I would like to put a Git project on GitHub but it contains certain files with sensitive data (usernames and passwords, like /config/deploy.rb for capistrano).

I know I can add these filenames to **.gitignore**, but this would not remove their history within Git.

I also don't want to start over again by deleting the /.git directory.

Is there a way to remove **all** traces of a particular file in your Git history?