Course lesson
If we want to completely remove a file from github - including all history - there is a tool that we can use called the BFG.
If we want to completely remove a file from github - including all history - there is a tool that we can use called the BFG.
The github help article is here:
https://help.github.com/en/github/authenticating-to-github/removing-sensitive-data-from-a-repository
And the BGF itself is available here:
https://rtyley.github.io/bfg-repo-cleaner/
We'll start by downloading the BFG jar file, and then cloning a mirror of our repo with:
git clone --mirror [repo-url]
Then we can delete our .env file with:
java -jar ~/Downloads/bfg-1.13.0.jar --delete-files .env my-repo.git
which will delete the .env file. Then we can use the following command to prune the entire history and garbage collect the remains:
git reflog expire --expire=now --all && git gc --prune=now --aggressive
And finally, use git push to push that change to github, and remove the .env file from all of the history on github as well.
Course lesson
If we want to completely remove a file from github - including all history - there is a tool that we can use called the BFG.
# prune the entire history and garbage collect the remains
git reflog expire --expire=now --all && git gc --prune=now --aggressive
# use git push to push that change to github,
# and remove the .env file from all of the history