Case-sensitivity problem with Git in OS X
July 9, 2014•332 words
I've several times experienced problems with files and folders having incorrect case in Git repositories in OS X, so I decided to gather some possible fixes and solutions to this problem. If you have any suggestions or comments, please consider sharing it with me in a comment.
Hacks
First off, here's a solution published at Coderwall.com:
git mv filename filename_tmp
git mv filename_tmp Filename
git commit -m "Set correct case for filename"
The author mentions that this is a hack and that it could possibly mess up other users' repositories, and that a git pull
by other users won't include this change.
In a comment to that article, a user suggests the following approach instead:
git mv --force filename Filename
git commit -m "Set correct case for filename"
According to the comment, a git pull
would now rename the file for other OS X users as well.
A permanent fix
As mentioned in both the article at Coderwall.com, and by several users in this Stackexchange post, OS X's filesystem uses a case-preserving format, not a case-sensitive format. There are ways to get around this when working with a repository, though. Both articles suggests creating a disk image with a case-sensitive format, more specifically the Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled) format.
Here's a slightly rewritten version of the step-by-step list found in the article at Coderwall.com, explaining how to create such a disk image:
- Launch Disk Utility
- Choose "New Image"
- Enter a name for your volume, e.g "Workspace"
- Set the size to something that will most likely fit your needs
- Select Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled) in "Format".
- Select "Single Partition - Apple Partition Map" in "Partitions"
- Ensure "Sparse bundle disk image" is set in "Image Format".
- Save it somewhere on your hard drive
The final step is to move any Git repositories to this new disk image. Any problems you've had with case-sensitivity will now be history.