how to rebase branch from a diverged master?

Question

Originally, my local master branch is the same as origin/master. imagine the follows:

1. originally

   master: a->b

   origin/master: a->b

2. origin/master one more commit

   master: a->b

   origin/master: a->b->c

3. master one more commit

   master: a->b->d

   origin/master: a->b->c

4. new branch from master

   master : a->b->d

   newbranch: a->b->d->e

   origin/master: a->b->c

I tried rebasing master branch to origin/master, I expected log of new branch will be a->b->c->d->e. But instead, log of new branch is still a->b->d->e, why is that?

Answer 1

What I'd do:

• Rewind local master to the last non-diverging commit b: git checkout master; git reset b git checkout master; git reset b
• Pull remote master: git pull origin master ; this will pull in c .
• Use git merge or git cherry-pick to put commits d and e onto master, resolve any conflicts with commit c .

Generally it is advisable to avoid working directly on a master branch. Use feature branches, do git pull --rebase on them regularly to keep in sync with master, and only merge to freshly-pulled master.