Changing my Git remote origin temporarily

Question

I currently have a repo, but I want to temporarily use another repo to push the changes to and then when I choose to, change back to the other repo and push to that one again (this is due to reasons of access to the main repo).

So I'm wondering, if I want to change the repo the pushes go to, is all I have to do is change the origin in my git config file, such as:

[core]
    repositoryformatversion = 0
    filemode = false
    bare = false
    logallrefupdates = true
    symlinks = false
    ignorecase = true
    hideDotFiles = dotGitOnly
[remote "origin"]
    url = git@bitbucket.org:myname/my-repo.git
    fetch = +refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/origin/*
[branch "master"]
    remote = origin
    merge = refs/heads/master

Do I just change this line:

url = git@bitbucket.org:myname/my-repo.git

...to the new value and then back again to go back to the main repo? ...or is there something else to do and if so, what!?

I don't fully understand your use case, but personally I'd just set up another remote. You can `git push origin` or `git push whatever` to decide where you're pushing. (Note that you _never_ commit to a remote with Git. Commits always happen locally.) — ChrisGPT was on strike, Mar 19 '19 at 18:32
@Chris Sorry, my bad. I wasn't thinking, meant pushes go to, not commits. I have updated my question. — Brett, Mar 19 '19 at 20:08

score 5 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 19 '19 at 19:42

5

you can push and pull directly to/from a remote repository:

git push git@bitbucket.org:myname/my-other-repo.git HEAD:refs/heads/foo
git pull git@bitbucket.org:myname/my-other-repo.git refs/heads/foo

answered Mar 19 '19 at 19:42

ensc

6,704
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This is exactly what I searched to find, thank you! – trash80 Dec 22 '22 at 20:45

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 19 '19 at 18:34

4

As a distributed version control system, Git allows you to manage multiple remote repositories. If it's just temporary, don't touch your origin - just add a separate remote. And don't bother with editing config files, use the command line:

git remote add temp git@bitbucket.org:myname/my-other-repo.git

Push to a new remote using:

git push temp

After access issues are solved synchronize origin:

git push origin

Read more about git remote here: https://git-scm.com/docs/git-remote.

answered Mar 19 '19 at 18:34

Kombajn zbożowy

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Just tried this and when I did `git push -u temp master` it changed `remote = origin` to `remote = temp` under `[branch "master"]` in the config file. Is that ok? – Brett Mar 19 '19 at 20:24
1

Yes, it's just a default remote to use if you don't specify it explicitly for git push/pull/fetch. Check [here](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/43317872/understanding-git-configs-remote-and-branch-sections) for detailed explanation of what various options in `branch` and `remote` sections mean. – Kombajn zbożowy Mar 19 '19 at 21:40
Great, and thanks for the link, I'm sure it will be helpful! :) – Brett Mar 19 '19 at 22:13

Changing my Git remote origin temporarily

2 Answers2