A staging instance can be used to test modifications before they are applied to your actual GitHub Enterprise instance. For example, you could use a staging instance to test new GitHub Enterprise updates or to practice importing migration data.

Tip: You may reuse your existing GitHub Enterprise license file so long as the staging instance is not used for production.

  1. Perform a backup of your production instance using the backup utilities.

  2. Set up a new instance to act as your staging environment. You can use the same guides for provisioning and installing your staging instance as you did for your production instance.

  3. Restore your backup onto your staging instance.