"abort: git remote error: refs/heads/master failed to update" when pushing to local clone

[techtonik]

I am not a Git expert, that's why I use Mercurial + Hg-Git. But it doesn't make your life easier, because you still have to look for workarounds for Git errors like this one.

I fetched openFrameworks repository (which is huge) using Git, then cloned it locally with Hg, made commits and tried to push back into local repository, but it failed:

$ hg push
pushing to /home/user07/p/openFrameworks
creating and sending data
abort: git remote error: refs/heads/master failed to update

Full Traceback:

$ hg push --traceback --debug -v
pushing to /home/user07/p/openFrameworks
creating and sending data
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/mercurial/dispatch.py", line 87, in _runcatch
    return _dispatch(req)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/mercurial/dispatch.py", line 679, in _dispatch
    cmdpats, cmdoptions)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/mercurial/dispatch.py", line 454, in runcommand
    ret = _runcommand(ui, options, cmd, d)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/mercurial/extensions.py", line 182, in wrap
    return wrapper(origfn, *args, **kwargs)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/hgext/color.py", line 368, in colorcmd
    return orig(ui_, opts, cmd, cmdfunc)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/mercurial/dispatch.py", line 733, in _runcommand
    return checkargs()
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/mercurial/dispatch.py", line 687, in checkargs
    return cmdfunc()
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/mercurial/dispatch.py", line 676, in <lambda>
    d = lambda: util.checksignature(func)(ui, *args, **cmdoptions)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/mercurial/util.py", line 385, in check
    return func(*args, **kwargs)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/mercurial/commands.py", line 3884, in push
    newbranch=opts.get('new_branch'))
  File "/home/user07/p/hg-git/hggit/hgrepo.py", line 22, in push
    git.push(remote.path, revs, force)
  File "/home/user07/p/hg-git/hggit/git_handler.py", line 227, in push
    changed_refs = self.upload_pack(remote, revs, force)
  File "/home/user07/p/hg-git/hggit/git_handler.py", line 704, in upload_pack
    raise hgutil.Abort(_("git remote error: ") + str(e))
Abort: git remote error: refs/heads/master failed to update
abort: git remote error: refs/heads/master failed to update

What should I do now? How to commit this stuff upstream? Can Hg-Git do something about this automatically?

[durin42]

Moving refs in non-bare repos can fail. Nothing can be done on the
hg-git side.

If you want support (rather than reporting a bug or feature request), I
suggest you try the hg-git Google Group.

On 11/17/2011 12:04 AM, anatoly techtonik wrote:

I am not a Git expert, that's why I use Mercurial + Hg-Git. But it doesn't make your life easier, because you still have to look for workarounds for Git errors like this one.

I fetched openFrameworks repository (which is huge) using Git, then cloned it locally with Hg, made commits and tried to push back into local repository, but it failed:

$ hg push
pushing to /home/user07/p/openFrameworks
creating and sending data
abort: git remote error: refs/heads/master failed to update

Full Traceback:

$ hg push --traceback --debug -v
pushing to /home/user07/p/openFrameworks
creating and sending data
Traceback (most recent call last):
   File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/mercurial/dispatch.py", line 87, in _runcatch
     return _dispatch(req)
   File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/mercurial/dispatch.py", line 679, in _dispatch
     cmdpats, cmdoptions)
   File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/mercurial/dispatch.py", line 454, in runcommand
     ret = _runcommand(ui, options, cmd, d)
   File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/mercurial/extensions.py", line 182, in wrap
     return wrapper(origfn, *args, **kwargs)
   File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/hgext/color.py", line 368, in colorcmd
     return orig(ui_, opts, cmd, cmdfunc)
   File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/mercurial/dispatch.py", line 733, in _runcommand
     return checkargs()
   File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/mercurial/dispatch.py", line 687, in checkargs
     return cmdfunc()
   File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/mercurial/dispatch.py", line 676, in<lambda>
     d = lambda: util.checksignature(func)(ui, *args, **cmdoptions)
   File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/mercurial/util.py", line 385, in check
     return func(*args, **kwargs)
   File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/mercurial/commands.py", line 3884, in push
     newbranch=opts.get('new_branch'))
   File "/home/user07/p/hg-git/hggit/hgrepo.py", line 22, in push
     git.push(remote.path, revs, force)
   File "/home/user07/p/hg-git/hggit/git_handler.py", line 227, in push
     changed_refs = self.upload_pack(remote, revs, force)
   File "/home/user07/p/hg-git/hggit/git_handler.py", line 704, in upload_pack
     raise hgutil.Abort(_("git remote error: ") + str(e))
Abort: git remote error: refs/heads/master failed to update
abort: git remote error: refs/heads/master failed to update

What should I do now? How to commit this stuff upstream? Can Hg-Git do something about this automatically?

---

Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub:
#236

[techtonik]

Why are those refs being updated? Could it be a bug with Hg-Git? I didn't do anything complicated - just committed new revision into the clone .

[jordigh]

durin42, something should be done about this. Pushing to non-bare repos is possible. So what if git gets confused about the state of the cwd, that's a problem on the git side. hg-git should push, with warnings about non-bare repos, and let the git side handle its mess.

[durin42]

No. Pushing into a non-bare repository is something you're supposed to not do. We won't do anything that willfully breaks the Git working copy.

[techtonik]

hg-git is no remedy for Git illness.

[jordigh]

Yeah, using hg-git to use git is like trying to use Google translate to read Don Quixote.

[jordigh]

... Except that Don Quixote is a pleasure to read, in any language.

[lindes]

@jordigh: If you're cloning into hg from git, could this problem be avoided ("the git way") by simply doing your initial git clone with --bare?

e.g. if you're doing:

git clone http://path/to/whatever
hg git-clone /local/path/to/git/clone # or whatever the hg command is
...

then just change that first line to

git clone --bare http://path/to/whatever

Is that, perhaps, the bit that's missing?

I'm unsure -- I randomly saw you mentioning this on IRC, and I'm unfamiliar with hg-git... I'm just guessing that the above might be helpful to someone (possibly @techtonik) whose primary unfamiliarity is with git, instead. (I.e. attempting to translate what @durin42 says into something concrete and specific enough to hopefully be helpful.)

[jordigh]

Your first assumption is broken. I'm not cloning from git. I happily started on hg. Then I wanted to convert my hg repo to git.

In order to do this, I must (correct me if I'm wrong):

1. Create an empty git repo.
2. Convert this to a bare repo somehow (or investigate if there is --some --option to git init to create a bare repo)
3. Push from hg to the bare git repo
4. Pull from the bare repo into the normal git repo

Pain in the butt... and all because git made a mess of things.

[durin42]

man git-init | grep bare

On Wed, Apr 4, 2012 at 9:01 AM, jordigh
reply@reply.github.com
wrote:

Your first assumption is broken. I'm not cloning from git. I happily started on hg. Then I wanted to convert my hg repo to git.

In order to do this, I must (correct me if I'm wrong):

1. Create an empty git repo.
2. Convert this to a bare repo somehow (or investigate if there is --some --option to git init to create a bare repo)
3. Push from hg to the bare git repo
4. Pull from the bare repo into the normal git repo

Pain in the butt... and all because git made a mess of things.

---

Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub:
#236 (comment)

[jordigh]

durin42, okay, so you collapsed steps 1 and 2. That still requires 3 steps to do what I wish were a simpler operation.

[jaraco]

I ran into this issue after failing to push gigabytes of commits to a newly initted remote. I didn't want to push that data again, but I found I could convert the repository to a bare one and then manually add a master ref on the remote. First, on the hg clone, resolve the master hash:

grep $(hg id -i) .hg/git-mapfile | awk '{print $1}'

Then save the result of that command into the remote in $repo/refs/heads/master.