could not open git/commit_editmsg

Question

I have a git repository linked to a dropbox folder. Recently, I have switched my laptop to another, and now i can not perform the function "git commit -am". I keep getting this error message: "could not open '.git/COMMIT_EDITMSG': Permission denied.

Any ideas?

Thanks, Liron

Answer 1

This is an file permission issue, user you are currently logged on does not have permissions to use the files.

If that's your repo, you may try:

• switching to other user who owns the repo
• changing the owner of the repo (sudo chown youruser -R yourrepodir/)
• changing the permissions for the particular files using chmod (you should avoid using 0777 as it is not secure)

Answer 2

Assuming you're on a Windows machine, the chances are that you modified a hidden file and no longer have write permissions to the hidden file.

To solve this, simply navigate to your .git folder and delete the "COMMIT_EDITMSG" file.

Answer 3

try this git init --shared=0777

Answer 4

I had this issue when I had a git repo inside a git repo in a working copy.. hope that helps