.gitignore does not work - file is still being tracked [duplicate]

Question

I've a .gitignore file at the root of my repo. The .gitignore file has the following pattern to exclude the compiled Python files and that is the only line in the file.

*.pyc 

Now when i do the following at the root of the repo.

git init git add .  git status  

It shows that it still tracks the .pyc file and tries to add it as new file. See output below.

System info: Windows 7, cygwin

Note: This issue is CLEARLY not about the ignored file being already tracked. I also tried both DOS- and Unix-style line endings on the .gitignore file.

git status gives:

# On branch master # # Initial commit # # Changes to be committed: #   (use "git rm --cached <file>..." to unstage) # #   new file:   .gitignore #   new file:   feedapp/__init__.py #   new file:   feedapp/appconfig.py #   new file:   feedapp/appconfig.pyc 

How do I troubleshoot this further?

Answer 1

.gitignore only applies to untracked files. If you are tracking a .pyc then .gitignore won't apply. Remove the .pyc with git rm and next time you do a git status it (and any others) won't show up in the list of untracked file and nor will it be automatically added.

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Otherwise if you need to ignore a file already under version control, update the index to ignore changes to files already under version control:

git update-index --assume-unchanged <files> 

For more information please see git-update-index(1) Manual Page, the related answer to .gitignore file not ignoring and the related answer to question (GIT: Ignoring Version-Controlled Files).

Answer 2

man gitignore:

A gitignore file specifies intentionally **untracked files** that git should ignore. Note that all the gitignore files really concern only files that are not already tracked by git

git rm file will stop tracking them. I can't find a way to remove all ignored files from the repo.

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As you point out, the files don't appear to already exist in the repo. In that case, your git's behaviour matches neither the documentation or the behaviour of mine, and I can't help you.

$ mkdir foo $ cd foo /home/ikegami/foo $ mkdir feedapp $ touch feedapp/__init__.py $ touch feedapp/appconfig.py $ touch feedapp/appconfig.pyc $ echo '*.pyc' > .gitignore $ git init Initialized empty Git repository in /home/ikegami/foo/.git/ $ git add . $ git status # On branch master # # Initial commit # # Changes to be committed: #   (use "git rm --cached <file>..." to unstage) # #       new file:   .gitignore #       new file:   feedapp/__init__.py #       new file:   feedapp/appconfig.py # $  

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Perhaps you did

git init git add . echo '*.pmc' >> .gitignore git init git add . 

in which case you can fix the problem using

git rm --cached -r . git add .