Phase 3. Install and configure GitHub Enterprise Importer

Install the ADO2GH extension of the GitHub CLI and configure your environment for the migration.

In this article

Step 1: Install the ADO2GH extension of the GitHub CLI

GitHub Enterprise Importer is a collection of extensions for GitHub CLI. If this is your first migration, you'll need to install GitHub CLI and the ADO2GH extension.

  1. Install the GitHub CLI.

    • For installation instructions for GitHub CLI, see the GitHub CLI repository.
    • If you already have GitHub CLI installed, run gh --version to ensure you're running version 2.4.0 or newer. If you have an older version, visit the GitHub CLI repository for upgrade instructions.

  2. Install the ADO2GH extension.

    Shell
    gh extension install github/gh-ado2gh

  3. The ADO2GH extension of the GitHub CLI is updated weekly. To make sure you're using the latest version, update the extension.

    Shell
    gh extension upgrade github/gh-ado2gh

Any time you need help with the ADO2GH extension, you can use the --help flag with a command. For example, gh ado2gh --help will list all the available commands, and gh ado2gh migrate-repo --help will list all the options available for the migrate-repo command.

Step 2: Set environment variables

Before you can use the ADO2GH extension to migrate to GitHub Enterprise Cloud, you must create personal access tokens that can access the source and destination organizations, then set the personal access tokens as environment variables.

  1. Make sure you have your personal access tokens for both GitHub and Azure DevOps ready. See Phase 2. Manage access.

  2. Set environment variables for the personal access tokens, replacing TOKEN in the commands below with the personal access tokens you previously created. Use GH_PAT for the destination organization and ADO_PAT for the source organization.

    • If you're using Terminal, use the export command.

      Shell
      export GH_PAT="TOKEN"
export ADO_PAT="TOKEN"

    • If you're using PowerShell, use the $env command.

      Shell
      $env:GH_PAT="TOKEN"
$env:ADO_PAT="TOKEN"

  3. If you're migrating to GitHub Enterprise Cloud with data residency, for convenience, set an environment variable for the base API URL for your enterprise.

    Ensure you replace SUBDOMAIN with your enterprise's subdomain. For example, if your enterprise's subdomain is acme, the TARGET_API_URL value would be https://api.acme.ghe.com.

    • If you're using Terminal, use the export command.

      Shell
      export TARGET_API_URL="https://api.SUBDOMAIN.ghe.com"

    • If you're using PowerShell, use the $env command.

      Shell
      $env:TARGET_API_URL="https://api.SUBDOMAIN.ghe.com"

    You'll use this variable with the --target-api-url option in commands you run with the GitHub CLI.

Next steps

In the next phase, you'll use GitHub Enterprise Cloud to prepare for the migration. See Phase 4. Prepare for your migration from Azure DevOps to GitHub.