How to Rename a Git Repository
- Rename a Git Repository on GitHub
- Rename a Displayed Name in Git
- Rename a Repository Directory in Git
In this article, we will discuss renaming a Git repository. We can interpret this in different ways.
It can be renaming the displayed name, the repository on GitHub, or the repository’s folder. We will discuss these and go through the steps we need to follow.
Rename a Git Repository on GitHub
GitHub makes it easy for us to rename a repository. Follow these steps to rename your repo.
First, go to the Settings
tab, and on the General Settings
tab, you will find this.
If we wanted to rename our DelftStack
repo to another, we would enter the desired name and click Rename
. It is as simple as that.
Of course, the repository’s URL will change, and we must set it in again in our local repo. We will copy the new URL, navigate our local repository’s folder and run the command below.
$ git remote set-url origin <new-URL>
After the change, Git will save the old repo and the associated URLs.
It will also redirect traffic to the new URL. Anyone using the old link will be redirected to the new one.
Rename a Displayed Name in Git
To change the displayed name, for example, by gitweb
, follow these steps.
-
Open and edit the
.git/description
file to contain the desired name. -
Save the file.
Rename a Repository Directory in Git
The local repository’s name is drawn from the repo’s directory if you are unaware. Hence to change the name, you will have to rename the directory.
You cannot rename the local repo without changing the directory’s name.
We use the git mv
command to rename a directory. We run:
$ git mv <old-name> <new-name>
In a nutshell, GitHub allows us to change our repository’s name on the settings tab. You must set the new name on the command line using the git set remote - url
command.
To rename a local repo, you will have to rename the directory containing the repo.
John is a Git and PowerShell geek. He uses his expertise in the version control system to help businesses manage their source code. According to him, Shell scripting is the number one choice for automating the management of systems.
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