Only allow merge from branch UAT into master

[Oscar Andersson]

Problem: Right now we are working with a total of four environments and we have one branch per environment: develop, QA, UAT and master (production). We also have an extra branch based on our current release number that we work against. 

Our current work flow requires a pull request for each branch using branch permission "Prevent changes without a pull request". 

https://confluence.atlassian.com/bitbucketserver045/using-bitbucket-server/controlling-access-to-code/using-branch-permissions

This is proving quite cumbersome since new code will have to go through five pull requests to reach master. Even if it is fast to approve since all code should already be approved in the later stages it is a major overhead. To get something into development is two pull requests, one from release branch 1.2.3 and one to develop for example. 

What we would like to do is require a pull request to our release branch (1.2.3) and that only the release branch is allowed to be merged into development, without requiring a pull request. It should then only be possible to merge develop into QA etc. 

I read about a server-side pre-receive hook on StackOverflow but I'm unsure how this could be implemented on Bitbucket Server. Has anyone done anything like this?

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/43368651/git-only-allow-merge-from-development-into-master

[Jimmy Seddon]

Hi Oscar,

I personlly haven't tried that as our branching model is different than what you have described.  If you are finding your branching model cumbersome, may I suggest taking a look at this as an alternative branching strategy.  It reduces the number of pull requests and might help simplify things for you: https://nvie.com/posts/a-successful-git-branching-model/

I hope this helps!

-James

[Oscar Andersson]

Hello James,

Thanks for your input. We have been looking at this approach but nothing is decided yet. Would like to have it like the question describes before a new branching model is in place. 

Oscar

[Neil Dean]

Hi Oscar

Did you manage to find an answer to your question?  I am currently going through a proof of concept to move our code to Bitbucket.  We currently have a model on our version control system where we move code from development to system testing to user acceptance testing to production.  I am looking to replicate this on Bitbucket but am unsure of the best approach.  Any advice or suggestions would be helpful.

Thanks

Neil