When working with open-source projects on GitHub, forking a repository is a common practice. Forking allows you to create a personal copy of the original repository, which you can modify and experiment with without affecting the original project. However, as the original repository evolves, it’s important to keep your forked copy up to date to benefit from the latest changes and bug fixes.
To update a forked project on GitHub, you need to follow a few simple steps. First, make sure you have the latest version of Git installed on your computer. This will allow you to interact with the repository and execute Git commands. Once you have Git set up, navigate to the local directory where you have cloned your forked project.
Next, you need to add a remote upstream repository. This will link your local forked repository to the original project’s repository. To do this, run the following command in your terminal:
git remote add upstream https://github.com/original-project-owner/original-project.git
This command will add a remote named “upstream” that points to the original project’s repository. You can verify the remote using the following command:
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git remote -v
Now that your forked repository is connected to the original project’s repository, you can fetch the latest changes using the following command:
git fetch upstream
This command will retrieve all the changes made to the original repository since you last forked it. However, the changes are not applied automatically to your forked project. To update your forked project with the latest changes, you need to merge the changes into your local repository using the following command:
git merge upstream/main
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This command will merge the changes from the upstream repository’s main branch into your local repository’s main branch. Now your forked project is up to date with the latest changes from the original project. Finally, you can push the changes to your forked repository on GitHub using the following command:
git push origin main
By following these steps, you can easily update your forked project on GitHub and stay in sync with the original project’s developments. Regularly updating your forked project ensures that you have access to the latest features, bug fixes, and improvements made by the open-source community.
Step 1: Fork the project
Forking a project on GitHub allows you to create a copy of the original repository under your own GitHub account. This enables you to make changes to the project without affecting the original repository.
To fork a project, simply navigate to the project’s GitHub page and click on the “Fork” button located at the top-right corner of the page. This will create a copy of the project under your GitHub account.
Once you have forked the project, you will have your own version of it that you can freely modify and update. Any changes you make to your forked repository will not impact the original project until you choose to submit a pull request to merge your changes.
By forking a project, you can contribute to it by fixing bugs, adding new features, or making improvements. Forking is an important step in the collaborative development process on GitHub, as it allows for an organized and controlled way of contributing to open source projects.
Note: It’s a good practice to keep your forked project updated with the changes made in the original repository. This ensures that you are working with the latest version of the project and avoids any potential conflicts when submitting your changes.
Step 2: Clone the forked repository
After forking the repository on GitHub, the next step is to clone the forked repository onto your local machine. Cloning allows you to create a local working copy of the forked repository, which you can then make changes to and push back to GitHub.
Step 2.1: Copy the Clone URL
To clone the repository, you will need to copy the clone URL. On the forked repository’s GitHub page, click on the “Code” button, and then click on the clipboard icon next to the clone URL to copy it.
Step 2.2: Open Git Bash or your preferred Git terminal
Open Git Bash or any other Git terminal that you prefer to use. You can also use the Command Prompt or the Terminal if you are on a Mac. This will allow you to execute Git commands and interact with the repository.
Now that you have opened the Git terminal, navigate to the directory where you want to clone the forked repository. You can use the “cd” command followed by the file path to navigate to the desired directory.
For example:
cd /path/to/directoryMake sure you replace “/path/to/directory” with the actual file path of the directory on your machine.
Step 2.3: Clone the repository
Once you are in the desired directory, use the “git clone” command followed by the clone URL you copied earlier to clone the repository.
For example:
git clone <clone_url>Make sure you replace “<clone_url>” with the actual clone URL you copied earlier.
After executing the clone command, Git will create a new directory with the same name as the repository in the current directory. This directory will contain all the files and commit history from the forked repository.
By cloning the repository, you have successfully created a local copy of the forked repository on your machine. Now you can navigate to the cloned directory and start making changes to the code.
Step 3: Add the original repository as a remote
After forking a project on GitHub, it’s important to keep your forked repository up to date with any changes made to the original repository. This can be done by adding the original repository as a remote and fetching the latest changes. Here are the steps to follow:
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| git remote add upstream <original-repository-url> | Adds the original repository as a remote named “upstream” |
| git fetch upstream | Fetches the latest changes from the original repository |
| git merge upstream/<branch-name> | Merges the fetched changes into your local branch |
| git push origin <branch-name> | Pushes the merged changes to your forked repository on GitHub |
By adding the original repository as a remote, you can easily keep track of any updates made to the project and integrate them into your forked repository. This ensures that your fork stays in sync with the original repository and allows you to contribute to the project effectively.
Step 4: Fetch updates from the original repository
After you have successfully set up the upstream remote, you need to fetch the updates from the original repository. This will allow you to sync your forked repository with any changes that have been made to the original repository.
Fetching the updates
To fetch updates from the original repository, you need to run the following command in your terminal:
git fetch upstream
This command will fetch all the changes made to the original repository and store them in a separate branch called “upstream/master”.
Once the updates have been fetched, you can check out the branch with the following command:
git checkout upstream/master
This will switch you to the “upstream/master” branch and allow you to view and merge any changes that have been made to the original repository.
Merging the updates
To merge the updates from the original repository into your forked repository, you need to switch back to your master branch by running the following command:
git checkout master
Once you are on the master branch, you can merge the changes from the “upstream/master” branch by running the following command:
git merge upstream/master
This will merge the changes from the original repository into your forked repository and update your local files accordingly.
Remember to commit and push the changes to your forked repository after merging the updates.
By fetching and merging updates from the original repository on a regular basis, you can keep your forked repository up to date with any changes made to the original project.
Step 5: Merge the updates into your forked repository
Once you have successfully updated the original repository, the next step is to merge those updates into your forked repository. This step is crucial to ensure that your forked repository stays up-to-date with the latest changes made by the original repository.
To merge the updates, you need to follow these steps:
- Go to your forked repository on GitHub.
- Click on the “Pull requests” tab near the top of the page.
- Click on the “New pull request” button.
- On the compare page, select the branch or commit that contains the updates you want to merge into your forked repository.
- Review the changes on the “Files changed” tab and ensure that everything looks correct.
- If everything looks good, click on the “Create pull request” button.
- Add a title and description for the pull request, explaining the changes you made.
- Click on the “Create pull request” button again to submit the pull request.
Once the pull request is submitted, the owner of the original repository will be notified and can review your changes. If they approve the changes, they will merge your updates into the original repository.
If there are any conflicts or issues with the merge, you may need to resolve them before your updates can be merged. This may involve making further changes to your forked repository or working with the owner of the original repository to resolve the conflicts.
It’s important to regularly merge updates from the original repository into your forked repository to keep it in sync. This will ensure that your fork reflects the latest changes and improvements made to the original project, and allow you to contribute to the project effectively.
