Connecting GitHub Enterprise Server to GitHub Enterprise Cloud

In this guide

• About GitHub Connect
• Enabling GitHub Connect

About GitHub Connect

To enable GitHub Connect, you must configure the connection in both your GitHub Enterprise Server instance and in your GitHub Enterprise Cloud organization. To configure the connection, you must be a site administrator for your GitHub Enterprise Server instance and be an owner for the GitHub Enterprise Cloud organization.

To configure a connection, your proxy configuration must allow connectivity to github.com and api.github.com. For more information, see "Configuring an outbound web proxy server."

After enabling GitHub Connect, you will be able to enable features such as unified search and unified contributions. For more information about all of the features available, see "Managing connections between GitHub Enterprise Server and GitHub Enterprise Cloud."

When you connect your GitHub Enterprise Server instance to GitHub Enterprise Cloud, a record on GitHub.com stores information about the connection:

• The public key portion of your GitHub Enterprise Server license
• A hash of your GitHub Enterprise Server license
• The customer name on your GitHub Enterprise Server license
• The hostname of your GitHub Enterprise Server instance
• The version of your GitHub Enterprise Server instance
• The organization on GitHub.com that's connected to your GitHub Enterprise Server instance
• The authentication token that's used by your GitHub Enterprise Server instance to make requests to GitHub.com

Enabling GitHub Connect also creates a GitHub App owned by your GitHub Enterprise Cloud organization. GitHub Enterprise Server uses the GitHub App's credentials to make requests to GitHub.com.

GitHub Enterprise Server stores credentials from the GitHub App. These credentials will be replicated to any high availability or clustering environments, and stored in any backups, including snapshots created by GitHub Enterprise Server Backup Utilities.

• An authentication token, which is valid for one hour
• A private key, which is used to generate a new authentication token

Enabling GitHub Connect will not allow GitHub.com users to make changes to GitHub Enterprise Server.

Enabling GitHub Connect

1. Sign in to your GitHub Enterprise Server instance and GitHub.com.

2. In the upper-right corner of any page, click .

   

3. In the left sidebar, click Admin center.

   

4. In the left sidebar, click GitHub.com connection.

   

5. Under "GitHub.com connection", click Connect to GitHub.com.

   

6. Read the addendum to the GitHub Enterprise Server License Agreement, then click I agree, connect to GitHub.com.

   

7. After you're redirected to GitHub.com, next to the organization you'd like to connect to, click Connect.