Converting a Git master Branch to main

#github #tutorial #azure

Many organizations began to be aware of and change non-inclusive language in the second decade of the 21st century. Many of those changes affected technology, including the choice for git to replace master with main for the default repo branch to avoid connotations with slavery.

While GitHub took actions to ensure new repos created on the site used main, older projects still used master as the default branch. In addition, some generator libraries still create new projects with master as the default and Azure DevOps also creates new repos with master as the default.

I had some time between projects at work in the last week and I wanted to tackle making the change for some organization repos I created to manage SQL objects and SSIS projects. This will allow all developers and contributors to have a common reference regardless of repo. There is a small process involved in making the change, as well as communicating the change to any other developers or contributors to the repo.

Rename `master` to `main` and push to remote

In the local environment, open a terminal and navigate to the project to be updated
Move (rename) the master branch to main

git branch -m master main

Push the new branch to the remote

git push -u origin main

Reset default branch on GitHub

I use GitHub for my personal projects.

Choose Settings > Branches; master will display as the default branch
Click the arrows icon to Switch to another branch
Select the new main branch and click Update
Acknowledge the warning for changing the default branch (ideally, you will communicate separately with others working in this repo that the default branch has changed)
A message will display confirming the change
Review the branches for the project and confirm that main is set as the default

Reset default branch Azure DevOps

My organization uses Azure Devops for version control.

Choose Repos > Branches
Click the 3 dots menu on the main record and choose Set as default branch
Confirm the change to main as the default branch

Post-conversion

In each case, I plan to leave the master branch in place for about a week before removing it. At my work organization, I am in the process of informing other contributors about the need to change to using main.

Top comments (4)

Ganesh Prasad • Nov 17 '21

I'm so inspired and moved by this corporate (pronounced Microsoft) backed brilliant idea about changing terminology related to "slavery" (really, talk about underpaid and overworked "employees" in countries like India) that henceforth I'm gonna call my MasterCard "MainCard", a Master's Degree "Main's Degree" and I'll try not to master the art of sarcasm, rather I'm gonna try to main it.