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This version of GitHub Enterprise was discontinued on 2023-07-06. 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.

Importing an external Git repository using the command line

If your source code is tracked in a Git repository, you can import the repository using Git on the command line.

Before you start, make sure you know:

  • Your GitHub Enterprise Server username
  • The clone URL for the external repository, such as https://external-host.com/user/repo.git or git://external-host.com/user/repo.git (perhaps with a user@ in front of the external-host.com domain name)

For purposes of demonstration, we'll use:

  • An external account named extuser
  • An external Git host named https://external-host.com
  • A GitHub Enterprise Server personal account named ghuser
  • A repository on your GitHub Enterprise Server instance named repo.git

  1. Create a new repository on GitHub Enterprise Server. You'll import your external Git repository to this new repository.

  2. On the command line, make a "bare" clone of the external repository using the external clone URL. This creates a full copy of the data, but without a working directory for editing files, and ensures a clean, fresh export of all the old data.

    $ git clone --bare https://external-host.com/EXTUSER/REPO.git
# Makes a bare clone of the external repository in a local directory

  3. Push the locally cloned repository to GitHub Enterprise Server using the "mirror" option, which ensures that all references, such as branches and tags, are copied to the imported repository.

    $ cd REPO.git
$ git push --mirror https://HOSTNAME/USER/REPO.git
# Pushes the mirror to the new repository on your GitHub Enterprise Server instance

  4. Remove the temporary local repository.

    cd ..
rm -rf REPO.git

If the repository you are importing contains large files, you may run into a warning or error. For more information on large files and how to manage them, see "About large files on GitHub."