git status shows a file that I have listed explicitly in my .gitignore file

Question

I have the following line in my .gitignore file:

var/www/docs/.backroom/billing_info/inv.pl

but when I type 'git status' I am told the following:

#   modified:   var/www/docs/.backroom/billing_info/inv.pl

I dont understand how a file which is explicitly listed as an ignore pattern could be listed as modified when I want git to ignore it.

There are no lines starting with a ! in my .gitignore file

Here is my entire .gitignore file for reference: http://pastebin.com/Jw445Qd7

score 18 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 10:30

18

That should only happen if inv.pl is already tracked (see gitignore man page).

Try (with git rm) a:

git rm --cached var/www/docs/.backroom/billing_info/inv.pl

If the file is already committed, see this SO answer.

edited May 23 '17 at 10:30

Community

answered May 24 '10 at 14:42

VonC

According to the manual, you should use --cached instead of --cache :) – Johanneke May 11 '16 at 08:09
@Johanneke Thank you. I have edited the answer accordingly, and added a link to the documentation. – VonC May 11 '16 at 08:18

1 Answers1