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This version of GitHub Enterprise was discontinued on 2022-06-03. 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.

Enabling private mode

In private mode, GitHub Enterprise Server requires every user to sign in to access the installation.

You must enable private mode if your GitHub Enterprise Server instance is publicly accessible over the Internet. In private mode, users cannot anonymously clone repositories over git://. If built-in authentication is also enabled, an administrator must invite new users to create an account on the instance. For more information, see "Configuring built-in authentication."

Warning: If you add an image attachment to a pull request or issue comment, anyone can view the anonymized image URL without authentication, even if the pull request is in a private repository, or if private mode is enabled. To prevent unauthorized access to the images, ensure that you restrict network access to the systems that serve the images, including your GitHub Enterprise Server instance.

With private mode enabled, you can allow unauthenticated Git operations (and anyone with network access to your GitHub Enterprise Server instance) to read a public repository's code on your instance with anonymous Git read access enabled. For more information, see "Allowing admins to enable anonymous Git read access to public repositories."

  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 left sidebar, click Management Console. Management Console tab in the left sidebar

  4. In the left sidebar, click Privacy. Privacy tab in the settings sidebar

  5. Select Private mode. Checkbox for enabling private mode

  6. Under the left sidebar, click Save settings.

    Screenshot of the save settings button in the Management Console

    Note: Saving settings in the Management Console restarts system services, which could result in user-visible downtime.

  7. Wait for the configuration run to complete.

    Configuring your instance