Delete a local git branch

How to delete a Test_Branch.

Switch to some other branch and delete Test_Branch, as follows:

$ git checkout master
$ git branch -d Test_Branch

If above command gives you error – The branch 'Test_Branch' is not fully merged. If you are sure you want to delete it and still you want to delete it, then you can force delete it using -D instead of -d, as:

$ git branch -D Test_Branch

To delete Test_Branch from remote as well, execute:

git push origin --delete Test_Branch

Check the link for more info.

Standard Practice to Create Repository

A standard practice to create repository should always be;

  1. Main branch should always have a .gitignore and readme file.
  2. Create a working branch from main
  3. Develop feature in your working branch
  4. Before committing, do a merge from remote main to working branch and resolve any conflicts in working branch. This will help you to get team changes merged into your working branch.
  5. Commit your changes. Create a PR and you are done.

I hope this will help.

How to add gitignore file in existing solution using Visual Studio

Stop tracking the files that should be ignored in Git

How to add gitignore file in existing solution using Visual Studio

Recently I came across an issue where existing projects were showing .vs folder checked-in and being tracked. Developers were having code conflict problems and were not able to create PR request.

Here is the work around to add gitignore file in existing solution using Visual Studio.

Remove .vs folder from main branch and working branch. If there are PR policy in place, disable that for fixing this. After .vs folder removal, enable PR policy.

Open Visual Studio and make sure it’s connected to Git branch. Click on Git->Settings.

This will add gitignore file in the root of project folder. Switch to Git changes window in your working branch and commit / sync your changes.

Now we need to stop tracking all .vs folder changes that’s been created on developer machines to build and run the project. Use these magic commands, one time only;

git rm -r –cached .
git add .
git commit -am “remove ignored files”

For added piece of mind, sync your main branch and do a merge from main branch to work branch locally. Resolve any cache files and conflicts. You might need to run above three command again.

After this, Create PR and it should merge with main branch. This will take your pain away.

I hope this will help.

Standard Practice to Create Repository

Stop tracking the files that should be ignored in Git

create virtual machine from existing windows 10 pc

Recently my ages old laptop started acting funny. I am assuming it might die soon. Before getting a new laptop I needed to crate a VHD of my old laptop for any reference.

The native tool from Microsoft to create VHD is Disk2vhd. This will create virtual machine and disk that can be attached in Hyper-V running in a separate machine. Here is the link;

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/disk2vhd

Here is the installation instruction of this VHD inside Hyper-V.

First of all create a new generation 2 VM that we’ll use with our new VHDX we created using Disk2VHD. Don’t create a new vdhx but select to use an existing one and point it to the one we just created with Disk2VHD. Rename it if needed to something more suitable.

Don’t boot the VM but add a DVD and attach the Windows Server ISO of the version your vhdx contains to the DVD.

Move the DVD to the top of the boot order I firmware.

he VM will boot to the DVD when you hit a key.

Select your language and keyboard layoout when asked and the don’t install or upgrade the OS but boot

Type diskpart and  list the disks. Select the disk we need (the OS disk, the only one here) and list the volumes. You can see that volume 3 off 99MB is RAW. That’s not supposed to be that way. So let’s fix this by creating boot loader directory structure, repair the boot record by creating the boot sector & copy the needed boot files into it.

Type:

select volume 3

assign drive letter L:

FORMAT FS=FAT32 LABEL=”BOOT”

That’s it we can now us that 99MB volume to make our disk bootable to windows again.  Type Exit to leave diskpart.

So now we have a formatted boot partition we can create the need folder structure and fix the boot record and configure our UEFI bootloader

Switch to the L: volume

create efi\microsoft\boot folder structure for the bootloader as show below with the md command(make directory)

Type: bootrec /fixboot to create the bootrecord

Type: bcdboot C:\Windows  /l en-us /s l: /f ALL

This creates the BCD store & copies the boot files from the windows system directory

Just click Continue to exit and continue to Windows Server 2019. Remember to eject DVD drive.

.. and voila, your new VM has now booted.

Read more here;

Disk2VHD on a Generation 2 VM

Here is the troubleshooting tips while using disk2vhd tool;

https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/7262c702-ce37-4853-9a12-5cafcf10342e/disk2vhd-efi-vhdx-vm-fails-to-boot-solved?forum=winserverhyperv

Another free tool is VMWare VCenter Converter. Here is the guide;

A Brief Introduction to Cat6 vs Cat6a vs Cat7 vs Fiber

To put it simple, the twisted pair specifications: Cat6 (Class E), Cat6a (Class EA), and Cat7 (Class F) all support 10GBASE-T applications with differentiated performances.

Check the below chart to get a full understanding of the specifications and typical applications of Cat6 vs Cat6a vs Cat7.

ALL backward compatible – you can plug a newer twisted pair cable into a device that is designed for a slower cable.

The fastest Ethernet cable yet is Cat8, which can support data rate up to 40Gbps, four times of Cat6a cable. If you are looking for high-speed data center and server room cabling, check out Cat8 Cable for 25GBASE-T and 40GBASE-T Network.

The minimum grade of cabling to be deployed in a 10GBASE-T network should be Cat6a cable.

Fiber Cable

Multimode Fiber Patch Cables are a good choice for transmitting data and voice signals over shorter distances. They are typically used for data and audio/visual applications in local-area networks and connections within buildings. Multimode cables are generally color-coded orange or aqua;

The Aqua Fiber Patch Cables are for higher performance 10Gbps, 40Gbps, and 100Gbps Ethernet and fiber channel applications.

Singlemode Fiber Patch Cables are the best choice for transmitting data over long distances. They are usually used for connections over large areas, such as college campuses and cable television networks. They have a higher bandwidth than multimode cables to deliver up to twice the throughput. Most singlemode cabling is color-coded yellow.

Reference

https://community.fs.com/blog/should-we-use-cat6-or-cat6a-for-10gbase-t.html