Comment by mistersquid

Early in the history of a repository, I committed some files with sensitive information. The only way to fix this (and similar problems) is to reconstruct the repos starting from the commit just before you committed the unwanted file(s).

I'm a bit of a git naif, there are doubtless better ways to do this. This was mine:

  0. Back up my repo.
  1. Save the entire commit history as patch files.
  2. Use BFG (amazing tool) to scrub all references to the unwanted files [0]
  3. Create new repo from the commit just before unwanted files.
  4. Apply the patches.
  5. Use a custom Perl script to apply the dates in the patch files to the new history. [1]

Technically, your repo will be fully reconstructed at step 4. Also, be advised the patch files themselves may have to be massaged to remove references to the file(s) in question. If the filenames themselves are not unwanted, you can add them to .gitignore for good measure.

Step 5 merely preserves the dates of the original commits. Keep in mind that for this last step, your script will have to work in reverse chronological order as the history will be altered from that point forward.

  [0] https://rtyley.github.io/bfg-repo-cleaner/
  [1] http://eddmann.com/posts/changing-the-timestamp-of-a-previous-git-commit/

EDIT: Swap steps 1 and 2. Add advisement that patch files may require manual alteration. Add hint regarding .gitignore. Title case "Perl".