How do I properly remove sensitive data pushed to a Git repo?

Question

I pushed a file containing a password to my repo by mistake - FYI the repo is just a small personal project.

Once I realised the password was present I added the file to .gitignore and executed git rm -r --cached <filename>, committed and pushed to the repo.

I now realise the password is still present in the history - what is the best way to remove it?

I read the Remove sensitive data page on Github which suggests changing the password - which I have done - but I would like to remove the history as well.

Answer 1

Since you have already made 5 commits since the commit containing the clear text password, you best bet is to do a git rebase -i in interactive mode on your local branch. Find the SHA-1 of the commit where you added the clear text password, and type the following:

git rebase --interactive dba507c^ 

where dba507c are the first 7 characters of the SHA-1 for the bad commit.

Change this:

pick dba507c comment for commit containing clear text password 

To this:

edit dba507c I have removed the clear text password 

Make the change to the password file to remove the clear text, then commit your result like this:

git commit --all --amend --no-edit git rebase --continue 

Finish the rebase, then push your (correct) local branch to the remote via:

git push -f origin your_branch 

You will need to force push your_branch because you have rewritten history (by modifying the password file). Now you have all your latest commits, but you have removed the clear text.