Change a directory name in a Github repository remotely, directly from local Linux Git

gitgithubmvremoteversion control

This is my Git repository:

https://github.com/benqzq/ulcwe

It has a dir named local and I want to change its name to another name (say, from local to xyz).

Changing it through GitHub GUI manually is a nightmare as I have to change the directory name for each file separately (GitHub has yet to include a "Directory rename" functionality, believe it or not).

After installing Git, I tried this command:

git remote https://github.com/benqzq/ulcwe && git mv local xyz && exit

While I didn't get any prompt for my GitHub password, I did get this error:

fatal: Not a git repository (or any parent up to mount point /mnt/c)
Stopping at filesystem boundary (GIT_DISCOVERY_ACROSS_FILESYSTEM not set).

I know the whole point in Git is to download a project, change, test, and then push to the hosting provider (GitHub in this case), but to just change a directory, I desire a direct operation. Is it even possible with Git?

Should I use another program maybe?

Best Answer

The fatal error message indicates you’re working from somewhere that’s not a clone of your git repository. So let’s start by cloning the git repository first:

git clone https://github.com/benqzq/ulcwe.git

Then enter it:

cd ulcwe

and rename the directory:

git mv local xyz

For the change to be shareable, you need to commit it:

git commit -m "Rename local to xyz"

Now you can push it to your remote git repository:

git push

and you’ll see the change in the GitHub interface.

Related Solutions

Github adding a repository as a fork from an existing clone

You can do it all from your existing repository (no need to clone the fork into a new (local) repository, create your branch, copy your commits/changes, etc.).

Get your commits ready to be published.

Refine any existing local commits (e.g. with git commit --amend and/or git rebase --interactive).

Commit any of your uncommitted changes that you want to publish (I am not sure if you meant to imply that you have some commits on your local master and some uncommitted changes, or just some uncommitted changes; incidentally, uncommitted changes are not “on a branch”, they are strictly in your working tree).

Rename your master branch to give it the name you want for your “new branch”. This is not strictly necessary (you can push from any branch to any other branch), but it will probably reduce confusion in the long run if your local branch and the branch in your GitHub fork have the same name.
```
git branch -m master my-feature
```
Fork the upstream GitHub repository
(e.g.) github.com:UpstreamOwner/repostory_name.git as
(e.g.) github.com:YourUser/repository_name.git.

This is done on the GitHub website (or a “client” that uses the GitHub APIs), there are no local Git commands involved.
In your local repository (the one that was originally cloned from the upstream GitHub repository and has your changes in its master), add your fork repository as a remote:
```
git remote add -f github github.com:YourUser/repository_name.git
```
Push your branch to your fork repository on GitHub.
```
git push github my-feature
```
Optionally, rename the remotes so that your fork is known as “origin” and the upstream as “upstream”.
```
git remote rename origin upstream
git remote rename github origin
```
One reason to rename the remotes would be because you want to be able to use git push without specifying a repository (it defaults to “origin”).

Copy a single file from local Git repository

You can use git archive to obtain a single file from a repository:

git archive --remote=file:///path/to/repository.git HEAD:path/to/directory filename | tar -x

The repository specified as --remote can be local, remote, bare or regular, it works in all of the aforementioned cases.

Note that if you want to obtain a version of filename from a specific commit, you can replace HEAD in the oneliner above with the hash of the desired commit.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Github adding a repository as a fork from an existing clone

Copy a single file from local Git repository

Related Question