Disabling Fast Forward Merging in Git
Disabling Fast Forward Merging during a Merge
To disable fast-forward merging in Git, you can use the --no-ff
(or -n
) option when merging a branch. This will create a new merge commit, even if the history is linear.
git merge --no-ff <branch-to-merge>
The --no-ff
option ensures that a new merge commit is created, regardless of the commit history.
graph LR
A[Main Branch] --> B[Feature Branch]
B --> C[Merge with --no-ff]
A --> C
In the above diagram, the merge is performed with the --no-ff
option, resulting in a new merge commit (C) being created.
Disabling Fast Forward Merging as a Default
You can also configure Git to always disable fast-forward merging by setting the merge.ff
option to false
in your Git configuration.
git config --global merge.ff false
This will ensure that a new merge commit is created for all future merges, regardless of the commit history.
Verifying the Merge Strategy
You can check the current merge strategy by running the following command:
git config --get merge.ff
This will display the current value of the merge.ff
option, which can be either true
(fast-forward merging enabled) or false
(fast-forward merging disabled).
By disabling fast-forward merging, you can maintain a clear and consistent commit history, which can be useful for various Git workflows and collaboration scenarios.