Gitlab2Github

Bulk-migrate repositories from GitLab to GitHub: clone, create, and push, all driven by a simple CSV list instead of clicking through GitHub's importer one repo at a time.

It automatically installs git and GitHub CLI for you as long as you run it with elevated privileges. It just needs the usernames, tokens, and repository links/names.

Built originally for me and a few friends to move our projects from GitLab to GitHub, but usable by anyone with the same need. Includes a Bash script for Linux and a PowerShell script for Windows.

1. Create repos.csv

Create a repos.csv file in the project root listing every repository you want to migrate.

OLD_REPO,NEW_REPO
https://gitlab.com/your-username/project-one.git,project-one
https://gitlab.com/your-group/subgroup/project-two.git,new-project-two

Column	Meaning
OLD_REPO	Full HTTPS clone URL from GitLab, under Clone > Clone with HTTPS (e.g. https://gitlab.com/user/repo.git)
NEW_REPO	Name for the new GitHub repo. Created under the account tied to your GitHub token, so do not include a username or org prefix

Rules:

• First line must be the header OLD_REPO,NEW_REPO (the script skips it).
• One repo per line, comma separated, no spaces around the comma or trailing whitespace.
• NEW_REPO must be a valid GitHub name using letters, numbers, hyphens, underscores, and periods.
• GitLab allows nested subgroups (kdg-ti/integration-2.1/24-25/team-12/scanner.git), but GitHub doesn't. That's why NEW_REPO exists: always give a flat name.
• Save with Unix (LF) line endings, not Windows (CRLF). See the fix below. This mainly affects the Linux/Bash script; PowerShell's CSV parser handles CRLF fine.

Fixing CRLF line endings (Linux/Bash only)

If repos.csv was created or edited on Windows (Notepad, Excel, Git Bash's default editor), it may carry CRLF endings, leaving a stray \r on the last field of each line, which then gets baked into the repo name.

Check for it:

file repos.csv

If it reports with CRLF line terminators, fix it with:

dos2unix repos.csv
# or, if dos2unix isn't installed:
sed -i 's/\r$//' repos.csv

Install dos2unix with sudo apt install dos2unix (Debian/Ubuntu) if you would rather use that.

2. Set Up .env

Copy the template for your platform and fill in the values:

cp .bash-example.env .env      # Linux

Copy-Item .ps1-example.env .env   # Windows

Variable	Where to get it
GITLAB_USERNAME	Your GitLab username
GITLAB_TOKEN	Avatar > Edit profile > Access Tokens > New token, scopes read_repository and write_repository, then Create
GITHUB_USERNAME	Your GitHub username
GITHUB_TOKEN	GitHub > Settings > Developer settings > Personal access tokens > Tokens (classic) > Generate new token, scope repo, then Generate

Copy both tokens immediately, since neither platform shows them again. .env is gitignored; never commit it, and rotate the tokens if it ever leaks.

Format differs by platform, so do not mix them up:

• Bash (.bash-example.env): export GITLAB_USERNAME=...
• PowerShell (.ps1-example.env): plain GITLAB_USERNAME=..., with no export, no $env: prefix, and no quotes needed

3. Run the Script

Both scripts log into GitHub CLI automatically using GITHUB_TOKEN from .env. You don't need to run gh auth login yourself.

Linux

chmod +x gitlab2github.sh
sudo ./gitlab2github.sh

Windows

1. Open PowerShell as Administrator.
2. Allow powershell scripts to run on your system:

   set-executionpolicy remotesigned

3. Run it:

   .\gitlab2github.ps1

A Note on the Red "Error" Text

While cloning and pushing, you'll see red, error-formatted lines like git : Cloning into 'repo'... or Everything up-to-date. These are git and gh writing normal progress output to stderr, not failures. The script checks each step's real exit code internally and only reports "Failed to clone/push, skipping" if something actually went wrong. As long as the loop continues to the next repo, or finishes cleanly, the migration succeeded.