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.

Creating a new repository

You can create a new repository on your personal account or any organization where you have sufficient permissions.

Tip: Owners can restrict repository creation permissions in an organization. For more information, see "Restricting repository creation in your organization."

Tip: You can also create a repository using the GitHub CLI. For more information, see "gh repo create" in the GitHub CLI documentation.

  1. In the upper-right corner of any page, use the drop-down menu, and select New repository.

    Drop-down with option to create a new repository

  2. Optionally, to create a repository with the directory structure and files of an existing repository, use the Choose a template drop-down and select a template repository. You'll see template repositories that are owned by you and organizations you're a member of or that you've used before. For more information, see "Creating a repository from a template."

    Template drop-down menu

  3. In the Owner drop-down, select the account you wish to create the repository on.

    Owner drop-down menu

  4. Type a name for your repository, and an optional description.

    Create repository field

  5. Choose a repository visibility. For more information, see "About repository visibility."

    Radio buttons to select repository visibility

  6. If you're not using a template, there are a number of optional items you can pre-populate your repository with. If you're importing an existing repository to GitHub Enterprise Server, don't choose any of these options, as you may introduce a merge conflict. You can add or create new files using the user interface or choose to add new files using the command line later. For more information, see "Importing a Git repository using the command line," "Adding a file to a repository using the command line," and "Addressing merge conflicts."

    • You can create a README, which is a document describing your project. For more information, see "About READMEs."
    • You can create a .gitignore file, which is a set of ignore rules. For more information, see "Ignoring files."
  7. Click Create repository.

Further reading