GitLab rename master branch to main

The following steps show how to rename the master branch to main in GitLab.

• Create the repository in GitLab as you normally would
• On your laptop, clone the repository locally

  git clone git@git.dartmouth.edu:netid/myapp.git

• If the repository is empty, add a README.md file because the next steps will not work on an empty repository

  cd myapp touch README.md git add -A git commit -m 'Initial commit' git push

• Create main branch locally and then push it to the remote

  git branch -m master main git push -u origin main

• In GitLab, remove protection from master and add it to main
  • Browse to https://git.dartmouth.edu/netid/my-app
  • Click "Settings", then "Repository"
  • Next to "Protected Branches", click "Expand"
  • In the list of branches, click "Unprotect" on the "master" branch
  • Click "OK" to confirm
  • On the "Protect a branch" section, choose:
    • Branch: main
    • Allowed to merge: Maintainers
    • Allowed to push: Maintainers
  • Click "Protect"
• In GitLab, change the default branch to main
  • Still in the Repository Settings, next to "Default Branch", click "Expand"
  • Set "Default Branch" to "main"
  • Click "Save changes" 
• Delete the master branch

  git push origin --delete master

• If there are other clones of the repo (perhaps by team members), those can be updated with the following steps

  cd path/to/repos/myapp git checkout master git branch -m master main git fetch git branch --unset-upstream git branch -u origin/main