Move GitLab Repository to GitHub

[cwp-selvakkanit]

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Hi,
I have GitLab repository which consists more commits and pull requests. The total repo size is 11 GB.
It have some big files(> 150MB) also. It requires GIT LFS help also.
I need to move GitLab repository to GitHub. Can you suggest the steps which I need to do for move the repos with commit history and branches?

[devayee]

✅ Pre-Requisites

A GitHub account and a new empty repo (do not initialize it with README or other files).

Git installed locally.

Git LFS installed and initialized (git lfs install).

Sufficient permissions on the GitLab repo to clone it with full history.

Enough storage/quota on GitHub (GitHub has a 2 GB soft limit per repo, and LFS storage is separate).

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🛠️ 1. Clone the GitLab Repository (with all branches and tags)

git clone --mirror https://gitlab.com/your-namespace/your-repo.git
cd your-repo.git

--mirror clones all branches, tags, and refs (including remotes).

This also includes the LFS pointers, but the actual LFS files may not be downloaded yet.

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🧹 2. Clean Up LFS (Optional, if needed)

If you're migrating to GitHub LFS and GitLab has large files not tracked by LFS, you may want to migrate those into LFS before pushing to GitHub. Use git lfs migrate:

git lfs migrate import --everything --include=".psd,.zip,.tar,.mp4"

⚠️ This rewrites history – ensure you're fine with this or clone a fresh copy for this purpose.

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🏷️ 3. Create GitHub Repo and Push Everything

Create an empty GitHub repo:
https://github.com/new

Then push everything to GitHub:

git remote set-url origin https://github.com/your-username/your-repo.git
git push --mirror

This will push all branches, tags, and commit history.

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📁 4. Set Up Git LFS on GitHub

Ensure Git LFS is enabled on GitHub. This is automatic once you push LFS-tracked files.

If you're not using Git LFS yet, you can initialize and track large files:

git lfs install
git lfs track "*.zip"
git add .gitattributes
git commit -m "Track ZIP files via Git LFS"

Then push:

git push origin main
git lfs push --all origin

--all ensures all LFS files from all branches are pushed.

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🔁 5. Migrate Merge Requests (Pull Requests)

Git does not support migrating pull/merge requests automatically.

Options:

Manual Recreation: Recreate key pull requests manually in GitHub.

Use GitHub API / Tools:

Tools like gitlab-to-github or gitlab-migration can help move issues and PRs.

GitHub’s Import Tool may help in some cases (though it doesn't support LFS or PRs).

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✅ 6. Verify the Migration

Check:

All branches and tags are present.

Commit history is intact.

LFS files are accessible (no pointer files shown).

Issues / PRs (if migrated).

Webhooks, GitLab CI/CD -> GitHub Actions (if used).

[cwp-selvakkanit]

Thanks for the detailed explanation.
I have tried above steps.But I got the error message while execute git push --mirror
Enumerating objects: 14269, done.
Counting objects: 100% (14269/14269), done.
Delta compression using up to 8 threads
Compressing objects: 100% (2025/2025), done.
error: RPC failed; HTTP 500 curl 22 The requested URL returned error: 500
send-pack: unexpected disconnect while reading sideband packet
Writing objects: 100% (14269/14269), 8.17 GiB | 38.09 MiB/s, done.
Total 14269 (delta 11864), reused 13977 (delta 11731), pack-reused 0 (from 0)
fatal: the remote end hung up unexpectedly
Everything up-to-date

[majcek210]

Hi,

You can try with https://github.com/new/import , if it doesnt work you can try this:

You can migrate your GitLab repository to GitHub with full commit history, branches, and LFS files. Since your repo is large (11 GB) and has big files (>150 MB), using Git LFS is important. Here’s how you can do it:

---

1. Prepare GitHub repository

• Create a new empty repository on GitHub.
• Make sure Git LFS is enabled if you plan to push large files.

---

2. Install Git LFS locally

git lfs install

Track large files that Git LFS should manage:

git lfs track "*.zip"  # replace with your large file types
git add .gitattributes
git commit -m "Track large files with LFS"

---

3. Clone your GitLab repository

git clone --mirror https://gitlab.com/username/your-repo.git
cd your-repo.git

--mirror clones all branches, tags, and refs, which is better than a normal clone for migration.

---

4. Push to GitHub

git remote set-url origin https://github.com/username/your-repo.git
git push --mirror

This will push all branches and tags to GitHub.

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5. Push LFS files

After mirroring, push large files tracked by LFS:

git lfs push --all origin

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6. Verify migration

• Check GitHub repository for branches, commits, PRs, and LFS files.
• You may need to manually recreate open GitLab merge requests as GitHub pull requests, since they can’t be automatically migrated.

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7. Optional: Use GitHub import tool

GitHub also has an [import repository tool](https://github.com/new/import) that can import from GitLab, but for very large repos with LFS, the manual mirroring method is more reliable.

---

I hope this helps (:

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