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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.

Renaming a repository

You can rename a repository if you're either an organization owner or have admin permissions for the repository.

When you rename a repository, all existing information, with the exception of project site URLs, is automatically redirected to the new name, including:

  • Issues
  • Wikis
  • Stars
  • Followers

For more information on project sites, see "About GitHub Pages."

In addition to redirecting web traffic, all git clone, git fetch, or git push operations targeting the previous location will continue to function as if made on the new location. However, to reduce confusion, we strongly recommend updating any existing local clones to point to the new repository URL. You can do this by using git remote on the command line:

$ git remote set-url origin new_url

For more information, see "Managing remote repositories."

Note: GitHub will not redirect calls to an action hosted by a renamed repository. Any workflow that uses that action will fail with the error repository not found. Instead, create a new repository and action with the new name and archive the old repository. For more information, see "Archiving repositories."

Warning: If you create a new repository under your account in the future, do not reuse the original name of the renamed repository. If you do, redirects to the renamed repository will break.

  1. On your GitHub Enterprise Server instance, navigate to the main page of the repository.
  2. Under your repository name, click Settings. Repository settings button
  3. Under the Repository Name heading, type the new name of your repository. Repository rename
  4. Click Rename. You're done!