GitHub: How to make a fork of public repository private?

by

The answers are correct but don’t mention how to sync code between the public repo and the fork.

Here is the full workflow (we’ve done this before open sourcing React Native):

First, duplicate the repo as others said (details here):

Create a new repo (let’s call it private-repo) via the Github UI. Then:

git clone --bare https://github.com/exampleuser/public-repo.git
cd public-repo.git
git push --mirror https://github.com/yourname/private-repo.git
cd ..
rm -rf public-repo.git

Clone the private repo so you can work on it:

git clone https://github.com/yourname/private-repo.git
cd private-repo
make some changes
git commit
git push origin master

To pull new hotness from the public repo:

cd private-repo
git remote add public https://github.com/exampleuser/public-repo.git
git pull public master # Creates a merge commit
git push origin master

Awesome, your private repo now has the latest code from the public repo plus your changes.

Finally, to create a pull request private repo -> public repo:

Use the GitHub UI to create a fork of the public repo (the small “Fork” button at the top right of the public repo page). Then:

git clone https://github.com/yourname/the-fork.git
cd the-fork
git remote add private_repo_yourname https://github.com/yourname/private-repo.git
git checkout -b pull_request_yourname
git pull private_repo_yourname master
git push origin pull_request_yourname

Now you can create a pull request via the Github UI for public-repo, as described here.

Once project owners review your pull request, they can merge it.

Of course the whole process can be repeated (just leave out the steps where you add remotes).

More Related Contents:

  1. Pushing from Eclipse to my GitHub repository via HTTPS stopped working: “git-receive-pack not permitted” error
  2. Eclipse + EGit: clone project into workspace
  3. How can I remove a commit on GitHub? [duplicate]
  4. What is the difference between origin and upstream on GitHub?
  5. Pull new updates from original GitHub repository into forked GitHub repository
  6. Git submodules in .gitmodules not initialized
  7. Updating a local repository with changes from a GitHub repository
  8. How to set up a git project to use an external repo submodule?
  9. Push origin master error on new repository
  10. TortoiseGit save user authentication / credentials
  11. Why is “origin/HEAD” shown when running “git branch -r”?
  12. “Auth Failed” error with EGit and GitHub
  13. How do I push to GitHub under a different username?
  14. How to avoid merge-commit hell on GitHub/BitBucket
  15. Create a tag in a GitHub repository
  16. Create a GitHub repository from command line
  17. How to remove big (>100MB) file from a GitHub repository and push successfully?
  18. How to change my Git username in terminal?
  19. How do I get git to default to ssh and not https for new repositories
  20. What is “git remote add …” and “git push origin master”?
  21. In Jenkins, how to checkout a project into a specific directory (using GIT)
  22. How to sync changes on my local server with the ones on the remote one without commiting?
  23. Change date of git tag (or GitHub Release based on it)
  24. Git : fatal: Could not read from remote repository. Please make sure you have the correct access rights and the repository exists
  25. Squash all my commits into one for GitHub pull request [duplicate]
  26. How to pull a pull request quickly locally
  27. Git – How to auto push changes in a directory to another branch
  28. Git: Set local user.name and user.email different for each repo
  29. github: server certificate verification failed
  30. Why does ‘git commit’ not save my changes?

Leave a Comment