How to delete a branch with non-UTF-8 characters in the branch name in Bitbucket Server and Data Center

Summary

Branches with names containing non-UTF-8 or special characters cannot be deleted from the Bitbucket UI or with the git push <remote> --delete <branch> command.

Solution

Here are the procedures to follow to remove branches with non-UTF-8 or special characters:

Solution 1

• Get the repository location on disk for the affected repo. In the Bitbucket UI, go the Repository Settings > Repository details and look for the "Location on disk" value.

• On the server, go to the location on disk

• Run the following commands to search for the specific branch to delete and convert it to Hex values:

  1 git branch -a | grep <pattern_to_match_the_branch> | hexdump -C

  This will return Hex values.

  For example: branch is: "test�"

  To search and convert it to Hex:

  1 git branch -a | grep "test" | hexdump -C

  This will return:

  1 00000000 20 20 74 65 73 74 a1 34 0a | test...|

• Analyze the output In the sample above:

  "20 20" are for 2 spaces "74 65 73 74" are the Hex values for "test" "a1 34" are for the character "0a" is for the line feed character

• Use the relevant Hex values for the Git command to delete the branch.

  For the sample above, to delete the branch from the remote:

  1 git push origin --delete $'test\xa1\x34'

Solution 2

These procedures will modify refs on the server. Make sure to create a backup of the repository before proceeding.

1. local: Pull or clone the repository from the remote to ensure that the ref objects and commit hashes on the local copy are up to date

2. server: Identify the location on disk for the affected repo. In the Bitbucket UI, go the Repository Settings > Repository details and look for the "Location on disk" value.

3. server: Create a backup copy of the repo

4. server: Go to the location on disk and check if the bad ref is in the refs/head/ folder as a file (i.e. refs/head/<refname>) or inside the /packed-refs file.

5. server:If the ref is inside the/packed-refsfile, we will need to shut down Bitbucket before making any changes.

   While shutdown, edit the /packed-refsfile and remove the bad line.

6. server: If the ref is in the refs/head/ folder as a file (i.e. refs/head/<refname>), delete the file

   At this point, the refs are now removed from the server.

7. local:Open the .git folder in the local repository

8. local:Check if the bad ref is in therefs/head/folder as a file (i.e. refs/head/<refname>) or inside the/packed-refsfile

9. local:If the ref is inside the/packed-refsfile delete the line containing the bad ref

10. local: If the ref is in the refs/head/ folder as a file (i.e. refs/head/<refname>), delete the file

11. local:Open the config file and find the bad branch name and delete the section with the bad branch.

12. local:Create a new branch on the same commit hash that the bad ref was pointing to.

    For example:

    1 2 git checkout <commit hash> git branch newname

13. local: Push the branch to the remote.

The remote and local copy should now have the correct new refs. However, old clones/other users may have the old bad ref.

Please let others know about the change and share the procedures performed on the local copy of the repo.