How to only make one specific branch of a repository accessible to the public

[PBerit]

Hi all,

i want to ask how to only make one specific branch of a repository accessible to the public? We have a repository with many different branches that are all publicly available currently. We only want to publish one of the branches while the rest of the repository remains private. I tried to do that in the Rules setting, but I could not find a way to make the whole repository private. In the rules setting I could only adjust the rights for developers (which is not relevant for me). Does anyone have any idea

[davevad93]

Hi @PBerit ,

In GitHub, a repository is either public or private, you can't make only one branch public and the others private. To change a repo visibility go to Settings => General , scroll down till the Danger Zone section and click on Change Visibility.

[MostlyKIGuess]

Hey Idts there's any way to do this directly but you can set it up such that you can create a private repo and then use this

• .github/workflows/deploy.yml:

name: Deploy to Public Repo

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - your-branch-name

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Checkout the repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v2
        with:
          ref: your-branch-name

      - name: Push to public repository
        run: |
          git remote add public-repo https://github.com/yourusername/public-repo.git
          git push public-repo your-branch-name:main --force
        env:
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

• This would help you to automate the process , you will use this in your private one.

[PBerit]

Thanks for your comments. @MostlyKIGuess : where and how shall I run the code? I don't really understand what to do with your code? Is it not possible to do this directly in the GitHub Gui?
@davevad93 : Can I just create a new Repository and transfer one single branch into the new one? If this is possible, do you know how to do this?

[TheGiraffe3]

The .git file will be hidden.
You don't make a new repository for new branches, just a new branch. You can do that by running git checkout -b {your branch name}.

[PBerit]

I don't understand what to do. When I use "git checkout -b {your branch name}" I get the same error as posted above. So what I have done so far is just the 1step of the instructions (https://kasunsiyambalapitiya.medium.com/move-git-branch-from-one-repository-to-another-with-preserving-history-81ed64de3a02). This worked and created what I posted above "created under "saveMe/MyFolder". Inside this folder there is another Folder with the very same name "MyFolder". Inside this folder there is a branch from my GitHub repository. ". Now what do I need to do?

[TheGiraffe3]

(You were supposed to replace {your branch name} with whatever you wanted to call the branch)
You edit the file which you want to change and then go back to your terminal. Run the command git status, then git add .. Afterwards, git commit -m "[msg]". Replace [msg] with a descriptive name for the commit. Then run git push, and you can make a PR in the browser.

[PBerit]

What do you mean by "You edit the file which you want to change"? I don't want to change a file. My overall goal is just to copy one specific branch of a repository into a new one and make it public. I follow the instructions suggested by @davevad93 (https://kasunsiyambalapitiya.medium.com/move-git-branch-from-one-repository-to-another-with-preserving-history-81ed64de3a02). As stated before, the first step was executed properly. However, in the newly created folder in Windows, there is not the branch I wanted to copy but the master branch of the repository. Further, it created a nested folder with the very same name. Maybe this causes the errors with the code:

git checkout -b go-implementation origin/public_branch    
fatal: not a git repository (or any of the parent directories): .git

[TheGiraffe3]

Are you in the right folder?

[PBerit]

I managed to go until step 5 (but I don't know if everything was correct). Now I tried several attempts:

git remote add MyFolder -p ~/saveMe/MyFolder/MyFolder
git remote add MyFolder/MyFolder -p ~/saveMe/MyFolder/MyFolder
git remote add MyFolder/MyFolder -p ~/saveMe/MyFolder
git remote add MyFolder -p ~/saveMe/MyFolder/MyFolder/MyFolder

All yield the same error "fatal: not a git repository (or any of the parent directories): .git"

[PBerit]

@davevad93 : I am not sure if I am allowed to post screenshots (it is not my repository, and I am using other names for the folders). But I am in the terminal of PyCharm and there I added
git pull oldRepository oldRepository_relevantBranch --allow-unrelated-histories
I tried it from the folder "saveMe/oldRepository/oldRepository" and from "saveMe/newRepository/newRepository" but I always get the same error message "fatal: 'oldRepository' does not appear to be a git repository
fatal: Could not read from remote repository."

[davevad93]

I see @PBerit , no problem. The error is due to the directories not being recognized as a git repository which should not happen if you have followed the steps in the tutorial. One question though, in the first step did you clone your source repo from GitHub with HTTPS?

[PBerit]

@davevad93 : Thanks for your answer. The problem is that I think the tutorial is really confusing and many things are not well explained and it lacks a lot of details (the tutorial is not for people who are very new to GitHub as far as I see it). Thus, as posted before, I am not sure at all if I did the things correctly. In the first step I cloned from https my old repository. But then the second step is really badly described
"2. Checkout to the new implementation branch by creating a new local branch. (say go-implementation)

git checkout -b go-implementation origin/go-implementation"

What is go-implementation? What is origin? Do I need to specify the specific branch of the old repository that I want to transfer?

Also the 3rd step "3. Create the new repository at github, gitbucket or etc.". I had already created a new repository and transferred some files manually in it in the main branche. Does the new repository have to be empty?

Then the 5th step "5. Create a new remote inside the new repository (super-awesome-project) for the initial repository (awesome-project)

git remote add initial-repo "

What is a "new remote"? Shall I do anything with the GitHub Gui in the new repository? What is "initial-repo"? Shall I use the name of the old repository in gitHub or maybe the link? The overall aim is not to copy the whole old repository into the new but just one specific branch. Where can I specify this branch?

For all points it is not mentioned, from which folder I should call them. From the "saveMe/oldRepository/oldRepository", "saveMe/oldRepository", "saveMe/newRepository/newRepository" or "saveMe/newRepository" or maybe something else?

[davevad93]

Indeed @PBerit , that tutorial can be a bit tricky, I'm gonna show you the right steps to achieve what you need more easily.

1. Clone your new GitHub repo (the destination repo) on your system with HTTPS, then go to the repo folder by running cd reponame (being "reponame" the actual name of the folder).

2. Now go to your old repo on GitHub, go to the branch you want to add to the new repository and click on Code => Download Zip.

   

3. Drag and drop the contents of the downloaded branch inside your new repo folder (the one cloned in your local system not the remote on GitHub).

4. Then go to the terminal, (make sure youre inside the new repo folder) and run the following commands in order:

   git add .

   git commit -m "Commit message"

   git push origin main

5. Use your Personal Access Token when prompted for the password.

6. Done.

If you follow all these steps, this method will work 100%, just remember that you first have to clone the destination repository on your system in order to successfully push the contents of the new branch to the remote repository (the destination repo on GitHub).

[PBerit]

Thanks a lot Davide for your tremendous help. With your good instructions I could solve the problem. I really appreciate your effort :-). It was really great.

[davevad93]

Hey @PBerit , I'm so glad you finally solved it and that you're getting familiar using git commands. Have a nice day!

[ghostinhershell]

Thanks for posting in the GitHub Community, @PBerit!

We're happy you're here. You are more likely to get a useful response if you are posting your question in the applicable category, the New to GitHub category is solely related to conversations around getting started on using GitHub and the community for beginners of GitHub, Community on Discussions, and those new to different areas of the product alike! This question should be in the Repositories category. I've gone ahead and moved it for you. Good luck!