/git-demo/.git/hooks]
Demo: git flow init
2.) git flow feature start [feature name]
dev@jino:~/git-demo$ git flow feature start login
Switched to a new branch 'feature/login'
Summary of actions:
- A new branch 'feature/login' was created, based on 'develop'
- You are now on branch 'feature/login'
Now, start committing on your feature. When done, use:
git flow feature finish login
dev@jino:~/git-demo$ git branch
develop
* feature/login
master
Demo: git flow feature start
3.) git flow feature finish [feature name]
dev@jino:~/git-demo$ git branch
develop
* feature/login
master
dev@jino:~/git-demo$ git flow feature finish login
Switched to branch 'develop'
Already up to date.
Deleted branch feature/login (was bf2f9c2).
Summary of actions:
- The feature branch 'feature/login' was merged into 'develop'
- Feature branch 'feature/login' has been locally deleted
- You are now on branch 'develop'
dev@jino:~/git-demo$ git branch
* develop
master
Demo: git flow feature finish
1.) git flow release start [release version]
dev@jino:~/git-demo$ git branch
* develop
master
dev@jino:~/git-demo$ git flow release start v1.0.0
Switched to a new branch 'release/v1.0.0'
Summary of actions:
- A new branch 'release/v1.0.0' was created, based on 'develop'
- You are now on branch 'release/v1.0.0'
Follow-up actions:
- Bump the version number now!
- Start committing last-minute fixes in preparing your release
- When done, run:
git flow release finish 'v1.0.0'
dev@jino:~/git-demo$ git branch
develop
master
* release/v1.0.0
Demo: git flow release start
2.) git flow release finish [release version]
dev@jino:~/git-demo$ git branch
develop
master
* release/v1.0.0
dev@jino:~/git-demo$ git flow release finish v1.0.0
Switched to branch 'master'
Deleted branch release/v1.0.0 (was bf2f9c2).
Summary of actions:
- Release branch 'release/v1.0.0' has been merged into 'master'
- The release was tagged 'v1.0.0'
- Release branch 'release/v1.0.0' has been locally deleted
- You are now on branch 'master'
dev@jino:~/git-demo$ git branch
develop
* master
dev@jino:~/git-demo$ git tag
v1.0.0
Demo: git flow release finish
3.) Done you can now push your changes to remote master branch and also do not forget to push your newly created tags.
1.) git flow hotfix start [hotfix name]
dev@jino:~/git-demo$ git branch
develop
* master
dev@jino:~/git-demo$ git flow hotfix start broken-link
Switched to a new branch 'hotfix/broken-link'
Summary of actions:
- A new branch 'hotfix/broken-link' was created, based on 'master'
- You are now on branch 'hotfix/broken-link'
Follow-up actions:
- Start committing your hot fixes
- Bump the version number now!
- When done, run:
git flow hotfix finish 'broken-link'
dev@jino:~/git-demo$ git branch
develop
* hotfix/broken-link
master
Demo: git flow hotfix start
2.) git flow hotfix finish [hotfix name]
dev@jino:~/git-demo$ git branch
develop
* hotfix/broken-link
master
dev@jino:~/git-demo$ git flow hotfix finish broken-link
Switched to branch 'develop'
Deleted branch hotfix/broken-link (was bf2f9c2).
Summary of actions:
- Hotfix branch 'hotfix/broken-link' has been merged into 'master'
- The hotfix was tagged 'broken-link'
- Hotfix branch 'hotfix/broken-link' has been locally deleted
- You are now on branch 'develop'
dev@jino:~/git-demo$ git branch
* develop
master
dev@jino:~/git-demo$ git tag
broken-link
v1.0.0
Demo: git flow hotfix finish:
3.) Done!, you can now push your changes to remote master branch and also do not forget to push your newly created tags, you can set git aliases for git flow shorter commands.