What is GitHub Enterprise?

GitHub is a platform for version control and software collaboration, built on the Git system. It provides a robust, cloud-based environment that allows users to simultaneously save, track, and manage every historical iteration of their source code and digital assets. It lets you:

  • Save every version of your work
  • Collaborate without overwriting each other
  • See who changed what and when
  • Go back to any previous version

Why Would I Use GitHub?

 While products like Google Drive, OneDrive, and Dropbox are good for storing, accessing current versions of documents, and simple sharing, GitHub is specialized for version tracking. It's great for

  • Working on documents that change over time
  • collaborating with others
  • Creating reliable backups
  • Sharing research/course materials

Features

App State provides GitHub Enterprise to all faculty, staff, and students.

  • Unlimited private repositories (projects only you can see)
  • Unlimited internal repositories (projects anyone at App State can see)
  • GitHub Classroom for instructors
  • Integration with university login (no separate password)

Common Use Cases

Committee Work - Instead of emailing policy draft documents back and forth, committee members can collaborate on a single shared file, see each other’s suggestions, and discuss changes in one place.

Research Projects - Track every change in your data analysis, share code with collaborators at other institutions, and maintain a full history of your research process to support reproducibility.

Course Materials - Keep track of all versions of your syllabus, update lecture notes each semester, and easily share resources with other instructors in your department.

Personal Projects - Back up your dissertation chapters, track your writing progress, and never lose work due to computer crashes.


GitHub for Non-Programmers - GitHub isn't just for software developers. If you work with any files that change over time, GitHub can help you track changes, collaborate better, and never lose work.

GitHub Classroom for Instructors - Distributes, collects, and helps grade coding assignments using GitHub repositories.

Faculty (Non-Technical)

Faculty (Technical/CS)

Students

Researchers

IT Staff

GitHub Enterprise for Managed Users vs. GitHub Enterprise for Personal Accounts

App State provides 2 different GitHub Enterprise types. The majority of users will use the App State GitHub Enterprise for Managed Users type for simplicity and to collaborate with other App State users. GitHub Organizations and Repositories that are part of the App State GitHub Enterprise service are subject to additional security and access controls. 

Github Enterprise for Managed Users is already set up for all Faculty, Staff, and Students, and you can log in to access this now using your AppState information. Your account can also be added to GitHub Organizations if you need access to department or special project work.

This type is set up to only be accessed by App State-managed accounts and cannot create public repositories or share existing repositories publicly.

For special use cases that require having repositories that are publicly visible or for collaborating with users who do not have an App State account, you can request access to App State GitHub Enterprise for Personal Accounts. You would need to already have a personal GitHub account created in order to use this service.

Access to this GitHub Enterprise tier is restricted to users with a demonstrated business requirement. Provisioning is contingent upon a validated use case and management approval. To request access, submit a Service and Software Request.
Service or Software Request

Github Support

You can find excellent answers from GitHub's public documentation for general questions about usage, such as git installation, push, pull, clone, pull requests, rebasing, branching, tagging etc. When navigating to GitHub's documentation, change the Version: to Enterprise Cloud as there will be differences between the other version of the documentation. You can also use the following link to go directly to GitHub Enterprise Cloud Documentation.

Enter a Service or Software Support Ticket (reference GitHub Enterprise for managed users in the Service or Software drop-down list) for requests about our App State GitHub Enterprise service, such as

  • access
  • authentication
  • enterprise policies and restrictions
  • or general help with using GitHub Enterprise at App State.

You may also enter a support ticket for setting up and using additional paid features as part of GitHub Enterprise or requesting the creation of a GitHub Organization for collaborating on work with your department or team.