How to remove file from git repository but only up to a certain point in history?

Question

I know how to use filter-branch to completely leave a file out of the repository history. What happened is that I had slightly sensitive information in a file some commits ago, but I have removed it and I want to keep the file from that safe commit onwards.

Can I do it? Or will I have to to do some cloning tricks?

Answer 1

I think BFG Repo-Cleaner is exactly what you're looking for.

You can use it to replace or remove sensitive information contained in the working tree (like for example a password) throughout the history of the repository. Here's an example from their documentation :

bfg --replace-text passwords.txt /path/to/repository

The passwords.txt file would then contain a series of strings to match together with what value they should be replaced with. For example:

password             # Replaces the string 'password' with '***REMOVED***' (default)
password==>DELETED   # Replaces the string 'password' with 'DELETED'
password==>          # Replaces the string 'password' with an empty string
regex:password.+==>  # Replaces using a regular expression with an empty string

As with git-filter-branch , this is a rewrite history operation, so the usual disclaimer applies.