This version of GitHub Enterprise was discontinued on 2021-03-02. 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.

Migrating data to your enterprise

After generating a migration archive, you can import the data to your target GitHub Enterprise Server instance. You'll be able to review changes for potential conflicts before permanently applying the changes to your target instance.

In this article

Applying the imported data on GitHub Enterprise Server

Once you have prepared your migration you can use the following steps to complete the migration.

  1. As a site admin, SSH into your target GitHub Enterprise Server instance.

    $ ssh -p 122 admin@HOSTNAME
  2. Using the ghe-migrator import command, start the import process. You'll need:

    $ ghe-migrator import /home/admin/MIGRATION_GUID.tar.gz -g MIGRATION_GUID -u username -p TOKEN
    
    > Starting GitHub::Migrator
    > Import 100% complete /
    • To specify where migration files should be staged append the command with --staging-path=/full/staging/path. Defaults to /data/user/tmp.

Reviewing migration data

By default, ghe-migrator audit returns every record. It also allows you to filter records by:

  • The types of records.
  • The state of the records.

The record types match those found in the migrated data.

Record type filters

Record typeFilter name
Usersuser
Organizationsorganization
Repositoriesrepository
Teamsteam
Milestonesmilestone
Project boardsproject
Issuesissue
Issue commentsissue_comment
Pull requestspull_request
Pull request reviewspull_request_review
Commit commentscommit_comment
Pull request review commentspull_request_review_comment
Releasesrelease
Actions taken on pull requests or issuesissue_event
Protected branchesprotected_branch

Record state filters

Record stateDescription
exportThe record will be exported.
importThe record will be imported.
mapThe record will be mapped.
renameThe record will be renamed.
mergeThe record will be merged.
exportedThe record was successfully exported.
importedThe record was successfully imported.
mappedThe record was successfully mapped.
renamedThe record was successfully renamed.
mergedThe record was successfully merged.
failed_exportThe record failed to export.
failed_importThe record failed to be imported.
failed_mapThe record failed to be mapped.
failed_renameThe record failed to be renamed.
failed_mergeThe record failed to be merged.

Filtering audited records

With the ghe-migrator audit command, you can filter based on the record type using the -m flag. Similarly, you can filter on the import state using the -s flag. The command looks like this:

$ ghe-migrator audit -m RECORD_TYPE -s STATE -g MIGRATION_GUID

For example, to view every successfully imported organization and team, you would enter:

$ ghe-migrator audit -m organization,team -s mapped,renamed -g MIGRATION_GUID
> model_name,source_url,target_url,state
> organization,https://gh.source/octo-org/,https://ghe.target/octo-org/,renamed

We strongly recommend auditing every import that failed. To do that, you will enter:

$ ghe-migrator audit -s failed_import,failed_map,failed_rename,failed_merge -g MIGRATION_GUID
> model_name,source_url,target_url,state
> user,https://gh.source/octocat,https://gh.target/octocat,failed
> repository,https://gh.source/octo-org/octo-project,https://ghe.target/octo-org/octo-project,failed

If you have any concerns about failed imports, contact GitHub Enterprise Support or GitHub Premium Support.

Completing the import on GitHub Enterprise Server

After your migration is applied to your target instance and you have reviewed the migration, you''ll unlock the repositories and delete them off the source. Before deleting your source data we recommend waiting around two weeks to ensure that everything is functioning as expected.

Unlocking repositories on the target instance

  1. SSH into your GitHub Enterprise Server instance. For more information, see "Accessing the administrative shell (SSH)."
    $ ssh -p 122 admin@HOSTNAME
  2. Unlock all the imported repositories with the ghe-migrator unlock command. You'll need your Migration GUID:
    $ ghe-migrator unlock -g MIGRATION_GUID
    > Unlocked octo-org/octo-project

Unlocking repositories on the source

Unlocking repositories from an organization on GitHub.com

To unlock the repositories on a GitHub.com organization, you'll send a DELETE request to the migration unlock endpoint. You'll need:

  • Your access token for authentication
  • The unique id of the migration
  • The name of the repository to unlock
    curl -H "Authorization: token GITHUB_ACCESS_TOKEN" -X DELETE \
      -H "Accept: application/vnd.github.wyandotte-preview+json" \
      https://api.github.com/orgs/orgname/migrations/id/repos/repo_name/lock

Deleting repositories from an organization on GitHub.com

After unlocking the GitHub.com organization's repositories, you should delete every repository you previously migrated using the repository delete endpoint. You'll need your access token for authentication:

curl -H "Authorization: token GITHUB_ACCESS_TOKEN" -X DELETE \
  https://api.github.com/repos/orgname/repo_name

Unlocking repositories from a GitHub Enterprise Server instance

  1. SSH into your GitHub Enterprise Server instance. For more information, see "Accessing the administrative shell (SSH)."
    $ ssh -p 122 admin@HOSTNAME
  2. Unlock all the imported repositories with the ghe-migrator unlock command. You'll need your Migration GUID:
    $ ghe-migrator unlock -g MIGRATION_GUID
    > Unlocked octo-org/octo-project