DevOps Blog

A Beginner's Guide to Forking and Mirroring Git Repositories

Part 1: Forking a Git Repository

Forking creates a personal copy of someone else's repository under your GitHub/GitLab account. This is useful for contributing to projects without directly modifying the original code.

Steps to Fork a Repo (GitHub Example)

  1. Find the Repository
    Go to the repository you want to fork (e.g., https://github.com/user/repo).

  2. Click the Fork Button

    • On the top-right, click Fork.
    • Select your account (if you belong to multiple organizations).
  3. Clone Your Fork Locally

    git clone https://github.com/your-username/repo.git cd repo
  4. Add the Original Repo as "Upstream" (Optional)
    To sync changes from the original repo later:

    git remote add upstream https://github.com/original-owner/repo.git
  5. Make Changes & Push

    git checkout -b my-feature-branch git add . git commit -m "Added new feature" git push origin my-feature-branch
  6. Create a Pull Request (PR)

    • Go to your fork on GitHub.
    • Click "Contribute" > "Open Pull Request".
    • Submit the PR to the original repository.

Part 2: Mirroring a Git Repository

Mirroring creates an exact copy (including all branches and history) of a repo, often used for backups or migrating between Git hosts (e.g., GitHub → GitLab).

Steps to Mirror a Repo

  1. Create a Bare Clone (Local Copy with Full History)

    git clone --bare https://github.com/user/repo.git cd repo.git
  2. Push to the New Remote (Mirror)

    git push --mirror https://gitlab.com/your-username/new-repo.git

    (Replace gitlab.com with your target Git host.)

  3. Set Up Automatic Syncing (Optional)
    To keep the mirror updated, periodically run:

    git fetch --all git push --mirror

    Or set up a GitHub Action or CI/CD pipeline to automate this.


Conclusion

  • Forking → Best for contributing to others' projects.
  • Mirroring → Best for backups or migrating repos between platforms.

Both techniques are essential for efficient Git workflows. Now you can fork repos to contribute and mirror them for redundancy!

Need help? Drop a comment below!