git-sync-forked

As a github user, we sometimes need to sync the forked repo up to the new changes in the original source repo. That source repo, in git term, is called upstream.

Before you can sync your fork with an upstream repo, you need to configure a git remote that points to the upstream repository.

checkout your forked repo

git clone <your-forked-repo-url>

define upstream repository

First you will check the current defined remotes:

git remote -v
origin  https://github.com/<YOUR_USERNAME>/<YOUR_FORK>.git (fetch)
origin  https://github.com/<YOUR_USERNAME>/<YOUR_FORK>.git (push)

Note the protocol can be either https or ssh depending on your account security settings. The list returned above means there’s no other remotes than the forked repo itself.

Let’s define new remote entry for the upstream repository:

git remote add upstream https://github.com/<ORIGINAL_OWNER>/<ORIGINAL_REPOSITORY>.git

Now if check defined remotes again:

git remote -v
origin  https://github.com/<YOUR_USERNAME>/<YOUR_FORK>.git (fetch)
origin  https://github.com/<YOUR_USERNAME>/<YOUR_FORK>.git (push)
upstream	https://github.com/<ORIGINAL_OWNER>/<ORIGINAL_REPOSITORY>.git (fetch)
upstream	https://github.com/<ORIGINAL_OWNER>/<ORIGINAL_REPOSITORY>.git (push)

sync with upstream

Now we have upstream defined we can pull changes from upstream:

git fetch upstream

Now select a branch as merge target and merge the changes:

git checkout master
git merge upstream/master

Now you can push your local merged changes to your forked repo, aka origin.

git push origin [master]

Note that the branch name (master) is optional if you are pushing to same branch.

Now if you go to github portal your forked branch, you will find the status as: ‘This branch is even with '.