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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.

About the Management Console

In this article

From the Management Console, you can initialize, configure, and monitor your GitHub Enterprise Server instance.

About the Management Console

The Management Console allows you to manage the low-level configuration of your GitHub Enterprise Server instance. For example, you can complete initial setup, manage licensing and low-level settings, configure authentication, schedule maintenance windows, and monitor your instance.

You can always reach the Management Console using your GitHub Enterprise Server instance's IP address, even when the instance is in maintenance mode, or there is a critical application failure or hostname or SSL misconfiguration.

To access the Management Console, you must use the administrator password established during initial setup of your GitHub Enterprise Server instance. You must also be able to connect to the virtual machine host on port 8443. If you're having trouble reaching the Management Console, please check intermediate firewall and security group configurations.

The Management Console password hash is stored in /data/user/common/secrets.conf. If high availability or clustering is configured, the file is automatically synced from the primary node to any additional nodes. Any change to the primary's password will automatically be replicated to all of the instance's nodes. For more information about high availability, see "About high availability configuration."

Examples of activities in the Management Console

In the Management Console, you can perform administrative tasks for your GitHub Enterprise Server instance, including:

  • Initial setup: Walk through the initial setup process when first launching your GitHub Enterprise Server instance by visiting your GitHub Enterprise Server instance's IP address in your browser.
  • Configuring authentication policies for the Management Console: Set rate limits for login attempts, and the lockout duration if someone exceeds the rate limit. For more information, see "Managing access to the Management Console."
  • Configuring basic settings for your instance: Configure DNS, hostname, SSL, user authentication, email, monitoring services, and log forwarding on the Settings page.
  • Scheduling maintenance windows: Take your GitHub Enterprise Server instance offline while performing maintenance using the Management Console or administrative shell.
  • Troubleshooting: Generate a support bundle or view high level diagnostic information.
  • License management: View or update your GitHub Enterprise license.