Merging changes from a forked repository can be a crucial step in collaborative software development. When you create a fork of a repository, you essentially create a copy of the original repository where you can make your own changes without affecting the original codebase. However, to incorporate the changes made in the original repository into your forked copy, you need to merge them together.
The process of merging involves combining different sets of changes made in both repositories into a unified version. This allows you to incorporate any improvements, bug fixes, or new features made in the original repository into your forked version. By merging, you ensure that your forked repo remains up to date and benefits from the progress made by the original contributors.
To merge changes from the original repository into your forked copy, you need to follow a few steps. Firstly, make sure you have cloned your forked repository onto your local machine. Then, add the original repository as a remote location by running the command git remote add upstream
Once the upstream repository is added, you can fetch the latest changes made in the original repository by running the command git fetch upstream. This will retrieve all the updates made by other contributors in the original repository. Finally, to merge these changes into your local copy, use the command git merge upstream/main. This will incorporate the changes from the upstream repository’s main branch into your current branch.
Steps to merge from forked repo
When you fork a repository on GitHub, you create your own copy of the original repository. This allows you to freely make changes to the code without affecting the original repository. However, at some point, you may want to merge the changes you made in your forked repository back into the original repository. Here are the steps to do that:
- Clone your forked repository to your local machine using the command
git clone. - Navigate to the cloned repository using the command
cd. - Add the original repository as an upstream remote using the command
git remote add upstream <original repository URL>. - Fetch the latest changes from the original repository using the command
git fetch upstream. - Switch to the branch you want to merge your changes into using the command
git checkout <branch name>. - Merge the changes from the original repository into your branch using the command
git merge upstream/<branch name>. - Resolve any merge conflicts that may arise.
- Commit the merge changes using the command
git commit -m "Merge changes from upstream". - Push the merged changes to your forked repository using the command
git push origin <branch name>.
After following these steps, your changes from your forked repository will be merged into the original repository. This allows you to contribute your changes back to the original project and keep your forked repository in sync with it.
Clone the forked repository
To merge changes from a forked repository, you’ll first need to clone the forked repository onto your local machine. Cloning creates a local copy of the repository that you can make changes to and then push back to the forked repository.
Steps to clone the forked repository:
- Open the command line interface on your computer.
- Navigate to the directory where you want to clone the forked repository.
- Copy the clone URL from the forked repository on GitHub.
- Enter the following command in the command line interface:
git clone [clone URL]
Replacing [clone URL] with the URL you copied in the previous step.
Example:
If the clone URL is https://github.com/your-username/repository-name.git, the command would be:
git clone https://github.com/your-username/repository-name.git
This will create a new directory with the same name as the repository, containing all the files and commit history of the forked repository.
Now you have a local copy of the forked repository that you can work with and merge changes from.
Add the original repository as a remote
In order to keep your forked repository up to date with the changes made in the original repository, you need to add the original repository as a remote. This will allow you to fetch the latest changes and merge them into your forked repository.
Step 1: Copy the URL of the original repository
First, you need to find the URL of the original repository. You can usually find it on the main page of the original repository on a platform like GitHub. Copy the URL to your clipboard.
Step 2: Add the original repository as a remote
Open a terminal or command prompt and navigate to the directory of your forked repository. Type the following command:
git remote add upstream URL
Replace URL with the URL you copied in step 1. This command adds the original repository as a remote with the name “upstream”.
You can verify that the remote has been added successfully by typing the following command:
git remote -v
This will display a list of the remote repositories associated with your forked repository.
Now that you have added the original repository as a remote, you can fetch the latest changes by running the command:
git fetch upstream
This command retrieves all the changes from the original repository and stores them locally.
Once you have fetched the changes, you can merge them into your forked repository by running the command:
git merge upstream/main
This command merges the changes from the “upstream/main” branch into your current branch. If you are on a different branch, replace “main” with the name of your branch.
By adding the original repository as a remote and fetching the latest changes, you can easily integrate any updates made in the original repository into your forked repository.
Fetch the latest changes from the original repository
To keep your forked repository up to date with the latest changes made in the original repository, you need to fetch the latest changes. This will allow you to merge any updates and additions made by the repository owner into your forked version.
Step 1: Add the original repository as a remote
First, you need to add the original repository as a remote in your local repository. Open your terminal and navigate to the directory where your forked repository is located.
$ cd path/to/forked/repositoryNext, add the original repository as a remote using the following command:
$ git remote add upstream https://github.com/original-repository-owner/original-repository.gitStep 2: Fetch the latest changes
Once you have added the original repository as a remote, you can fetch the latest changes using the following command:
$ git fetch upstreamThis command will retrieve all the new branches and commits from the original repository.
Step 3: Merge the latest changes
After fetching the latest changes, you can merge them into your local branch. First, make sure you are on the branch you want to merge the changes into:
$ git checkout your-branchNext, merge the changes from the original repository into your branch using the following command:
$ git merge upstream/branch-nameReplace “branch-name” with the specific branch you want to merge.
Step 4: Push the changes
Once you have successfully merged the latest changes, you can push them to your forked repository on GitHub using the following command:
$ git push origin your-branchNow your forked repository is up to date with the latest changes from the original repository.
