Git is a popular version control system that's used by millions of developers to manage their codebases. One of the most powerful features of Git is its ability to work with remote repositories.
When working on a project with multiple collaborators, you must be able to fetch changes from the remote repository and merge them with your local repository. This article will teach you how to fetch remote branches in Git.
What is a Remote Branch?
Before diving into how to fetch remote branches, let's define a remote branch.
A remote branch is a branch that exists on a remote repository, such as GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket.
When you clone a repository, Git automatically creates a "remote" that points to the original repository. You can then use this remote to fetch changes made by other collaborators on the project.
How to Fetch Remote Branches in Git
When you clone a repository, you can access all its remote branches. You can verify this using the git branch command alongside the -r option:
git branch -r
You can checkout to any of these branches using the git checkout command.
When you are working with a group of people, one contributor creates a new branch remotely. You may need to fetch this remote branch into your project. You can do this with the git fetch command.
The git fetch command goes out to your remote project and pulls down all the data from that remote project that you don’t have yet. After you do this, you should have references to all the branches from that remote, which you can merge in or inspect at any time.
git fetch
You can attach the remote repository name, which by default is origin:
git fetch origin
It is important to understand that when you use the git fetch command, it only downloads the changes made in the remote repository to your local repository without automatically merging them with your work or modifying what you are currently working on. You will need to merge the changes manually when you are ready.
To access the fetched content, you need to use the git checkout command. This ensures that fetching is a safe way to review commits before integrating them into your local repository.
If you want to fetch remote branches and merge them with your work or modify your current work, you can use the git pull command. To achieve this, use the following command:
git pull --all
You can then run the git branch -r to verify if the remote repository has been added.
Wrapping Up
Fetching remote branches in Git is a crucial aspect of collaboration in a development environment.
By following the steps outlined in this article, you can fetch changes made by other collaborators on remote branches and merge them with your local repository. This enables you to work on different branches of a Git repository and collaborate effectively with other developers.
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