CodeCommit to GitHub Migration Guide

A complete guide for migrating repositories from AWS CodeCommit to GitHub with all required configurations, security settings, and authentication.

Prerequisites

Required Tools

Git (version 2.23 or higher)
AWS CLI configured with appropriate credentials
GitHub account (personal or organization)
Terminal/Command line access

Required Access

AWS IAM permissions for CodeCommit (read access minimum)
GitHub repository creation permissions
Admin access to configure repository settings

Pre-Migration Checklist

1. Inventory Your Repositories

# List all CodeCommit repositories
aws codecommit list-repositories --region us-east-1

2. Document Current Setup

Repository names and descriptions
Branch protection rules
Approval rules and policies
Triggers and notifications
IAM users and their permissions
CI/CD pipelines (CodePipeline, CodeBuild)
Webhook configurations
Repository tags and metadata

3. Backup Considerations

Export repository metadata
Document custom configurations
Save approval templates
Export issue tracking data (if applicable)

GitHub Setup

1. Create GitHub Account/Organization

For Organizations:

Go to https://github.com/organizations/plan
Choose appropriate plan (Free, Team, or Enterprise)
Complete organization setup
Configure organization settings

For Personal:

Sign up at https://github.com/signup
Verify email address
Complete profile setup

2. Create GitHub Repositories

Option A: Via Web Interface

Navigate to https://github.com/new
Enter repository name (match CodeCommit name or rename)
Choose visibility (Public/Private)
Do NOT initialize with README (we're importing)
Click "Create repository"

Option B: Via GitHub CLI

# Install GitHub CLI
# Windows: winget install GitHub.cli
# Mac: brew install gh
# Linux: See https://github.com/cli/cli#installation

# Authenticate
gh auth login

# Create repository
gh repo create my-repo --private --source=. --remote=github

Option C: Via API

# Using curl
curl -X POST -H "Authorization: token YOUR_GITHUB_TOKEN" \
  -H "Accept: application/vnd.github.v3+json" \
  https://api.github.com/user/repos \
  -d '{"name":"my-repo","private":true}'

Authentication & Security

1. GitHub Authentication Methods

A. Personal Access Token (PAT) - Recommended for HTTPS

Create PAT:

Go to GitHub Settings → Developer settings → Personal access tokens → Tokens (classic)
Click "Generate new token (classic)"
Set expiration (90 days recommended, or custom)
Select scopes:
- repo (full control of private repositories)
- workflow (if using GitHub Actions)
- admin:org (if managing organization)
- delete_repo (if needed)
Generate and save token securely

Store PAT securely:

# Windows - Use Git Credential Manager
git config --global credential.helper manager-core

# Mac - Use Keychain
git config --global credential.helper osxkeychain

# Linux - Use credential store
git config --global credential.helper store

B. SSH Keys - Recommended for SSH

Generate SSH Key:

# Generate new SSH key
ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "your_email@example.com"
# Or for legacy systems:
ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -C "your_email@example.com"

# Start SSH agent
eval "$(ssh-agent -s)"

# Add key to agent
ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

Add to GitHub:

Copy public key: cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub
Go to GitHub Settings → SSH and GPG keys
Click "New SSH key"
Paste key and save

Test connection:

ssh -T git@github.com

C. GitHub App (For Organizations)

Go to Organization Settings → Developer settings → GitHub Apps
Click "New GitHub App"
Configure permissions and webhooks
Install app to repositories

2. AWS CodeCommit Authentication Setup

Configure AWS Credentials

Option A: HTTPS with Git Credentials

# Configure AWS CLI
aws configure

# Install git-remote-codecommit (recommended)
pip install git-remote-codecommit

# Clone using codecommit://
git clone codecommit://my-repo

Option B: SSH Keys

# Upload SSH public key to IAM
aws iam upload-ssh-public-key --user-name your-iam-user \
  --ssh-public-key-body file://~/.ssh/codecommit_rsa.pub

# Configure SSH config
cat >> ~/.ssh/config << EOF
Host git-codecommit.*.amazonaws.com
  User YOUR_SSH_KEY_ID
  IdentityFile ~/.ssh/codecommit_rsa
EOF

Migration Process

Method 1: Automated Python Script (Recommended)

We provide a Python script that automates the entire migration process.

Setup

# Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Install git-remote-codecommit for AWS authentication
pip install git-remote-codecommit

# Set environment variables
export GITHUB_TOKEN="your_github_token"
export AWS_REGION="us-east-1"

Generate Configuration File

python migrate_to_github.py --generate-config

This creates migration_config.json. Edit it with your settings:

{
  "aws_region": "us-east-1",
  "github_org": "your-org-name",
  "create_private": true,
  "enable_branch_protection": true,
  "repositories": ["repo1", "repo2", "repo3"]
}

Run Migration

Single Repository:

# Migrate one repository
python migrate_to_github.py --repo my-repo --github-org my-org

# Dry run first (recommended)
python migrate_to_github.py --repo my-repo --github-org my-org --dry-run

Multiple Repositories:

# Using config file
python migrate_to_github.py --config migration_config.json

# Migrate all repositories
python migrate_to_github.py --migrate-all --github-org my-org

Verify Migration:

python migrate_to_github.py --verify my-repo --github-org my-org

Script Features

✓ Automatic repository creation on GitHub
✓ Mirror clone (preserves all branches, tags, history)
✓ Branch protection configuration
✓ Security features enablement
✓ Batch migration support
✓ Dry run mode
✓ Detailed logging
✓ Error handling and retry logic
✓ Migration verification

Command Line Options

Options:
  --config FILE          Path to configuration JSON file
  --repo NAME           Single repository to migrate
  --github-org ORG      GitHub organization name
  --github-user USER    GitHub username (alternative to org)
  --region REGION       AWS region (default: us-east-1)
  --dry-run            Test without actual migration
  --migrate-all        Migrate all CodeCommit repositories
  --generate-config    Create sample config file
  --verify REPO        Verify migration for repository

Logs and Output

The script generates:

migration.log - Detailed migration logs
Console output with progress and summary
Migration summary report

Method 2: Mirror Clone (Manual)

This method preserves all branches, tags, and commit history.

# 1. Clone CodeCommit repository as mirror
git clone --mirror codecommit://my-repo my-repo-mirror
cd my-repo-mirror

# Or with HTTPS
git clone --mirror https://git-codecommit.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/v1/repos/my-repo my-repo-mirror
cd my-repo-mirror

# 2. Add GitHub as remote
git remote add github https://github.com/username/my-repo.git
# Or with SSH
git remote add github git@github.com:username/my-repo.git

# 3. Push everything to GitHub
git push --mirror github

# 4. Clean up
cd ..
rm -rf my-repo-mirror

Method 2: Standard Clone and Push

# 1. Clone from CodeCommit
git clone codecommit://my-repo
cd my-repo

# 2. Add GitHub remote
git remote add github https://github.com/username/my-repo.git

# 3. Push all branches
git push github --all

# 4. Push all tags
git push github --tags

Method 4: Bulk Migration Bash Script

Create a migration script for multiple repositories:

#!/bin/bash
# migrate-repos.sh

# Configuration
CODECOMMIT_REGION="us-east-1"
GITHUB_ORG="your-org"
REPOS=("repo1" "repo2" "repo3")

for repo in "${REPOS[@]}"; do
  echo "Migrating $repo..."
  
  # Clone from CodeCommit
  git clone --mirror "codecommit://$repo" "$repo-mirror"
  cd "$repo-mirror"
  
  # Create GitHub repo
  gh repo create "$GITHUB_ORG/$repo" --private
  
  # Push to GitHub
  git push --mirror "https://github.com/$GITHUB_ORG/$repo.git"
  
  cd ..
  rm -rf "$repo-mirror"
  
  echo "✓ $repo migrated successfully"
done

Method 5: Using GitHub Importer (Web UI)

Go to https://github.com/new/import
Enter CodeCommit repository URL
Provide AWS credentials when prompted
Configure repository settings
Begin import

Post-Migration Configuration

1. Branch Protection Rules

Configure via Web:

Go to Repository Settings → Branches
Add branch protection rule
Configure for main or master:
- Require pull request reviews (1-2 reviewers)
- Require status checks to pass
- Require conversation resolution
- Require signed commits
- Include administrators
- Restrict who can push

Configure via API:

curl -X PUT \
  -H "Authorization: token YOUR_TOKEN" \
  -H "Accept: application/vnd.github.v3+json" \
  https://api.github.com/repos/OWNER/REPO/branches/main/protection \
  -d '{
    "required_status_checks": {
      "strict": true,
      "contexts": ["ci/test"]
    },
    "enforce_admins": true,
    "required_pull_request_reviews": {
      "required_approving_review_count": 2
    },
    "restrictions": null
  }'

2. Repository Settings

General Settings:

Set repository description
Add topics/tags
Configure default branch
Enable/disable features (Issues, Wiki, Projects)
Set visibility (public/private)

Security Settings:

Collaboration Settings:

Set up CODEOWNERS file
Configure merge strategies
Enable auto-merge
Configure branch deletion

3. Create CODEOWNERS File

# .github/CODEOWNERS
# Default owners for everything
* @org/team-name

# Specific paths
/docs/ @org/docs-team
*.js @org/frontend-team
/api/ @org/backend-team

4. Set Up Issue Templates

mkdir -p .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE

Create .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug_report.md:

---
name: Bug Report
about: Create a report to help us improve
title: '[BUG] '
labels: bug
assignees: ''
---

**Describe the bug**
A clear description of the bug.

**To Reproduce**
Steps to reproduce the behavior.

**Expected behavior**
What you expected to happen.

5. Set Up Pull Request Template

Create .github/pull_request_template.md:

## Description
Brief description of changes

## Type of Change
- [ ] Bug fix
- [ ] New feature
- [ ] Breaking change
- [ ] Documentation update

## Testing
- [ ] Tests pass locally
- [ ] Added new tests

## Checklist
- [ ] Code follows style guidelines
- [ ] Self-review completed
- [ ] Documentation updated

CI/CD Migration

From CodePipeline/CodeBuild to GitHub Actions

1. Analyze Current Pipeline

Document your CodePipeline stages:

Source stage (CodeCommit)
Build stage (CodeBuild)
Test stage
Deploy stage

2. Create GitHub Actions Workflow

Create .github/workflows/ci.yml:

name: CI/CD Pipeline

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

env:
  NODE_VERSION: '18'

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    
    steps:
    - name: Checkout code
      uses: actions/checkout@v4
      
    - name: Setup Node.js
      uses: actions/setup-node@v4
      with:
        node-version: ${{ env.NODE_VERSION }}
        cache: 'npm'
    
    - name: Install dependencies
      run: npm ci
    
    - name: Run linter
      run: npm run lint
    
    - name: Run tests
      run: npm test
    
    - name: Build
      run: npm run build
    
    - name: Upload artifacts
      uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3
      with:
        name: build-artifacts
        path: dist/

  deploy:
    needs: build
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'
    
    steps:
    - name: Download artifacts
      uses: actions/download-artifact@v3
      with:
        name: build-artifacts
    
    - name: Deploy to production
      run: |
        # Add your deployment commands
        echo "Deploying to production..."

3. Migrate Secrets

In CodeBuild:

Secrets stored in Parameter Store or Secrets Manager

In GitHub:

Go to Repository Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions
Add repository secrets
Use in workflows: ${{ secrets.SECRET_NAME }}

- name: Deploy
  env:
    AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID: ${{ secrets.AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID }}
    AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY: ${{ secrets.AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY }}
  run: |
    aws s3 sync ./dist s3://my-bucket

4. AWS Deployment from GitHub Actions

- name: Configure AWS credentials
  uses: aws-actions/configure-aws-credentials@v4
  with:
    aws-access-key-id: ${{ secrets.AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID }}
    aws-secret-access-key: ${{ secrets.AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY }}
    aws-region: us-east-1

- name: Deploy to AWS
  run: |
    aws deploy create-deployment \
      --application-name my-app \
      --deployment-group my-group \
      --github-location repository=${{ github.repository }},commitId=${{ github.sha }}

Team Migration

1. Map IAM Users to GitHub Users

Create a mapping document:

AWS IAM User	GitHub Username	Role
john.doe	@johndoe	Admin
jane.smith	@janesmith	Write

2. Invite Team Members

Via Web:

Go to Repository Settings → Collaborators
Add people or teams
Set permissions (Read, Write, Admin)

Via CLI:

# Add collaborator
gh api repos/OWNER/REPO/collaborators/USERNAME -X PUT \
  -f permission=push

3. Set Up Teams (Organizations)

Go to Organization Settings → Teams
Create teams (e.g., Frontend, Backend, DevOps)
Add members to teams
Grant team access to repositories

4. Configure Team Permissions

# Grant team access
gh api orgs/ORG/teams/TEAM/repos/OWNER/REPO -X PUT \
  -f permission=push

Verification

1. Verify Repository Contents

# Clone from GitHub
git clone https://github.com/username/my-repo.git verify-repo
cd verify-repo

# Check all branches
git branch -a

# Check all tags
git tag -l

# Verify commit history
git log --oneline --graph --all

# Compare with CodeCommit
git remote add codecommit codecommit://my-repo
git fetch codecommit
git diff codecommit/main origin/main

2. Verification Checklist

3. Test CI/CD Pipeline

# Create test branch
git checkout -b test-pipeline

# Make small change
echo "# Test" >> README.md
git add README.md
git commit -m "Test CI/CD pipeline"

# Push and create PR
git push origin test-pipeline
gh pr create --title "Test Pipeline" --body "Testing CI/CD"

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

1. Authentication Failures

Problem: fatal: Authentication failed

Solutions:

# Clear credential cache
git credential-cache exit

# Re-authenticate with GitHub
gh auth login

# Verify SSH connection
ssh -T git@github.com

# Update remote URL
git remote set-url origin https://github.com/username/repo.git

2. Large File Issues

Problem: remote: error: File X is 100.00 MB; this exceeds GitHub's file size limit

Solutions:

# Use Git LFS
git lfs install
git lfs track "*.psd"
git lfs track "*.zip"
git add .gitattributes
git commit -m "Configure Git LFS"

# Or remove large files from history
git filter-branch --tree-filter 'rm -f path/to/large/file' HEAD

3. Push Rejected

Problem: ! [remote rejected] main -> main (protected branch hook declined)

Solution:

Temporarily disable branch protection
Push changes
Re-enable branch protection

4. Missing Branches or Tags

Problem: Not all branches/tags migrated

Solution:

# Fetch all from CodeCommit
git fetch codecommit --all

# Push specific branch
git push github codecommit/branch-name:branch-name

# Push all tags
git push github --tags

5. Rate Limiting

Problem: API rate limit exceeded

Solution:

Wait for rate limit reset
Use authenticated requests (higher limits)
Use GitHub App for even higher limits

Getting Help

GitHub Support: https://support.github.com
GitHub Community: https://github.community
GitHub Status: https://www.githubstatus.com
AWS CodeCommit Docs: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/codecommit

Additional Resources

Documentation

Tools

Security Best Practices

Use SSH keys or PATs, never passwords
Enable 2FA on GitHub account
Rotate access tokens regularly
Use least privilege principle for permissions
Enable security scanning features
Review and audit access regularly

Post-Migration Cleanup

1. Update Documentation

Update README with new repository URL
Update CI/CD documentation
Update team onboarding docs
Update deployment procedures

2. Update External Services

3. Notify Team

Send migration announcement:

New repository URL
Authentication changes
New CI/CD process
Updated workflows
Support contacts

4. Decommission CodeCommit (Optional)

After verification period (30-90 days):

# Archive repository (recommended)
aws codecommit update-repository-description \
  --repository-name my-repo \
  --repository-description "ARCHIVED - Migrated to GitHub"

# Or delete repository
aws codecommit delete-repository \
  --repository-name my-repo

Migration Timeline Template

Phase	Duration	Tasks
Planning	1-2 weeks	Inventory, documentation, team prep
Setup	1 week	GitHub setup, authentication config
Migration	1-3 days	Repository migration, verification
Configuration	1 week	Branch rules, CI/CD, team access
Testing	1 week	Pipeline testing, team validation
Cutover	1 day	Final sync, go-live
Monitoring	2 weeks	Support team, fix issues
Cleanup	1 week	Decommission old resources

Success Criteria

✓ All repositories migrated with complete history
✓ All team members have access
✓ CI/CD pipelines operational
✓ Branch protection rules enforced
✓ Security scanning enabled
✓ Documentation updated
✓ Team trained on new workflows
✓ Zero downtime during migration

Last Updated: November 2025

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 2 Commits
EMAIL_MAPPING_GUIDE.md		EMAIL_MAPPING_GUIDE.md
QUICKSTART.md		QUICKSTART.md
README.md		README.md
email_mapping_example.csv		email_mapping_example.csv
migrate_to_github.py		migrate_to_github.py
migration_config.example.json		migration_config.example.json
requirements.txt		requirements.txt

Folders and files

Latest commit

History

Repository files navigation

CodeCommit to GitHub Migration Guide

Table of Contents

Prerequisites

Required Tools

Required Access

Pre-Migration Checklist

1. Inventory Your Repositories

2. Document Current Setup

3. Backup Considerations

GitHub Setup

1. Create GitHub Account/Organization

2. Create GitHub Repositories

Authentication & Security

1. GitHub Authentication Methods

A. Personal Access Token (PAT) - Recommended for HTTPS

B. SSH Keys - Recommended for SSH

C. GitHub App (For Organizations)

2. AWS CodeCommit Authentication Setup

Configure AWS Credentials

Migration Process

Method 1: Automated Python Script (Recommended)

Setup

Generate Configuration File

Run Migration

Script Features

Command Line Options

Logs and Output

Method 2: Mirror Clone (Manual)

Method 2: Standard Clone and Push

Method 4: Bulk Migration Bash Script

Method 5: Using GitHub Importer (Web UI)

Post-Migration Configuration

1. Branch Protection Rules

2. Repository Settings

3. Create CODEOWNERS File

4. Set Up Issue Templates

5. Set Up Pull Request Template

CI/CD Migration

From CodePipeline/CodeBuild to GitHub Actions

1. Analyze Current Pipeline

2. Create GitHub Actions Workflow

3. Migrate Secrets

4. AWS Deployment from GitHub Actions

Team Migration

1. Map IAM Users to GitHub Users

2. Invite Team Members

3. Set Up Teams (Organizations)

4. Configure Team Permissions

Verification

1. Verify Repository Contents

2. Verification Checklist

3. Test CI/CD Pipeline

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

1. Authentication Failures

2. Large File Issues

3. Push Rejected

4. Missing Branches or Tags

5. Rate Limiting

Getting Help

Additional Resources

Documentation

Tools

Security Best Practices

Post-Migration Cleanup

1. Update Documentation

2. Update External Services

3. Notify Team

4. Decommission CodeCommit (Optional)

Migration Timeline Template

Success Criteria

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