This guide will walk you through setting up your GitHub account and getting started with GitHub Enterprise Server's features for collaboration and community.
Part 1: Configuring your GitHub account
The first steps in starting with GitHub Enterprise Server are to access your account, set up two-factor authentication, and view your profile.
Every person who uses GitHub Enterprise Server has their own personal account, which can be part of multiple organizations and teams. Your personal account is your identity on your GitHub Enterprise Server instance and represents you as an individual.
1. Accessing your account
The administrator of your GitHub Enterprise Server instance will notify you about how to authenticate and access your account. The process varies depending on the authentication mode they have configured for the instance.
2. Configuring two-factor authentication
Two-factor authentication, or 2FA, is an extra layer of security used when logging into websites or apps. We strongly urge you to configure 2FA for the safety of your account. For more information, see "About two-factor authentication."
3. Viewing your GitHub profile and contribution graph
Your GitHub profile tells people the story of your work through the repositories and gists you've pinned, the organization memberships you've chosen to publicize, the contributions you've made, and the projects you've created. For more information, see "About your profile" and "Viewing contributions on your profile."
Part 2: Using GitHub Enterprise Server's tools and processes
To best use GitHub Enterprise Server, you'll need to set up Git. Git is responsible for everything GitHub-related that happens locally on your computer. To effectively collaborate on GitHub Enterprise Server, you'll write in issues and pull requests using GitHub Flavored Markdown.
1. Learning Git
GitHub's collaborative approach to development depends on publishing commits from your local repository to GitHub Enterprise Server for other people to view, fetch, and update using Git. For more information about Git, see the "Git Handbook" guide. For more information about how Git is used on GitHub Enterprise Server, see "GitHub flow."
2. Setting up Git
If you plan to use Git locally on your computer, whether through the command line, an IDE or text editor, you will need to install and set up Git. For more information, see "Set up Git."
If you prefer to use a visual interface, you can download and use GitHub Desktop. GitHub Desktop comes packaged with Git, so there is no need to install Git separately. For more information, see "Getting started with GitHub Desktop."
Once you install Git, you can connect to GitHub Enterprise Server repositories from your local computer, whether your own repository or another user's fork. When you connect to a repository on your GitHub Enterprise Server instance from Git, you'll need to authenticate with GitHub Enterprise Server using either HTTPS or SSH. For more information, see "About remote repositories."
3. Choosing how to interact with GitHub Enterprise Server
Everyone has their own unique workflow for interacting with GitHub; the interfaces and methods you use depend on your preference and what works best for your needs.
For more information about how to authenticate to GitHub Enterprise Server with each of these methods, see "About authentication to GitHub."
| Method | Description | Use cases |
|---|---|---|
| Browse to GitHub.com | If you don't need to work with files locally, GitHub Enterprise Server lets you complete most Git-related actions directly in the browser, from creating and forking repositories to editing files and opening pull requests. | This method is useful if you want a visual interface and need to do quick, simple changes that don't require working locally. |
| GitHub Desktop | GitHub Desktop extends and simplifies your GitHub.com workflow, using a visual interface instead of text commands on the command line. For more information on getting started with GitHub Desktop, see "Getting started with GitHub Desktop." | This method is best if you need or want to work with files locally, but prefer using a visual interface to use Git and interact with GitHub Enterprise Server. |
| IDE or text editor | You can set a default text editor like Visual Studio Code to open and edit your files with Git, use extensions, and view the project structure. For more information, see "Associating text editors with Git." | This is convenient if you are working with more complex files and projects and want everything in one place, since text editors or IDEs often allow you to directly access the command line in the editor. |
| Command line, with or without GitHub CLI | For the most granular control and customization of how you use Git and interact with GitHub Enterprise Server, you can use the command line. For more information on using Git commands, see "Git cheatsheet." GitHub CLI is a separate command-line tool you can install that brings pull requests, issues, GitHub Actions, and other GitHub features to your terminal, so you can do all your work in one place. For more information, see "GitHub CLI." | This is most convenient if you are already working from the command line, allowing you to avoid switching context, or if you are more comfortable using the command line. |
| GitHub Enterprise Server API | GitHub has a REST API and GraphQL API that you can use to interact with GitHub Enterprise Server. For more information, see "Getting started with the API." | The GitHub Enterprise Server API would be most helpful if you wanted to automate common tasks, back up your data, or create integrations that extend GitHub. |
4. Writing on GitHub Enterprise Server
To make your communication clear and organized in issues and pull requests, you can use GitHub Flavored Markdown for formatting, which combines an easy-to-read, easy-to-write syntax with some custom functionality. For more information, see "About writing and formatting on GitHub."
You can learn GitHub Flavored Markdown with the "Communicate using Markdown" course on GitHub Skills.
5. Searching on GitHub Enterprise Server
Our integrated search allows you to find what you are looking for among the many repositories, users and lines of code on GitHub Enterprise Server. You can search globally across all of GitHub Enterprise Server or limit your search to a particular repository or organization. For more information about the types of searches you can do on GitHub Enterprise Server, see "About searching on GitHub."
Our search syntax allows you to construct queries using qualifiers to specify what you want to search for. For more information on the search syntax to use in search, see "Searching on GitHub."
6. Managing files on GitHub Enterprise Server
With GitHub Enterprise Server, you can create, edit, move and delete files in your repository or any repository you have write access to. You can also track the history of changes in a file line by line. For more information, see "Managing files on GitHub."
Part 3: Collaborating on GitHub Enterprise Server
Any number of people can work together in repositories across GitHub Enterprise Server. You can configure settings, create project boards, and manage your notifications to encourage effective collaboration.