Azure Devops Repos - Revert back to a previous commit like the recent ones never existed

Question

I know that you can revert back to a previous commit but it doesn't sound like the history will be gone. How can I revert back to a previous commit and make sure the commits that came after are gone forever?

Solution 1

Git reset command can achieve this.

You can run the git reset --hard command to revert back to a previous commit. Then run git push --force command to wipe out all the commits came after this commit on server.

git clone <repo_url>  #clone your azure git repo to local
git checkout <branch>

git reset --hard <commithash> #revert back to a the previous commit
git push --force  #push to remote server

After you run above git commands locally. You will see on azure devops git the commits coming after are gone.

Solution 2

While code approach is available, Azure DevOps website provides very quick method.

Go to Azure DevOps -> Your Repository -> Switch to the Working branch where you just made the commit that needs to be changed.

1. Go to History and click on the commit that needs to be reversed.

2. Select "revert" option from hamburger icon at top right.

3. It will automatically create a new branch and will ask you to approve a pull request from this new branch to your working branch. Complete this pull request.

4. Verify that your commit has been reversed in the working branch as expected.

Note: At times if there are multiple dependencies on a commit, it might throw an error. But usually, it works fine.

Comments

[Levi Lu-MSFT]

Hi, did you get a chance to try out below answer? How did it go?

[GLP]

Works like a charm in Azure Devop.