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This version of GitHub Enterprise was discontinued on 2023-01-18. No patch releases will be made, even for critical security issues. For better performance, improved security, and new features, upgrade to the latest version of GitHub Enterprise. For help with the upgrade, contact GitHub Enterprise support.

Impersonating a user

You can impersonate users and perform actions on their behalf, for troubleshooting, unblocking, and other legitimate reasons.

Who can use this feature

Enterprise owners can impersonate users within their enterprise.

About user impersonation

If you need to temporarily take over a user account, for example when troubleshooting a user problem, or when the user is unavailable and urgent action is required, you can start an impersonation session to act on their behalf.

For each impersonation session, you need to provide a reason for the impersonation. A session is limited to one hour, and you will have the same access as the user being impersonated.

Actions you perform during an impersonation session are recorded as events in the enterprise audit log, as well as the impersonated user's security log. The person being impersonated is sent an email notification when the impersonation session starts. For more information, see "Audit log events for your enterprise" and "Reviewing your security log."

Impersonating a user

  1. From an administrative account on GitHub Enterprise Server, in the upper-right corner of any page, click .

    Screenshot of the rocket ship icon for accessing site admin settings

  2. If you're not already on the "Site admin" page, in the upper-left corner, click Site admin.

    Screenshot of "Site admin" link

  3. In the search field, type the name of the user and click Search. Site admin settings search field

  4. In the search results, click the name of the user. Site admin settings search options

  5. In the top left of the page, click User info.

    User info

  6. Under "Danger Zone", click Sign in to GitHub as @username

    Impersonate user

  7. Select a reason from the dropdown list. If you select Other you will need to provide additional context in the Notes section. Click Begin impersonation to begin the session.

    Impersonation reason

  8. When you are ready to end the impersonation session, click the Return to your mundane life as username banner at the top of the page.

    End impersonation