How to Migrate from GitLab to GitHub: The Complete 2024 Guide

Table of Contents

• Why Migrate from GitLab to GitHub?
• Preparation Before Migration
• Repository Migration
• Issue and Comment Migration
• CI/CD Pipeline Migration
• Post-Migration Steps
• Our GitLab to GitHub Migration Tool

Why Migrate from GitLab to GitHub?

There are several reasons why teams and organizations choose to migrate from GitLab to GitHub:

• Larger community: GitHub hosts the largest developer community in the world, making it easier to collaborate and find contributors.
• Integration ecosystem: GitHub has a vast marketplace of integrations and third-party tools.
• GitHub Actions: Many teams prefer GitHub's approach to CI/CD with GitHub Actions.
• Organizational requirements: Company policies or acquisitions might necessitate consolidating repositories on GitHub.
• Familiarity: More developers are familiar with GitHub's interface and workflows.

Whatever your reason for migrating, this guide will help you transition smoothly from GitLab to GitHub while preserving your repositories, issues, comments, and workflows.

Preparation Before Migration

Before starting the migration process, it's important to prepare properly:

1. Inventory Your GitLab Resources

Create a complete inventory of what needs to be migrated:

• Repositories and their structure
• Issues and their comments
• CI/CD pipelines
• Wiki pages
• Project members and their roles
• Labels and milestones

2. Set Up GitHub Organization and Teams

Before migrating, set up your GitHub organization structure:

• Create your GitHub organization (if applicable)
• Set up teams that mirror your GitLab groups
• Configure organization settings and permissions

3. Create API Tokens

You'll need API tokens for both GitLab and GitHub:

• GitLab: Create a personal access token with the api scope
• GitHub: Create a personal access token with the repo scope

Repository Migration

There are several ways to migrate your repositories from GitLab to GitHub:

Method 1: GitHub's Import Tool

1. Go to GitHub's import page
2. Enter your GitLab repository URL
3. Provide your GitLab credentials when prompted
4. Configure the repository name and visibility on GitHub
5. Start the import process

Method 2: Manual Git Commands

For more control, you can use Git commands:

# Clone the GitLab repository with all branches
git clone --mirror git@gitlab.com:username/repository.git

# Navigate to the cloned repository
cd repository.git

# Push to GitHub with all references
git push --mirror git@github.com:username/repository.git

Method 3: Third-Party Tools

Several third-party tools can help with repository migration, especially for batch operations across multiple repositories.

Issue and Comment Migration

Migrating issues and their comments is often the most challenging part of the migration process. GitHub's import tool doesn't handle issues, so you'll need a specialized solution.

Our GitLab to GitHub Issue Migration Tool

We've developed a free tool specifically for migrating issues and comments from GitLab to GitHub while preserving all metadata, formatting, and relationships:

1. Enter your GitLab and GitHub API tokens
2. Select the source GitLab project and target GitHub repository
3. Preview the issues to be migrated
4. Start the migration process

Try our GitLab to GitHub Issue Migration Tool

What Our Tool Preserves

• Issue titles, descriptions, and states (open/closed)
• All comments in their original order
• Markdown formatting in both issues and comments
• Issue labels (automatically created in GitHub)
• Creation dates and author information
• Links back to the original GitLab issues and comments

Basic Conversion Example

Here's a simple example of converting a GitLab CI configuration to GitHub Actions:

GitLab CI (.gitlab-ci.yml):

stages:
  - build
  - test

build-job:
  stage: build
  script:
    - echo "Building the app"
    - npm install
    - npm run build
  artifacts:
    paths:
      - dist/

test-job:
  stage: test
  script:
    - echo "Running tests"
    - npm test

GitHub Actions (.github/workflows/main.yml):

name: CI

on:
  push:
    branches: [ main ]
  pull_request:
    branches: [ main ]

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v2
    - name: Build
      run: |
        echo "Building the app"
        npm install
        npm run build
    - name: Upload artifacts
      uses: actions/upload-artifact@v2
      with:
        name: dist
        path: dist/

  test:
    needs: build
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v2
    - name: Test
      run: |
        echo "Running tests"
        npm test

For GitLab, you need a token with the api scope. For GitHub, you need a token with the repo scope to access private repositories or public_repo for public repositories only.

CI/CD Pipeline Migration

Migrating CI/CD pipelines from GitLab CI to GitHub Actions requires manual conversion:

Understanding the Differences

GitLab CI and GitHub Actions have different concepts and syntax:

• GitLab uses .gitlab-ci.yml while GitHub uses workflow files in .github/workflows/
• Job definitions and syntax differ between platforms
• Environment variables and secrets are handled differently

Basic Conversion Example

Here's a simple example of converting a GitLab CI configuration to GitHub Actions:

GitLab CI (.gitlab-ci.yml):

stages:
  - build
  - test

build-job:
  stage: build
  script:
    - echo "Building the app"
    - npm install
    - npm run build
  artifacts:
    paths:
      - dist/

test-job:
  stage: test
  script:
    - echo "Running tests"
    - npm test

GitHub Actions (.github/workflows/main.yml):

name: CI

on:
  push:
    branches: [ main ]
  pull_request:
    branches: [ main ]

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v2
    - name: Build
      run: |
        echo "Building the app"
        npm install
        npm run build
    - name: Upload artifacts
      uses: actions/upload-artifact@v2
      with:
        name: dist
        path: dist/

  test:
    needs: build
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v2
    - name: Test
      run: |
        echo "Running tests"
        npm test

Post-Migration Steps

After migrating your repositories and issues, there are several important steps to complete:

1. Verify the Migration

• Check that all repositories were migrated correctly
• Verify that issues and comments are present with proper formatting
• Ensure CI/CD workflows are functioning as expected
• Test access permissions for team members

2. Update External References

• Update documentation that references GitLab URLs
• Modify integration configurations to point to GitHub
• Update bookmarks and saved links

3. Communicate with Stakeholders

• Inform all team members about the migration
• Provide guidance on accessing the new GitHub repositories
• Share any changes to workflows or processes

4. Set Up GitHub-Specific Features

• Configure branch protection rules
• Set up GitHub Pages if needed
• Configure GitHub Actions for CI/CD
• Set up GitHub Discussions if you used GitLab Discussions

Our GitLab to GitHub Migration Tool

To simplify the migration process, especially for issues and comments, we've developed a free, browser-based migration tool that preserves all your data.

Key Features

• Secure: Your API tokens are stored only in your browser's local storage
• Complete: Migrates issues with all comments, labels, and metadata
• Preserves Formatting: Maintains markdown formatting in issues and comments
• User-Friendly: Simple interface with preview and progress tracking
• Free: No cost, no registration required

Conclusion

Migrating from GitLab to GitHub can seem daunting, but with proper planning and the right tools, it can be a smooth process. Our free migration tool handles the most challenging part—migrating issues and comments—while preserving all your valuable data.

Whether you're moving a single repository or an entire organization, this guide and our tools will help you successfully complete your migration from GitLab to GitHub.