Don't remove the git repos just exclude them from the tar file.

playbooks/roles/edxapp/tasks/xml.yml

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
     dest="{{ edxapp_course_data_dir }}/{{ item.repo_name }}"
     version="{{ item.version }}"
     accept_hostkey=True
+    depth=1
   sudo_user: "{{ edxapp_user }}"
   environment:
     GIT_SSH: "{{ edxapp_git_ssh }}"
@@ -58,13 +59,8 @@
   with_items: EDXAPP_XML_COURSES
   when: item.disposition == "import"
 
-- name: delete .git repos
-  file: path="{{ edxapp_course_data_dir }}/{{ item.repo_name }}/.git" state=absent
-  with_items: EDXAPP_XML_COURSES
-  when: item.disposition == "on disk" or item.disposition == "no static import"
-
 - name: create an archive of course data and course static dirs
-  shell: tar czf /tmp/static_course_content.tar.gz -C {{ edxapp_data_dir }} {{ edxapp_course_data_dir|basename }} {{ edxapp_course_static_dir|basename }}
+  shell: tar czf /tmp/static_course_content.tar.gz -C {{ edxapp_data_dir }} --exclude ".git" {{ edxapp_course_data_dir|basename }} {{ edxapp_course_static_dir|basename }}
 
 - name: upload archive to s3
   s3: >