Github

Who can use Github Enterprise?

The site license for Cornell’s Github Enterprise system covers the following use cases:

• Enrolled Students, Faculty, and Staff of Cornell University.
  • Your account may be disabled if you are not part of any of these groups, e.g. students graduating from Cornell and becoming alumni.
• Only approved for non-commercial usage.
• No confidential or high risk data should be stored on this system.
• External users can gain access if they are collaborating with Cornell on research projects. Please see below for details.
• More information about terms through Github’s educational license: https://education.github.com/schools/terms

Why should I use GitHub Enterprise over the public GitHub.com?

Github provide a comparison of the features online: https://github.com/pricing#feature-comparison

• The main difference is that authentication is through Cornell single-sign-on (netid). If your project is truly open source and public, then hosting it at github.com with a personal account may be the best option for you.
• Some research projects have specific requirements on where data can be hosted. Github Enterprise is hosted locally here at Cornell in Gates Hall. The server is backed up off-site using Cornell’s EZBackup service.

How do I sign up?

• You can access Github Enterprise at: https://github.coecis.cornell.edu/ .
• Single-sign-on is available through Cornell Shibboleth. Please use your Cornell netid and password to login to the website.
• Please review the Github Authentication documentation for how to authenticate your Github client.

How do I start using Github Enterprise?

• Install a Git client. GitHub Enterprise can be used with almost any other client that supports GitHub.com.
• Add an SSH key to your account on this page: https://github.coecis.cornell.edu/settings/keys. There are instructions linked at the top of the page on how to do this.
• Create a repository and add collaborators. Note that new users must first login to Github to create an account before you can add them.
• Additional documentation on Github Enterprise is available online: https://help.github.com/enterprise/

Authentication

On July 15, 2021, Cornell’s Github Enterprise service was updated to token-based or SSH-based authentication. Logging into the website interface will continue to work, albeit using Cornell’s Two-Step login.  For more Information, please see: Github Authentication.

How do I learn to use Github effectively?

There are lots of resources available to teach you how to use Github effectively. Most are focused on the consumer Github product, but almost everything you learn also applies to this Github Enterprise service. Here are some particularly useful educational resources.

• Use the interactive courses at Github Learning Lab.
• Take advantage of access to LinkedIn Learning with Lynda that Cornell provides by taking one of the many Github Courses available.
• Take advantage of access to Skillsoft that Cornell provides. Just search for “Github” to see one of the courses they provide.
• Read the Github Guide documentation
• Running into problems you can’t figure out? Search the Github Community Forums or post your problem.

What tools can I use with Github Enterprise

There are many tools in the Github ecosystem that work well with the Github Enterprise Server.

• Try using the Github Desktop application to provide a useful GUI. You can also consult the Github Desktop Help (macOS and Windows)
• VS Code, the free and extensible IDE provided by Microsoft, has integrated support for Github Enterprise. (macOS, Linux, and Windows)

How do I add an external collaborator?

If you want someone outside of Cornell to have access to your Github repository, they will need to request a sponsored netid (Guest IDs are no longer supported).

Please follow the instructions on CIT’s website for sponsored netids:

• https://it.cornell.edu/netids/how-request-sponsored-netid

Once the sponsored netid is created, your collaborator can login to Github and you can add them to your repository.

How do I migrate from SVN to Github Enterprise?

• If you are currently using an SVN server, you can easily migrate your repository to Git using instructions from Github:
  • https://help.github.com/articles/source-code-migration-tools/

GitHub SSH Key Fingerprints

What are GitHub’s SSH key fingerprints?

Public key fingerprints can be used to validate a connection to a remote server. These are our GitHub’s public key fingerprints:

What are the policies for using this service?

By utilizing this service you agree to the following:

• I am an enrolled student or associated faculty or staff of Cornell University or I am an external collaborator on Cornell academic work.
• I have read and understand the Cornell University policy on Responsible Use of Electronic Communications .
• I am using the repository for non-commercial, academic use related to work at Cornell University.
• Computing activities that interfere with this purpose are not permitted. Prior written approval from the IT Director is required for: 1) Any significant use of computing resources that is not clearly related to the university’s goals and functions; 2) Work that will involve the use of large quantities of resources.
• Due to the nature of academic computing, no guarantee of privacy of data can be provided. Further, in return for receiving accounts, users grant permission to ITSG staff to access any of the user’s files or transmissions in the normal course of their duties. The IT staff will hold in strict confidence anything that they may discover in the user’s files except: 1) for discussions with other ITSG staff; 2) when they have reason to suspect a violation of law or of university or department policy; or 3) when they have good reason to provide the files to another member of the community, and in this case notification of the access will be given to the user.

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