How to exclude file only from root folder in Git
GitGitignoreGit Problem Overview
I am aware of using .gitignore file to exclude some files being added, but I have several config.php files in source tree and I need to exclude only one, located in the root while other keep under revision control.
What I should write into .gitignore to make this happen?
Git Solutions
Solution 1 - Git
From the documentation:
> If the pattern does not contain a slash /, git treats it as a shell glob pattern and checks for a match against the pathname relative to the location of the .gitignore file (relative to the toplevel of the work tree if not from a .gitignore file). > > A leading slash matches the beginning of the pathname. For example, "/*.c" matches "cat-file.c" but not "mozilla-sha1/sha1.c".
So you should add the following line to your root .gitignore:
/config.php
Solution 2 - Git
Use /config.php.
Solution 3 - Git
Older versions of git require you first define an ignore pattern and immediately (on the next line) define the exclusion. [tested on version 1.9.3 (Apple Git-50)]
/config.php
!/*/config.php
Later versions only require the following [tested on version 2.2.1]
/config.php
Solution 4 - Git
If the above solution does not work for you, try this:
#1.1 Do NOT ignore file pattern in any subdirectory
!*/config.php
#1.2 ...only ignore it in the current directory
/config.php
##########################
# 2.1 Ignore file pattern everywhere
config.php
# 2.2 ...but NOT in the current directory
!/config.php
Solution 5 - Git
An example for a wordpress site, but basically ignore everything and then add exceptions starting with ! for what to include
# Ignore everything in the root except the "wp-content" directory.
/*
!.gitignore
!wp-content/
!wp-config.php
#
# # Ignore everything in the "wp-content" directory, except the "plugins"
# # and "themes" directories.
wp-content/*
!wp-content/plugins/
!wp-content/themes/
#
# # Ignore everything in the "plugins" directory, except the plugins you
# # specify (see the commented-out examples for hints on how to do this.)
wp-content/plugins/*
# # !wp-content/plugins/my-single-file-plugin.php
# # !wp-content/plugins/my-directory-plugin/
#
# # Ignore everything in the "themes" directory, except the themes you
# # specify (see the commented-out example for a hint on how to do this.)
wp-content/themes/*
!wp-content/themes/twentyeleven/