Merging remote branches in git

Question

I am developing a system where I'm following the trails of another project, adding my own stuff but not directly to the original project. I setup my repository with three remote branches:

1. Master - Where my development takes place.
2. Vendor - Where I sync with the original project periodically.
3. Integration - Where I want to merge (Master) and (Vendor) together.

My workflow idea is for the synchronization to take place automatically (since it's basically a fast-forward of sorts), and the integration to be half-manual (since it requires merges and fixes). I've got the first part (the sync) covered, but I can't figure out what command/s to actually issue to integrate Master and Vendor into integration.

This is the output of git branch -a:

* integration
  master
  vendor
  remotes/origin/HEAD -> origin/master
  remotes/origin/integration
  remotes/origin/master
  remotes/origin/vendor

How do I go forward from this point to:

1. Synchronize this workspace with the remote repository?
2. Merge vendor & master into integration?
3. Push integration back to the remote repository?

And obviously, if I have something wrong in the workflow I'd love to hear it.

Answer 1

While the integration branch is not strictly necessary (you could integrate directly vendor into master, by rebasing master on top of vendor), it can be useful.

Integrating a branch A in a branch B can be done by:

• merging A in B (but that means any current development you have in B is "on hold" pending the resolutions of any merge conflict, and the re-runs of all the tests)
• rebasing B on top of A (git rebase A), but that would change B's history.

I would rebase integration on top of Vendor, solving any conflict there, and then merge integration in master, keeping master history linear.