GitLab: Revert to an Older Commit by Creating a New Branch

To ensure smooth workflow and avoid conflicts when reverting to an older commit, a good practice is to create a new branch from the specific commit. This approach keeps the original branch history intact and allows for easy collaboration.

Steps to Revert to an Older Commit by Creating a New Branch

1. Find the commit you want to revert to

First, identify the commit hash that you want to revert to. This can be done using the git log command:

This will show the commit history. Each commit is represented by a hash (SHA-1), which you will need to reference in the next steps.

2. Create a new branch from the older commit

Once you have identified the commit you want to revert to, create a new branch starting from that specific commit:

Example:

This command creates a new branch named revert-to-older from the commit with the hash 5d41402abc4b2a76b9719d911017c592.

3. Push the new branch to the remote repository

After creating the new branch, push it to the remote repository so it becomes available for others:

Example:

4. Open a Merge Request (Optional)

If you want to merge the changes from the newly created branch into another branch (e.g., main or develop), open a Merge Request in GitLab.

This allows for review and approval before merging the new branch into the target branch.

Example: Reverting to an Older Commit by Creating a New Branch

1. Check the commit history:

   git log

   Output:

   commit abc123... (HEAD -> feature-branch) commit def456... commit ghi789...

2. Create a new branch from commit def456:

   git checkout -b revert-to-older def456

3. Push the new branch to the remote:

   git push origin revert-to-older

4. Open a Merge Request if needed to merge the changes back into the original branch.

Benefits of This Approach:

• Keeps the original branch history clean and intact.

• Allows for collaborative review by creating a new branch and using merge requests.

• Minimizes the risk of conflicts and disruptions during the revert process.

This documentation outlines a clean and collaborative approach to reverting to an older commit by creating a new branch, ensuring an organized workflow for your team.