Migrating repositories from GitHub.com to GitHub Enterprise Cloud

To see instructions for using the GitHub CLI, use the tool switcher at the top of the page.

Step 0: Get ready to use the GitHub GraphQL API

To make GraphQL queries, you'll need to write your own scripts or use an HTTP client like Insomnia.

To learn more about getting started with the GitHub GraphQL API, including how to authenticate, see "Forming calls with GraphQL."

Step 1: Get the ownerId for your migration destination

As an organization owner in GitHub Enterprise Cloud, use the GetOrgInfo query to return the ownerId, also called the organization ID, for the organization you want to own the migrated repositories. You'll need the ownerId to identify your migration destination.

GetOrgInfo query

query(
  $login: String!
){
  organization (login: $login)
  {
    login
    id
    name
    databaseId
  }
}

Query variable	Description
login	Your organization name.

GetOrgInfo response

{
  "data": {
    "organization": {
      "login": "Octo",
      "id": "MDEyOk9yZ2FuaXphdGlvbjU2MTA=",
      "name": "Octo-org",
      "databaseId": 5610
    }
  }
}

In this example, MDEyOk9yZ2FuaXphdGlvbjU2MTA= is the organization ID or ownerId, which we'll use in the next step.

Step 2: Identify where you're migrating from

You can set up a migration source using the createMigrationSource query. You'll need to supply the ownerId, or organization ID, gathered from the GetOrgInfo query.

Your migration source is an organization on GitHub.com.

createMigrationSource mutation

mutation createMigrationSource($name: String!, $ownerId: ID!) {
  createMigrationSource(input: {name: $name, url: "https://github.com", ownerId: $ownerId, type: GITHUB_ARCHIVE}) {
    migrationSource {
      id
      name
      url
      type
    }
  }
}

Query variable	Description
name	A name for your migration source. This name is for your own reference, so you can use any string.
ownerId	The organization ID of your organization on GitHub Enterprise Cloud.

createMigrationSource response

{
  "data": {
    "createMigrationSource": {
      "migrationSource": {
        "id": "MS_kgDaACQxYmYxOWU4Yi0wNzZmLTQ3NTMtOTdkZC1hNGUzZmYxN2U2YzA",
        "name": "GitHub.com Source",
        "url": "https://github.com",
        "type": "GITHUB_SOURCE"
      }
    }
  }
}

In this example, MS_kgDaACQxYmYxOWU4Yi0wNzZmLTQ3NTMtOTdkZC1hNGUzZmYxN2U2YzA is the migration source ID, which we'll use in the next step.

Step 3: Start your repository migration

When you start a migration, a single repository and its accompanying data migrates into a brand new GitHub repository that you identify.

If you want to move multiple repositories at once from the same source organization, you can queue multiple migrations. You can run up to 5 repository migrations at the same time.

startRepositoryMigration mutation

mutation startRepositoryMigration (
  $sourceId: ID!,
  $ownerId: ID!,
  $sourceRepositoryUrl: URI!,
  $repositoryName: String!,
  $continueOnError: Boolean!,
  $accessToken: String!,
  $githubPat: String!,
  $targetRepoVisibility: String!
){
  startRepositoryMigration( input: {
    sourceId: $sourceId,
    ownerId: $ownerId,
    repositoryName: $repositoryName,
    continueOnError: $continueOnError,
    accessToken: $accessToken,
    githubPat: $githubPat,
    targetRepoVisibility: $targetRepoVisibility
    sourceRepositoryUrl: $sourceRepositoryUrl,
  }) {
    repositoryMigration {
      id
      migrationSource {
        id
        name
        type
      }
      sourceUrl
    }
  }
}

Query variable	Description
sourceId	Your migration source id returned from the createMigrationSource mutation.
ownerId	The organization ID of your organization on GitHub Enterprise Cloud.
repositoryName	A custom unique repository name not currently used by any of your repositories owned by the organization on GitHub Enterprise Cloud. An error-logging issue will be created in this repository when your migration is complete or has stopped.
continueOnError	Migration setting that allows the migration to continue when encountering errors that don't cause the migration to fail. Must be true or false. We highly recommend setting continueOnError to true so that your migration will continue unless the Importer can't move Git source or the Importer has lost connection and cannot reconnect to complete the migration.
githubPat	The personal access token for your destination organization on GitHub Enterprise Cloud. For personal access token requirements, see "Managing access for GitHub Enterprise Importer."
accessToken	The personal access token for your source.
targetRepoVisibility	The visibility of the new repository. Must be private, public, or internal. If not set, your repository is migrated as private.
sourceRepositoryUrl	The URL of your source repository, using the format https://github.com/{organization}/{repository}.

In the next step, you'll use the migration ID returned from the startRepositoryMigration mutation to check the migration status.

Step 4: Check the status of your migration

To detect any migration failures and ensure your migration is working, you can check your migration status using the getMigration query. You can also check the status of multiple migrations with getMigrations.

The getMigration query will return with a status to let you know if the migration is queued, in progress, failed, or completed. If your migration failed, the Importer will provide a reason for the failure.

getMigration query

query (
  $id: ID!
){
  node( id: $id ) {
    ... on Migration {
      id
      sourceUrl
      migrationSource {
        name
      }
      state
      failureReason
    }
  }
}

Query variable	Description
id	The id of your migration that the startRepositoryMigration mutation returned.

Step 5: Validate your migration and check the error log

To finish your migration, we recommend that you check the "Migration Log" issue. This issue is created on GitHub in the destination repository.

Finally, we recommend that you review your migrated repositories for a soundness check.

gh extension upgrade github/gh-gei

gh gei generate-script --github-source-org SOURCE --github-target-org DESTINATION --output FILENAME

gh gei migrate-repo --github-source-org SOURCE --source-repo CURRENT-NAME --github-target-org DESTINATION --target-repo NEW-NAME