– GitHub<\/strong> has evolved with the open-source ecosystem, and its operation is naturally more centered around code repositories, visible by default, and the system of proactive contributions through Forks and Pull Requests. The platform has evolved to become a robust enterprise solution while maintaining a deliberately more open approach than Azure DevOps, offering an alternative to development teams.<\/p>\n With more than 180 million developers<\/strong> on GitHub in 2025, the platform is naturally at the center of developer innovations for several years with the rapid development of GitHub Copilot.<\/p>\n GitHub copilot is the cornerstone of our Agentic DevOps vision<\/strong><\/a>. Most advanced capabilities of Copilot are exclusively on GitHub are currently not available on Azure DevOps if your code is not hosted on GitHub (except GitHub Copilot on the IDE).<\/p>\n What if the ideal solution was to combine the strengths of both platforms <\/strong>?\nHost source code on GitHub to benefit from revolutionary AI capabilities, while continuing to use Azure Boards, Azure Pipelines, Azure Test Plans<\/strong>, and other proven Azure DevOps project management tools. This hybrid strategy, increasingly adopted by organizations, is actually the recommended trajectory for Azure DevOps users.<\/p>\n In this article, we guide you, step by step, to migrate your repositories from Azure DevOps to GitHub while preserving all your history, metadata, and pipelines. Thanks to the deep integration between Azure DevOps and GitHub, you’ll activate the ultimate hybrid strategy.<\/p>\n GitHub is the AI Native SDLC Platform<\/strong><\/p>\n Enterprise development teams love Azure DevOps<\/strong><\/p>\n It’s important to note that Azure DevOps still have big assets for him:<\/p>\n For many organizations, the ideal strategy is to migrate source code to GitHub while keeping Azure Boards for project management.\nYou thus have the best of both worlds: GitHub’s advanced AI for development and Azure DevOps’ robustness for project management, with integration between the two platforms allowing AI to be integrated into all stages of the software development lifecycle.<\/p>\n Since February 2025, the Basic Azure DevOps license is now included with GitHub Enterprise Cloud (GHEC)<\/a>. This means users can access both platforms without additional cost<\/strong>, provided they connect to Azure DevOps via Microsoft EntraID. Their access level is automatically updated to “GitHub Enterprise”, eliminating additional fees for Azure DevOps. This integration greatly simplifies the adoption of a hybrid approach, allowing enterprises to benefit from the best of both worlds.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Before starting the migration, make sure you have the following requirements:<\/p>\n To perform the entire migration and set up the hybrid approach presented in this article, you will need:<\/p>\n On your Azure DevOps user account for the migration, you need:<\/p>\n On GitHub:<\/p>\n \u26a0\ufe0f Important<\/strong>: Administrator rights on Azure DevOps are essential to install the GitHub Apps that will allow you to maintain your Azure Pipelines and Azure Boards while having the code on GitHub.<\/p>\n You will need to install GitHub CLI (‘gh’),<\/strong>\u00a0a powerful command-line tool for interacting with GitHub. Installation information is available on the official page<\/a>.<\/p>\n Once installed, add the Azure DevOps to GitHub extension (‘azdo2gh’)<\/strong> which facilitates the migration of Azure DevOps projects to GitHub. Install it via GitHub CLI:<\/p>\n Configure the necessary environment variables for authentication:<\/p>\n \ud83d\udca1 Reminder: These tokens must have appropriate permissions (read on Azure DevOps, repository creation on GitHub).<\/p>\n Before migrating your repositories, you need to install the Azure Pipelines<\/strong> application on your GitHub target organization(s). This application connects your Azure DevOps pipelines with your GitHub repositories, ensuring continuity of your CI\/CD processes after migration.<\/p>\n Install the application from\u00a0the GitHub Marketplace<\/a><\/p>\n \u26a0\ufe0f Order is crucial<\/strong>: Install the Azure Pipelines application first, then migrate your repositories. This ensures that the migration script can automatically reconfigure your pipelines to point to GitHub.<\/p>\n Before generating the script, prepare the ground to avoid any data loss or service interruption:<\/p>\n While technically the migration boils down to a git remote<\/em>\u00a0change for developers, it’s essential to organize an information session. GitHub is widely used, but some team members may never have practiced it in a professional context.<\/p>\n \ud83d\udcda Resources: Microsoft Learn<\/a> and GitHub Learning Pathways<\/a> are full of great content to help you upskill your teams.<\/p>\n The ado2gh<\/em> extension can generates a complete migration script. Let’s start by inventorying your Azure DevOps organization using the inventory-report<\/em><\/span> command<\/p>\n This command will generates 4 CSV files based on your PAT rights:<\/p>\n The gh ado2gh generate-script<\/em><\/span> command creates a complete PowerShell script with several customization parameters available:<\/p>\n Required parameters:<\/p>\n Main options:<\/p>\n If you don’t want to migrate all repositories from a project, you can specify a targeted list. Create a CSV file containing the repositories to migrate (one per line) and use the –repo-list repos.csv<\/em> option. The expected format match the repos.csv<\/em> file generated during inventory step.<\/p>\n Complete generation example:<\/p>\n Open the generated script in your code editor. The process integrate 6 steps:<\/p>\n \ud83d\udca1Information: The script uses a robust error management system. If a step fails for one repository, the process continues with the next ones instead of stopping completely.<\/p>\n The generated script is now ready, but before executing it, take time to customize it according to your conventions and best practices:<\/p>\n \ud83d\udca1 Tip: Use GitHub Copilot directly in your editor to modify the script and automatically apply a consistent naming convention to all your repositories!<\/p>\n You are now ready to execute the migration:<\/p>\n And the magic happens!<\/strong>\u2728 Take the opportunity to grab a coffee while the script takes care of everything.<\/p>\n Estimated Migration Time<\/strong> per repository is 5 to 10 minutes on average depending on size and complexity of history. The complete organization migration time will vary depending on the number of repositories to migrate and their size<\/p>\n The script migrates your source code while preserving:<\/p>\n Users referenced in Azure DevOps history may have different usernames on GitHub. The script then creates mannequins<\/em><\/strong> (placeholders) for these users. You can see these mannequins in the git history or in pull requests:<\/p>\n \ud83d\udca1 Tip: Mannequins can be claimed by real GitHub users after migration through a remapping process (see Step 5).<\/p>\n Once the script is finished, you will see a detailed summary:<\/p>\n Once migration is complete, it’s important to manage the mannequins created for unrecognized users.<\/p>\n Extracting the mannequin list:<\/p>\n You will get a mannequins.csv<\/em> file containing:<\/p>\n Remapping process:<\/p>\n \u26a0\ufe0f Important<\/strong>: Remapping can only be performed once per mannequin. Make sure the information is correct before launching the process.<\/p>\n Inform your teams that the migration is complete and provide them with:<\/p>\n Command lines to remap local repository to the new origin:<\/p>\n \ud83d\udd04 Good news: Developers with ongoing local branches will be able to push their changes to the new GitHub repository without problem, the Git workflow remains identical.<\/p>\n Migration complete! \ud83c\udf89 Your repositories are now on GitHub, ready to exploit GitHub Copilot’s AI features while keeping your Azure DevOps tools.<\/p>\n We strongly recommend that you:<\/p>\n Here is a list of element to verify to ensure that your migration is complete and functional:<\/p>\n Migration from Azure DevOps to GitHub with the GitHub ado2gh<\/em> extension is a well-established process that preserves the entirety of your history while opening the door to GitHub Copilot’s AI features.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A big thank you to the co-author of this playbook: Adrien Clerbois – Microsoft MVP<\/a> that helped me review, refine and improve this playbook.<\/p>\n Migration your repositories to GitHub marks the beginning of a new era of productivity for your teams. Happy coding with GitHub Copilot! \ud83d\ude80<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Azure DevOps or GitHub Enterprise ? Today, in the Microsoft ecosystem, two Software Development Lifecycle management platforms coexist: – Azure DevOps is designed from the ground up for enterprise with advanced planning features through Azure Boards, build and release automation with Azure Pipelines, and a unique offering for quality teams with Azure Test Plans… – […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":201988,"featured_media":1743,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,20,100,91],"tags":[104,26,21,24],"class_list":["post-1649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-azure","category-developer-productivity","category-github","category-migration","tag-azure-devops","tag-ghe","tag-github","tag-github-enterprise"],"acf":[],"blog_post_summary":" Azure DevOps or GitHub Enterprise ? Today, in the Microsoft ecosystem, two Software Development Lifecycle management platforms coexist: – Azure DevOps is designed from the ground up for enterprise with advanced planning features through Azure Boards, build and release automation with Azure Pipelines, and a unique offering for quality teams with Azure Test Plans… – […]<\/p>\n","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/all-things-azure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/all-things-azure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/all-things-azure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/all-things-azure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/201988"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/all-things-azure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1649"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/all-things-azure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1649\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/all-things-azure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/all-things-azure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/all-things-azure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/all-things-azure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Why Migrate to GitHub?<\/h2>\n
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Ecosystem and Integration<\/h4>\n
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Good news: The Unified Microsoft License<\/h4>\n
Migration Playbook<\/h2>\n
Prerequisites<\/h3>\n
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Access and Permissions<\/h4>\n
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Tools Installed<\/h4>\n
gh extension install github\/gh-ado2gh<\/code><\/pre>\nStep 1: Set Environment variables<\/h3>\n
# Azure DevOps Token\r\n$env:ADO_PAT=\"YOUR_AZURE_DEVOPS_PAT\"\r\n# GitHub Token\r\n$env:GH_PAT=\"YOUR_GITHUB_PAT\"<\/code><\/pre>\nStep 2: Install Azure Pipelines Application on GitHub<\/h3>\n
Step 3: Migration Script Generation<\/h3>\n
Communication and Planning<\/h4>\n
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Azure DevOps Organization Inventory<\/h4>\n
# Replace 'contoso-sdx' with your organization name\r\ngh ado2gh inventory-report --ado-org contoso-sdx<\/code><\/pre>\n\n
Script Generation<\/h4>\n
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# Generate a script for all repositories in a project with all options\r\ngh ado2gh generate-script `\r\n--ado-org contoso-sdx `\r\n--ado-team-project my-project `\r\n--github-org contoso-sdx `\r\n--all<\/code><\/pre>\nGenerated Script Analysis<\/h4>\n
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Script Customization Before Execution<\/h3>\n
Naming Convention Verification<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Pre-execution Checklist<\/h4>\n
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Step 4: Migration Script Execution<\/h3>\n
# Execute the migration script\r\n.\\migrate.ps1<\/code><\/pre>\nWhat is Preserved During Migration ?<\/h4>\n
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User Management: “Mannequins”<\/h4>\n
![\"github](\"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/all-things-azure\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/83\/2025\/11\/mannequins-capture.webp\")
<\/a><\/p>\n\n
Step 5: Re-map mannequins to user accounts (Reclaim)<\/h3>\n
# Extract the mannequin list \r\ngh ado2gh generate-mannequin-csv --github-org contoso-sdx<\/code><\/pre>\n\n
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# Reclaim mannequins \r\ngh ado2gh reclaim-mannequin --github-org contoso-sdx --csv mannequins.csv<\/code><\/pre>\n<\/li>\nPost-migration Communication<\/h4>\n
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# From a local repository directory \r\ncd path\/to\/your\/repo \r\n\r\n# Update the 'origin' remote URL \r\ngit remote set-url origin https:\/\/github.com\/YOUR_ORG\/YOUR_REPO.git \r\n\r\n# Verify the new configuration \r\ngit remote -v<\/code><\/pre>\nStep 6: Post-migration Validation and Testing<\/h3>\n
Control Points<\/h4>\n
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Validation Checklist<\/h4>\n
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Conclusion<\/h2>\n
Key Takeaways<\/h4>\n
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Credits<\/h4>\n
![\"Adrien](\"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/all-things-azure\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/83\/2025\/11\/AClerbois.webp\")
<\/p>\nGoing Further<\/h4>\n
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