directory - How can I move all git content one-level up in the folder hierarchy?

Question

I have a git repository whose structure looks like:

+--repo.git
|
+----+bootstrap.py
+----+buildout.cfg
+----+.gitignore
+----+webapp
|
+---------+manage.py
+---------+modules
+---------+templates
+---------+static
+---------+...
+---------+...

I would like to move the contents of the webapp folder one level up. My resulting repo should look like:

+--repo.git
|
+----+bootstrap.py
+----+buildout.cfg
+----+.gitignore
+----+manage.py
+----+modules
+----+templates
+----+static
+----+...
+----+...

Can I do this by simply moving all the files of the webapp directory one level up, deleting the empty webapp directory and then committing the changes? Would this preserve the commit history of the files under the webapp directory?

Although a very simple question for many of you, I'd like to be sure. The last thing I'd want is a git soup.

---

I tried moving the files but I lost the commit history as git doesn't really handle a move or a rename. I do know that even though it shows up as a new file in the logs, it is still possible to view the commit history for the file using some options in git log.

From what I've read, the best way to accomplish this would be using git-filter. I'm not very good with shell or git so could someone tell me what I'd need to execute to do the aforementioned.

Answer 1

The right way to do this is:

git mv repo.git/webapp/* repo.git/.
git rm repo.git/webapp
git add * 
git commit -m "Folders moved out of webapp directory :-)"