I needed to backport the MetasploitDataModels::Search feature from the new module cache so the team can use it on the search in the next release, which won’t contain the new module cache. Everything I could find on Google could get the file, from a branch with git checkout <branch> <file>, but that meant the history gets lost, from <branch>. That’s when I realized, that I don’t care about preserving the history from master, since there won’t be any changes relative to master, except those from the branch whose history I’m preserving, so I could use git checkout <branch> <file> trick, but use master for <branch> and layer it on top of the a branch off the feature branch to remove all code that I didn’t want to backport.

Here’s how I did it.

Start with a branch off of the branch with the features you want

(master) > git checkout feature/exploit
(feature/exploit) > git checkout -b feature/MSP-10016/metasploit-data-models-search

Check the differences between the backport branch and the target branch (master) using git diff:

(feature/MSP-10016/metasploit-data-models-search) > git diff --name-status master..

This is everything that’s changed, but I don’t want to restore all of master, I want preserve the feature to be backported, lib/metasploit_data_models/search and its accompanying specs. First I’ll attempt just restoring all of master. This will restore files to their unmodified state from master, without deleting files that feature/MSP-10016/metasploit-data-models-search had added in its history.

(feature/MSP-10016/metasploit-data-models-search) > git checkout master -- .
(feature/MSP-10016/metasploit-data-models-search) > git status

So, I have a bunch of 'modified' and 'new file' statuses. The ‘new file’ status is from files that exist in master, but were deleted in feature/MSP-10016/metasploit-data-models-search and are now being restored. The git checkout master — . added all the files to the index, so I now need to use git diff --cached as --cached will diff against the index..

(feature/MSP-10016/metasploit-data-models-search) > git diff --cached --name-status master

There are added models under app/models/mdm that need to be removed because they’re from the new module cache, but I want to keep app/models/metasploit_data_models, so I’ll delete app/models/mdm added files:

(feature/MSP-10016/metasploit-data-models-search) > git rm `git diff --cached --name-only master app/models/mdm`
rm 'app/models/mdm/architecture.rb'
rm 'app/models/mdm/author.rb'
rm 'app/models/mdm/authority.rb'
rm 'app/models/mdm/email_address.rb'
rm 'app/models/mdm/module/ancestor.rb'
rm 'app/models/mdm/module/architecture.rb'
rm 'app/models/mdm/module/class.rb'
rm 'app/models/mdm/module/instance.rb'
rm 'app/models/mdm/module/path.rb'
rm 'app/models/mdm/module/rank.rb'
rm 'app/models/mdm/module/reference.rb'
rm 'app/models/mdm/module/relationship.rb'
rm 'app/models/mdm/module/target/architecture.rb'
rm 'app/models/mdm/module/target/platform.rb'
rm 'app/models/mdm/platform.rb'
rm 'app/models/mdm/reference.rb'
rm 'app/models/mdm/report.rb'
rm 'app/models/mdm/report_template.rb'
rm 'app/models/mdm/vuln_reference.rb'

Double check that app/models/mdm matches master now

(feature/MSP-10016/metasploit-data-models-search) > git diff --cached --name-status master app/models
A       app/models/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/attribute.rb
A       app/models/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/includes.rb
A       app/models/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/joins.rb
A       app/models/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/method.rb
A       app/models/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/relation.rb
A       app/models/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/where.rb

Let’s check what else is left that’s different than master

(feature/MSP-10016/metasploit-data-models-search) > git diff --cached --name-status master
A     app/models/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/attribute.rb
A     app/models/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/includes.rb
A     app/models/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/joins.rb
A     app/models/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/method.rb
A     app/models/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/relation.rb
A     app/models/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/where.rb
A     config/locales/en.yml
A     db/*
A     docs/*
A     lib/metasploit_data_models/attempt.rb
A     lib/metasploit_data_models/batch.rb
A     lib/metasploit_data_models/batch/descendant.rb
A     lib/metasploit_data_models/batch/root.rb
A     lib/metasploit_data_models/entity_relationship_diagram.rb
A     lib/metasploit_data_models/entity_relationship_diagram/module.rb
A     lib/metasploit_data_models/null_progress_bar.rb
A     lib/metasploit_data_models/search.rb
A     lib/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor.rb
A     lib/metasploit_data_models/unique_task_joins.rb
A     lib/tasks/erd.rake
A     spec/app/models/mdm/api_key_spec.rb
...
A     spec/app/models/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/attribute_spec.rb
A     spec/app/models/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/includes_spec.rb
A     spec/app/models/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/joins_spec.rb
A     spec/app/models/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/method_spec.rb
A     spec/app/models/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/relation_spec.rb
A     spec/app/models/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/where_spec.rb
A     spec/db/seeds_spec.rb
A     spec/dummy/config/initializers/active_record_migrations.rb
A     spec/factories/mdm/api_keys.rb
...
A     spec/lib/metasploit_data_models/base64_serializer_spec.rb
A     spec/lib/metasploit_data_models/batch/descendant_spec.rb
A     spec/lib/metasploit_data_models/batch/root_spec.rb
A     spec/lib/metasploit_data_models/batch_spec.rb
A     spec/support/shared/contexts/active_record/attribute_type.rb
A     spec/support/shared/contexts/dummy_mdm_module_path.rb
A     spec/support/shared/contexts/metasploit_data_models/batch/batch.rb
A     spec/support/shared/examples/mdm/architecture/seed.rb
A     spec/support/shared/examples/mdm/attempt.rb
A     spec/support/shared/examples/mdm/module/path/changed_module_ancestor_from_real_path/with_handled.rb
A     spec/support/shared/examples/mdm/module/path/changed_module_ancestor_from_real_path/without_handled.rb
A     spec/support/shared/examples/metasploit_data_models/batch/descendant.rb
A     spec/support/shared/examples/metasploit_data_models/batch/root.rb
A     spec/support/shared/examples/metasploit_data_models/db/seeds.rb
A     spec/support/shared/examples/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/includes/visit/with_children.rb
A     spec/support/shared/examples/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/includes/visit/with_metasploit_model_search_operation_base.rb
A     spec/support/shared/examples/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/relation/visit/matching_record.rb
A     spec/support/shared/examples/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/relation/visit/matching_record/with_metasploit_model_search_opeator_deprecated_platform.rb
A     spec/support/shared/examples/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/relation/visit/matching_record/with_metasploit_model_search_operator_deprecated_authority.rb
A     spec/support/shared/examples/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/where/visit/with_equality.rb
A     spec/support/shared/examples/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/where/visit/with_metasploit_model_search_group_base.rb

I’ll skip config/locales.en.yml for now as I may need to do line edits there, so the next directory to clean up is db. Any new migrations or seeds can be ignored so I can just do the selective delete again.

(feature/MSP-10016/metasploit-data-models-search) > git rm `git diff --cached --name-only master db`
rm 'db/migrate/*
rm 'db/seeds.rb'

I also know that the additions to the docs directory are unneeded since they document upgrade steps for the module cache.

(feature/MSP-10016/metasploit-data-models-search) > git rm `git diff --cached --name-only master docs`
rm 'docs/images/.gitkeep'
rm 'docs/mdm_module_sql_translation.md'

Now I need to look at what’s left in lib/metasploit_data_models to determine what needs to be deleted.

(feature/MSP-10016/metasploit-data-models-search) > git diff --cached --name-status master lib/metasploit_data_models
A     lib/metasploit_data_models/attempt.rb
A     lib/metasploit_data_models/batch.rb
A     lib/metasploit_data_models/batch/descendant.rb
A     lib/metasploit_data_models/batch/root.rb
A     lib/metasploit_data_models/entity_relationship_diagram.rb
A     lib/metasploit_data_models/entity_relationship_diagram/module.rb
A     lib/metasploit_data_models/null_progress_bar.rb
A     lib/metasploit_data_models/search.rb
A     lib/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor.rb
A     lib/metasploit_data_models/unique_task_joins.rb

lib/metasploit_data_models/attempt.rb is common code between Mdm::ExploitAttempt and Mdm::VulnAttempt, but I’m not taking that refactor, so it can be deleted.

(feature/MSP-10016/metasploit-data-models-search) > git rm lib/metasploit_data_models/attempt.rb
rm 'lib/metasploit_data_models/attempt.rb'

lib/metasploit_data_models/batch* is part of the batching system that disables costly per record uniqueness validations for the module cache, so it’s out.

(feature/MSP-10016/metasploit-data-models-search) > git rm -r lib/metasploit_data_models/batch*
rm 'lib/metasploit_data_models/batch.rb'
rm 'lib/metasploit_data_models/batch/descendant.rb'
rm 'lib/metasploit_data_models/batch/root.rb'

The ERD system has been moved to metasploit-erd, but I don’t want that part of this backport, so I’ll remove lib/metasploit_data_models/entity_relationship_diagram*.

(feature/MSP-10016/metasploit-data-models-search) > git rm -r lib/metasploit_data_models/entity_relationship_diagram*
rm 'lib/metasploit_data_models/entity_relationship_diagram.rb'
rm 'lib/metasploit_data_models/entity_relationship_diagram/module.rb'

While I’m at it, I’ll also remove the rake task

(feature/MSP-10016/metasploit-data-models-search) > git rm lib/tasks/erd.rake
rm 'lib/tasks/erd.rake'

NullProgressBar is part progress bar system for Mdm::Module::Path, which I already removed, so lib/metasploit_data_models/null_progress_bar.rb can be removed too.

(feature/MSP-10016/metasploit-data-models-search) > git rm lib/metasploit_data_models/null_progress_bar.rb
rm 'lib/metasploit_data_models/null_progress_bar.rb'

I’ll obvious want to keep lib/metasploit_data_models/search*, so that just leaves lib/metasploit_data_models/unique_task_joins.rb. I don’t need it because it’s part of migration refactors I already threw away.

(feature/MSP-10016/metasploit-data-models-search) > git rm lib/metasploit_data_models/unique_task_joins.rb
rm 'lib/metasploit_data_models/unique_task_joins.rb'

Let’s just check lib/metasploit_data_models for any stragglers:

(feature/MSP-10016/metasploit-data-models-search) > git diff --cached --name-status master lib/metasploit_data_models
A     lib/metasploit_data_models/search.rb
A     lib/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor.rb

So, now app and lib are good, but that means spec needs to be cleaned. I could just iteratively run the specs until they pass, but rspec won’t run with undefined classes in the describe block, so let’s mirror the deletes I did in app and lib in spec:

(feature/MSP-10016/metasploit-data-models-search) > git rm `git diff --cached --name-only master spec/app/models/mdm`
rm 'spec/app/models/mdm/*'
(feature/MSP-10016/metasploit-data-models-search) > git rm `git diff --cached --name-only master spec/app/models/mdm`
rm 'spec/db/seeds_spec.rb'
(feature/MSP-10016/metasploit-data-models-search) > git rm `git diff --cached --name-only master spec/factories/mdm`
rm 'spec/factories/mdm/*'

I can safely delete spec/lib/metasploit_data_models because the there are no specs for lib/metasploit_data_models code I want to preserve because they are just namespace Modules.

(feature/MSP-10016/metasploit-data-models-search) > git rm `git diff --cached --name-only master spec/lib/metasploit_data_models`
rm 'spec/lib/metasploit_data_models/base64_serializer_spec.rb'
rm 'spec/lib/metasploit_data_models/batch/descendant_spec.rb'
rm 'spec/lib/metasploit_data_models/batch/root_spec.rb'
rm 'spec/lib/metasploit_data_models/batch_spec.rb'

Thankfully, most of the shared examples have names that match the classes for which they are used, so we can delete shared examples for classes I didn’t backport

(feature/MSP-10016/metasploit-data-models-search) > git rm `git diff --cached --name-only master spec/support/shared/examples/mdm`
rm 'spec/support/shared/examples/mdm/architecture/seed.rb'
rm 'spec/support/shared/examples/mdm/attempt.rb'
rm 'spec/support/shared/examples/mdm/module/path/changed_module_ancestor_from_real_path/with_handled.rb'
rm 'spec/support/shared/examples/mdm/module/path/changed_module_ancestor_from_real_path/without_handled.rb'
(feature/MSP-10016/metasploit-data-models-search) > git rm `git diff --cached --name-only master spec/support/shared/examples/metasploit_data_models/batch`
rm 'spec/support/shared/examples/metasploit_data_models/batch/descendant.rb'
rm 'spec/support/shared/examples/metasploit_data_models/batch/root.rb'
(feature/MSP-10016/metasploit-data-models-search) > git rm spec/support/shared/examples/metasploit_data_models/db/seeds.rb
rm 'spec/support/shared/examples/metasploit_data_models/db/seeds.rb'

Double check that only MetasploitDataModels::Search` shared examples are left

(feature/MSP-10016/metasploit-data-models-search) > git diff --cached --name-status master spec/support/shared/examples
A     spec/support/shared/examples/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/includes/visit/with_children.rb
A     spec/support/shared/examples/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/includes/visit/with_metasploit_model_search_operation_base.rb
A     spec/support/shared/examples/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/relation/visit/matching_record.rb
A     spec/support/shared/examples/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/relation/visit/matching_record/with_metasploit_model_search_opeator_deprecated_platform.rb
A     spec/support/shared/examples/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/relation/visit/matching_record/with_metasploit_model_search_operator_deprecated_authority.rb
A     spec/support/shared/examples/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/where/visit/with_equality.rb
A     spec/support/shared/examples/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/where/visit/with_metasploit_model_search_group_base.rb

Moving on to the shared contexts, dummy_mdm_module_path.rb is obvious out because I removed Mdm::Module::Path.

(feature/MSP-10016/metasploit-data-models-search) > git rm spec/support/shared/contexts/dummy_mdm_module_path.rb
rm 'spec/support/shared/contexts/dummy_mdm_module_path.rb'

Let’s see what’s left in shared contexts:

(feature/MSP-10016/metasploit-data-models-search) > git diff --cached --name-status master spec/support/shared/contexts
A     spec/support/shared/contexts/active_record/attribute_type.rb
A     spec/support/shared/contexts/metasploit_data_models/batch/batch.rb

Batch is out

(feature/MSP-10016/metasploit-data-models-search) > git rm spec/support/shared/contexts/metasploit_data_models/batch/batch.rb
rm 'spec/support/shared/contexts/metasploit_data_models/batch/batch.rb'

I’m not sure what 'ActiveRecord attribute_type' is, so let’s search for it.

(feature/MSP-10016/metasploit-data-models-search) > ack "ActiveRecord attribute_type"
spec/support/shared/contexts/active_record/attribute_type.rb
1:shared_context 'ActiveRecord attribute_type' do

So, no uses, delete it.

(feature/MSP-10016/metasploit-data-models-search) > git rm spec/support/shared/contexts/active_record/attribute_type.rb
rm 'spec/support/shared/contexts/active_record/attribute_type.rb'

Let’s see what I have left with

(feature/MSP-10016/metasploit-data-models-search) > git diff --cached --name-status master
A     app/models/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/attribute.rb
A     app/models/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/includes.rb
A     app/models/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/joins.rb
A     app/models/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/method.rb
A     app/models/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/relation.rb
A     app/models/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/where.rb
A     config/locales/en.yml
A     lib/metasploit_data_models/search.rb
A     lib/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor.rb
A     spec/app/models/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/attribute_spec.rb
A     spec/app/models/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/includes_spec.rb
A     spec/app/models/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/joins_spec.rb
A     spec/app/models/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/method_spec.rb
A     spec/app/models/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/relation_spec.rb
A     spec/app/models/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/where_spec.rb
A     spec/dummy/config/initializers/active_record_migrations.rb
A     spec/support/shared/examples/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/includes/visit/with_children.rb
A     spec/support/shared/examples/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/includes/visit/with_metasploit_model_search_operation_base.rb
A     spec/support/shared/examples/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/relation/visit/matching_record.rb
A     spec/support/shared/examples/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/relation/visit/matching_record/with_metasploit_model_search_opeator_deprecated_platform.rb
A     spec/support/shared/examples/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/relation/visit/matching_record/with_metasploit_model_search_operator_deprecated_authority.rb
A     spec/support/shared/examples/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/where/visit/with_equality.rb
A     spec/support/shared/examples/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/where/visit/with_metasploit_model_search_group_base.rb

config/locals/en.yml and spec/dummy/config/initializers/active_record_migrations.rb might not be needed, but I’m not sure, so let’s test.

(feature/MSP-10016/metasploit-data-models-search) > rake db:drop db:create db:migrate
(feature/MSP-10016/metasploit-data-models-search) > rake spec
...
/Users/luke.imhoff/git/rapid7/metasploit_data_models/app/models/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/attribute.rb:3:in `<class:Attribute>': uninitialized constant MetasploitDataModels::Search::Visitor::Attribute::Metasploit (NameError)
...

Whoops, I lost metasploit-model because I replaced the the gemspec and Gemfile with the one from master, which doesn’t know about metasploit-model. So, I’ll add metasploit-model back to the gemspec.

  s.add_runtime_dependency 'metasploit-model', '>= 0.24.1.pre.semantic.pre.versioning.pre.2.pre.0', '< 0.25'

(feature/MSP-10016/metasploit-data-models-search) > bundle install
...
Installing metasploit-model (0.24.1.pre.semantic.pre.versioning.pre.2.pre.0)
...

Try specs again

(feature/MSP-10016/metasploit-data-models-search) > rake spec
/Users/luke.imhoff/git/rapid7/metasploit_data_models/app/models/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/attribute.rb:3:in `<class:Attribute>': uninitialized constant MetasploitDataModels::Search::Visitor::Attribute::Metasploit (NameError)

Metasploit isn’t resolving, so the code is probably missing the explicit require in lib/metasploit_data_models.rb.

require 'metasploit/model

Test again

(feature/MSP-10016/metasploit-data-models-search) > rake spec
...
NameError: uninitialized constant Mdm::Module::Instance
...

Whoops, looks like the tests for MetasploitDataModels::Search::Visitor::* were written against the actual, new module cache classes instead of dummy classes, which is great for behavior testing on the module caching branches, but does us no good now where I don’t yet have classes that can be searched. Thankfully, from the spec comments I know what I need to supply to use a class I do have:

        Metasploit::Model::Search::Operator::Attribute.new(
            # needs to be a real column so look up on AREL table works
            :attribute => :module_type,
            # needs to be a real class so Class#arel_table works
            :klass => Mdm::Module::Instance
        )

Fortunately, as part of the search usage, I know the team will want to eventually make Mdm::Host and Mdm::Service searchable, so I’ll use Mdm::Host in place of Mdm::Module::Instance and Mdm::Service for any associations for Mdm::Module::Instance to test the join and include logic.

diff --git a/spec/app/models/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/attribute_spec.rb b/spec/app/models/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/attribute_spec.rb
index d031898..69dcd40 100644
--- a/spec/app/models/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/attribute_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/app/models/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/attribute_spec.rb
@@ -42,9 +42,9 @@ describe MetasploitDataModels::Search::Visitor::Attribute do
       let(:node) do
         Metasploit::Model::Search::Operator::Attribute.new(
             # needs to be a real column so look up on AREL table works
-            :attribute => :module_type,
+            :attribute => :name,
             # needs to be a real class so Class#arel_table works
-            :klass => Mdm::Module::Instance
+            :klass => Mdm::Host
         )
       end

Test just that file

 (feature/MSP-10016/metasploit-data-models-search) > rspec spec/app/models/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/attribute_spec.rb
5 examples, 0 failures

Ok, so that works. Now, let’s do the same for spec/app/models/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/includes_spec.rb and rerun all the specs.

(feature/MSP-10016/metasploit-data-models-search) > rake spec
...
NoMethodError: undefined method `search_operator_by_name' for #<Class:0x007f86582a8c68>
...

Ok, so I need to define the search operators using the search DSL on Mdm::Host and Mdm::Service

class Mdm::Host
  # ...
  include Metasploit::Model::Search
  # ...
  
  #
  #
  # Search
  #
  #

  #
  # Search Associations
  #

  search_association :services

  #
  # Search Attributes
  #

  search_attribute :name,
                   type: :string
  
  # ...
end

class Mdm::Service
  # ...
  include Metasploit::Model::Search
  # ...
  
  #
  # Search Attributes
  #

  search_attribute :name,
                   type: :string

  # ...
end

Now to test

(feature/MSP-10016/metasploit-data-models-search) > rspec spec/app/models/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/includes_spec.rb
24 examples, 0 failures

The rest of the specs require manual changes… so I’ll just gloss over those, you can see the commit. Finally, check all the changes.

(feature/MSP-10016/metasploit-data-models-search)> git diff --cached --name-status master
A     spec/app/models/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/attribute_spec.rb
A     spec/app/models/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/includes_spec.rb
A     spec/app/models/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/joins_spec.rb
A     spec/app/models/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/method_spec.rb
A     spec/app/models/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/relation_spec.rb
A     spec/app/models/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/where_spec.rb
A     spec/dummy/config/initializers/active_record_migrations.rb
M     spec/factories/mdm/services.rb
A     spec/support/shared/examples/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/includes/visit/with_children.rb
A     spec/support/shared/examples/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/includes/visit/with_metasploit_model_search_operation_base.rb
A     spec/support/shared/examples/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/relation/visit/matching_record.rb
A     spec/support/shared/examples/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/relation/visit/matching_record/with_metasploit_model_search_opeator_deprecated_platform.rb
A     spec/support/shared/examples/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/relation/visit/matching_record/with_metasploit_model_search_operator_deprecated_authority.rb
A     spec/support/shared/examples/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/where/visit/with_equality.rb
A     spec/support/shared/examples/metasploit_data_models/search/visitor/where/visit/with_metasploit_model_search_group_base.rb

Unfortunately, when I opened the pull request, github showed redundant changes in the Changed Files tab. This was because feature/exploit (the parent of feature/MSP-10016/metasploit-data-models-search) didn’t have the current HEAD of master as a parent, so merge it.

(feature/MSP-10016/metasploit-data-models-search)> git merge master
Auto-merging lib/metasploit_data_models/version.rb
CONFLICT (content): Merge conflict in lib/metasploit_data_models/version.rb
Auto-merging app/models/mdm/service.rb
CONFLICT (content): Merge conflict in app/models/mdm/service.rb
Recorded preimage for 'app/models/mdm/service.rb'
Recorded preimage for 'lib/metasploit_data_models/version.rb'
Automatic merge failed; fix conflicts and then commit the result.

The conflicts turned out to be trivial, so those are fixed, and now the diff only shows the expected changes, so push to github and check again and it worked. Egypt pointed out that I can reproduce the Files Changed on github using

(feature/MSP-10016/metasploit-data-models-search)> git diff --name-status master...

Note the use of 3 ‘.’ instead of 2. From git diff --help. For ‘..’ (2 dots):

   git diff [--options] <commit> <commit> [--] [<path>...]
       This is to view the changes between two arbitrary <commit>.

   git diff [--options] <commit>..<commit> [--] [<path>...]
       This is synonymous to the previous form. If <commit> on one side is omitted, it will have the same effect as using
       HEAD instead.

While ‘…’ (3 dots):

   git diff [--options] <commit>...<commit> [--] [<path>...]
       This form is to view the changes on the branch containing and up to the second <commit>, starting at a common
       ancestor of both <commit>. "git diff A...B" is equivalent to "git diff $(git-merge-base A B) B". You can omit any
       one of <commit>, which has the same effect as using HEAD instead.

As you’ll note in the docs, ... is equivalent to git-merge-base, which I just learned about now, so obviously when trying to check what the merge would look like we should use ... because it uses the point from which a merge will be calculated.

The final pull request