Unable to create '/git/index.lock': File exists - but it doesn't
Solution 1
I'm on a Mac and ran into basically the same issue.
When running git rebase -i master
, I received an error:
fatal: Unable to create 'path/to/file/.git/index.lock': File exists.
The index.lock file didn't exist in my .git/ directory. But there was an index file (no filetype extension). So I aborted the rebase.
After a ton of searching, I finally decided to just create the file:
touch .git/index.lock
I tried rebasing again, but that didn't fix the issue (this time the file really did exist). So I removed it:
rm .git/index.lock
That did the trick. The rebase had conflicts this time (which was odd since I aborted the rebase previously), but I just addressed each conflict and then let the rebase continue:
git rebase --continue
I hope this helps someone else who ends up in a similar situation.
Solution 2
Use rm -rf X:/sources/project/.git/index.lock
to remove the lock and save yourself a headache. Also, the index.lock
exists, however, the .git
folder is hidden. So, use ls -la X:/sources/project/.git
to see the content of a hidden folder.
Solution 3
I had the same issue using Github Desktop. I watched the .git directory and the index.LOCK file would appear and disappear. It never persisted for long, so was not there to delete. I investigated a little as other solutions online did not work for me and found that comparing permissions to folders that I was able to commit they had one difference: the .git folder that gave me the error had full control like the others, but it was inherited from its parent. I went to properties->security->advanced and removed then re-added the permissions without inheriting them from the parent. After that I was able to commit my changes without an error.
Manza
Updated on June 16, 2022Comments
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Manza almost 2 years
I'm getting this message when trying to rebase interactively using source tree.
If no other git process is currently running, this probably means a git process crashed in this repository earlier. Make sure no other git process is running and remove the file manually to continue.
fatal: Unable to create 'X:/sources/project/.git/index.lock': File exists.
The problem is that X:/sources/project/.git/index.lock doesn't exist
All the other solutions on SO didn't work for me since they all say to remove this file.
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Pedro Paulo Amorim almost 4 yearsI am having the same issue, any idea how to fix it?
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user697473 almost 3 yearsThere are cases in which index.lock simply doesn't exist, at least before one starts to rebase. It's not in the hidden .git folder. I'm now wrestling with that problem myself.