**New Developers Working Group**
====== Git for Windows ======

===== How to Sign Off on a Branch =====

//These instructions are the same regardless of whether you have tested this on your own test server or on a remote test server that has been set up for bug squashing.//

After you have successfully tested a branch that someone else has created and see that it is working well, you will create a sign-off branch to acknowledge that you have tested it.

  - Find the hash (unique ID) of the commit that you wish to sign off on.
    - Go to: [[https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen]]
    - Find the bug related to the patch you tested.
    - Follow the link to where the patch resides on the Git server.
    - When you are looking at the details of the commit, copy the first 7+ characters from the commit code.
  - In Git Bash, navigate to the Evergreen directory.
  - Make sure that your local repository is up to date: 
    - git checkout main
    - git fetch --all
    - git pull
  - Create and check out a new sign-off branch with the current branch name and append 'signoff':
    - git checkout -b lp123456_branch_name_signoff
  - Commit your signoff:
    - A commit message should consist of a subject line (i.e., the first line of the commit message), then a blank line, then an optional description of the patch, followed by one or more signoffs.  The subject line should be brief, ideally no more than 60-70 characters, and should include a bug number from LaunchPad if relevant.  Here is an example of a minimum commit message:<code>
    LP#24544: fix the quuxifier
  
    Signed-off-by: Jane Hacker <jhacker@example.org></code>
  - Pull in the branch that you wish to sign off on using the commit code you found above.
    - git cherry-pick -s ea75f30d33
  - Push (upload) your new sign-off branch to your working directory:
    - git push working lp123456_branch_name_signoff:user/jdoe/lp123456_branch_name_signoff
  - Find the URL for your newly uploaded branch:
    - Go to: [[https://git.evergreen-ils.org]]
    - Click on working/Evergreen.git
    - Scroll down to the Heads section.
    - Click on the link to your sign-off branch.
    - Copy the URL
  - Update the launchpad bug:
    - Go to: [[https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen]]
    - Find the bug related to the patch you tested.
    - Add a comment that you've tested the bug and the URL of your sign-off commit.
    - Add a 'signedoff' tag.