This guide walks you through renaming the master branch to main for DSC Community resource repositories, covering GitHub settings, Azure DevOps pipeline updates, and branch protection policies.

On the 1st of October 2020, GitHub announced that the default branch name for new repositories was changing from master to main. You are welcome to share any comments or issues you having around this process in the Discord or Slack #DSC channel.

Prerequisites

It is assumed that the DSC module repository is already using the DSC module Plaster template in the Sampler project, or has been converted to use the new CI pipeline using the steps mentioned in Steps to convert a module for continuous delivery.

This blog post focuses on resources hosted in the dsccommunity.org, GitHub organization, so many of the steps will refer to this location. However, this process may still work with resources that are not located in this GitHub organization.

Requirements

To perform the rename of a master branch to main for a DSC community resource the following are required:

  1. GitHub Admin access to the repository in dsccommunity.org.
  2. Azure DevOps administrator access to the DSC Community CI pipeline for the repository being converted.
  3. You have a fork of the upstream DSC Community repository in your GitHub account.
  4. You have cloned your fork of the upstream DSC Community repository to a local folder on your machine.
  5. Your local clone should have two remotes:
    • origin refers to the upstream DSC Community repository.
    • my refers to your fork of the DSC community repository.

Summary

The following is a summary of the steps that needs to occur to rename master to main:

  1. Update your fork of the repository from the upstream origin.
  2. Update the pipeline files in the main branch of your fork.
  3. Rename the GitHub default branch in your fork to main.
  4. Optional: If you have an Azure DevOps pipeline connected to your fork update it to refer to main.
  5. Optional: Validate that the pipeline works correctly.
  6. Submit a pull request from main in your fork to master in the upstream DSC Community repository.
  7. Merge the pull request to master, even though the CI will fail.
  8. Rename the GitHub Default branch in upstream DSC Community repository to main
  9. Verify the GitHub main branch policy in the upstream DSC Community repository.
  10. Update the Azure DevOps pipeline connected to upstream DSC Community repository to main.
  11. Validate that the pipeline works correctly.
  12. Optional: Update local clone.

Steps

Step 1 - Update your fork of the repository from the upstream origin

Update your fork from the upstream origin repository master branch by running the following commands:

# Move to the local repo
cd c:\source\{repositoryFolder}

# Make sure you have the remote names to upstream and fork.
# 'origin' should refer to the upstream DSC Community repository.
# 'my' should refer to your fork of the repository.
git remote -v

# Get latest changes so we get all commits and tags
git checkout master
git fetch origin master # origin is the remote pointing to upstream DSC Community repository.
git rebase origin/master
git fetch origin --tags # get any (new) tags from origin/master
git push my master --force # my is the remote pointing to fork
git push my --tags # push any (new) tags to my/master

Step 2 - Update the pipeline files in the main branch of your fork

Note: If you have an Azure DevOps pipeline linked to your fork of the repository then you should be able to validate that these changes work.

Some of the pipeline files in the default branch will need to be updated to support the new default branch name ‘main’. To update these files:

Update: CHANGELOG.md

Add a new entry to the ### Changed section under ## [Unreleased] in the CHANGELOG.md:

- Renamed `master` branch to `main` - Fixes [Issue #{issue number}](https://github.com/dsccommunity/{repository}/issues/{issue number}).

Update: GitVersion.yml

Replace the branches section in the GitVersion.yml file with:

branches:
  master:
    tag: preview
    regex: ^main$
  pull-request:
    tag: PR
  feature:
    tag: useBranchName
    increment: Minor
    regex: f(eature(s)?)?[\/-]
    source-branches: ['master']
  hotfix:
    tag: fix
    increment: Patch
    regex: (hot)?fix(es)?[\/-]
    source-branches: ['master']

Update: README.md

Replace the master with main in the build badges and anywhere else that refers to the master branch in this repository.

[![Build Status](https://dev.azure.com/dsccommunity/WsManDsc/_apis/build/status/dsccommunity.WSManDsc?branchName=main)](https://dev.azure.com/dsccommunity/WsManDsc/_build/latest?definitionId=6&branchName=main)
![Code Coverage](https://img.shields.io/azure-devops/coverage/dsccommunity/WSManDsc/6/main)
[![Azure DevOps tests](https://img.shields.io/azure-devops/tests/dsccommunity/WSManDsc/6/main)](https://dsccommunity.visualstudio.com/WSManDsc/_test/analytics?definitionId=6&contextType=build)

Note: Care should be taken to not change URLs that refer to files in the master branch of other repositories that have not been updated to use main.

Update: azure-pipelines.yml

  1. Update the trigger\branches\include section to be main
trigger:
  branches:
    include:
    - main
  1. Add the following environment variables to the env section of the publish_release and the send_changelog_PR tasks of the Deploy stage.
ReleaseBranch: main
MainGitBranch: main

For example, this is what the publish_release and send_changelog_PR tasks should look like:

          - task: PowerShell@2
            name: publish_release
            displayName: 'Publish Release'
            inputs:
              filePath: './build.ps1'
              arguments: '-tasks publish'
              pwsh: true
            env:
              GitHubToken: $(GitHubToken)
              GalleryApiToken: $(GalleryApiToken)
              ReleaseBranch: main
              MainGitBranch: main

          - task: PowerShell@2
            name: send_changelog_PR
            displayName: 'Send CHANGELOG PR'
            inputs:
              filePath: './build.ps1'
              arguments: '-tasks Create_ChangeLog_GitHub_PR'
              pwsh: true
            env:
              GitHubToken: $(GitHubToken)
              ReleaseBranch: main
              MainGitBranch: main

Important: It is possible that there will be additional tasks that require these values to be set. If that is the case then it is also likely that adjustments will also need to be made to Sampler. Please raise an issue over in the Sampler repository if you have a Sampler task that needs to be notified of the change to the name of master branch.

  1. Update the deploy stage condition by changing the refs/heads/master to refs/heads/main:
  - stage: Deploy
    dependsOn: Test
    condition: |
      and(
        succeeded(),
        or(
          eq(variables['Build.SourceBranch'], 'refs/heads/main'),
          startsWith(variables['Build.SourceBranch'], 'refs/tags/')
        ),
        contains(variables['System.TeamFoundationCollectionUri'], 'dsccommunity')
      )

Update: build.yml

In the build.yml file in the DscTest section add the line:

MainGitBranch: main

Update: source/*.psd1

Update the master to main in the license URI in the module manifest:

LicenseUri   = 'https://github.com/dsccommunity/WSManDsc/blob/main/LICENSE'

Update (Optional): source/Examples/Resources/**/*.ps1

If the module is configured with automated generation of wiki documentation then update any references for master to main in the examples:

.LICENSEURI https://github.com/dsccommunity/WSManDsc/blob/main/LICENSE

Update (Optional): source/wikiSource/Home.md

If the module is configured with automated generation of wiki documentation then update any references for master to main.

Update (Optional): codecov.yml

If the module is configured to send code coverage results to codecov.io then you should also update the codecov branch: in codecov.yml file to main:

codecov:
  # main should be the baseline for reporting
  branch: main

Commit and push the updated pipeline files

Run the following git commands to commit your changes:

git add .
git commit -m 'Updated pipeline files to support change of master to main'
git push my master

At this point in the process the pipeline will start failing until we rename the default branch in the next step.

NOTE: Due to Azure DevOps is using an older version of GitVersion it could seem that the pipeline will still work, but running .\build.ps -Task build locally with GitVersion v5.6 or higher installed will fail the pipeline. This is resolved in the next step.

Step 3 - Rename the GitHub default branch in your fork to main

In your web browser:

  1. Open GitHub.
  2. Navigate to your fork of the DSC repository.
  3. Select the Settings tab.
  4. Select Branches.
  5. Rename Default Branch to main.
  6. Click Rename branch.
  7. Confirm the rename of the default branch.

If you have an Azure DevOps pipeline connected to your fork this should have triggered a new build on the renamed branch (main), if not we can trigger it manually in the next optional step by choosing “Save & Queue”.

Step 4 - Optional: Update Azure DevOps pipeline connected to your fork

If you have an Azure DevOps pipeline connected to your fork you should update the ‘Default branch for manual and scheduled builds’ setting from master to main:

  1. Open Azure DevOps and navigate to the Pipeline. Azure DevOps Pipeline
  2. Click Edit to edit the pipeline.
  3. Select Triggers from the ellipsis menu. Azure DevOps Pipeline Edit Triggers
  4. Select the YAML tab.
  5. Click Get Sources.
  6. Change the Default branch for manual and scheduled builds to main. Azure DevOps Pipeline set Default branch for manual and scheduled builds
  7. Click the Save & Queue button.

Step 5 - Optional: Validate that the pipeline works correctly

If you have an Azure DevOps pipeline connected to your fork the pipeline should have automatically run in Step 2 and/or step 3. However, if it did not then you can run the pipeline manually to validate that it works correctly.

Azure DevOps Pipeline run pipeline success

Step 6 - Submit a pull request from main in your fork to master in the upstream DSC Community repository

The updated pipeline changes need to be submitted to the upstream DSC Community repository master branch via a Pull Request.

In your web browser:

  1. Open GitHub.
  2. Navigate to your fork of the DSC repository.
  3. Select the Pull requests tab.
  4. Click New pull request.
  5. Ensure the base repository is set to the upstream DSC Community repository master branch.
  6. Ensure the head repository is set to your fork repository main branch. GitHub create pull request
  7. Click Create pull request.
  8. Complete the details of the pull request.
  9. Click Create pull request.

Step 7 - Merge the pull request to master

The pull request should be reviewed by a maintainer or other community member.

GitHub merge pull request

Important: The Azure DevOps CI pipeline will fail for this pull request. The failures will usually occur in the ‘Run HQRM Test’ task in the ‘HQRM’ stage. This is expected behavior and is unavoidable at this point. This pull request will need to be merged in the next step regardless of the build failures which will be fixed in subsequent steps.

A maintainer with admin privileges will need to merge this pull request:

GitHub merge pull request using administrator privileges

Note: Using a merge commit or rebase merge are both acceptable. A squash merge is not required.

Step 8 - Rename the GitHub Default branch in upstream DSC Community repository to main

In your web browser:

  1. Open GitHub.
  2. Navigate to upstream DSC Community repository.
  3. Select the Settings tab.
  4. Select Branches.
  5. Rename Default Branch to main.
  6. Click Rename branch.
  7. Confirm the rename of the default branch.

This should have triggered a new build on the renamed branch (main), if not we can trigger it manually in Step 10 by choosing “Save & Queue”.

Step 9 - Verify the GitHub main branch policy in the upstream DSC Community repository

In your web browser:

  1. Open GitHub.

  2. Navigate to upstream DSC Community repository.

  3. Select the Settings tab.

  4. Select Branches.

  5. Click the Edit button on the branch protection rule for ‘main’.

  6. Enter ‘main’ in the Branch name pattern field.

  7. Tick Require pull request reviews before merging.

  8. Tick Require status checks to pass before merging.

  9. Tick Require branches to be up to date before merging.

  10. Tick the status checks that are required to pass.

  11. Tick Restrict who can push to matching branches.

    GitHub create main branch policy

  12. Click the Save changes button.

  13. Enter your GitHub password, if required.

Step 10 - Update the Azure DevOps pipeline connected to upstream DSC Community repository to main

Update the ‘Default branch for manual and scheduled builds’ setting from master to main:

  1. Open Azure DevOps and navigate to the Pipeline. Azure DevOps Pipeline
  2. Click Edit to edit the pipeline.
  3. Select Triggers from the ellipsis menu. Azure DevOps Pipeline Edit Triggers
  4. Select the YAML tab.
  5. Click Get Sources.
  6. Change the Default branch for manual and scheduled builds to main. Azure DevOps Pipeline set Default branch for manual and scheduled builds
  7. Click the Save & Queue button.

Step 11 - Validate that the pipeline works correctly

The Azure DevOps pipeline should have been run by Step 8 or Step 9. However, if it did not then you can run the pipeline manually to validate that it works correctly. Validate that it has completed successfully:

Azure DevOps Pipeline run pipeline success

Step 12 - Optional: Update local clone

Run the following in the local repository to rename the default branch in the local clone, and update it with all the commits in the upstream branch and finally force push that to the fork’s default branch.

git checkout master
git branch -m master main
git fetch origin
git branch -u origin/main main
git rebase origin/main
git fetch my
git push my --force

Rename Complete

Once all steps are complete then the repository master branch has been successfully renamed to main.