Re: create reflog for reflog-less ref

["brian m. carlson" <sandals@crustytoothpaste.net>]

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On 2020-02-26 at 01:07:35, Chris Jerdonek wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I wanted to ask on this list if there are any supported ways to create
> a reflog for an existing ref that doesn't already have a reflog.
> 
> This is more likely to come up for refs not in the standard set (i.e.
> HEAD, branches and remote-tracking branches), since reflogs aren't
> created by default for those refs.
> 
> The only workaround I could think of is using git-update-ref to delete
> the ref, and then immediately recreate it using the `--create-reflog`
> option (if that option is needed), e.g.:
> 
> $ git update-ref -d refs/foo/bar
> $ git update-ref -m "my message" --create-reflog refs/foo/bar <SHA>
> 
> This seems hacky though because it forces you to pass through a state
> where the ref no longer exists. It also requires you to get the ref's
> SHA first.
> 
> This Stack Overflow reply from 2016 suggests the idea of using `git
> update-ref -m MSG REF REF` to add lines to an existing reflog:
> https://stackoverflow.com/questions/36770141/can-i-add-a-line-to-the-reflog/36778898#36778898
> But it doesn't seem to work to create a reflog (and only seemed to
> work for me in limited circumstances otherwise, like adding to HEAD's
> reflog). (I tried with version 2.25.0.)

There is the option core.logAllRefUpdates, which has the value "always"
in more modern versions of Git.  The documentation says,

  If [the option is set to always, then a missing reflog is
  automatically created for any ref under refs/.

Now, that assumes that you want reflogs for all your refs, but there's
really not much downside to having a reflog and not using it.
-- 
brian m. carlson: Houston, Texas, US
OpenPGP: https://keybase.io/bk2204

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