To install GitHub Enterprise on Hyper-V, you must have a machine running Windows 8 Pro or Windows 8 Enterprise and then deploy the GitHub Enterprise disk image to it.

Requirements

Before installing GitHub Enterprise on Hyper-V, ensure you meet these software and hardware requirements.

Software

  • GitHub Enterprise Hyper-V disk image (VHD) and license files - The appliance and license required to run GitHub Enterprise are available from the GitHub Enterprise download page.
  • Windows Server 2008 through Windows Server 2016 - These operating systems support Hyper-V servers.
  • Hyper-V Manager - This software provides a graphical interface for configuring Hyper-V servers.

Hardware

  • For your storage device, we recommend a high-performance SSD, either directly attached or from a storage area network (SAN).

Based on your seat count, we recommend this hardware configuration:

Seats vCPUs Memory Attached Storage Root Storage
10-500 2 16 GB 100 GB 200 GB
500-3000 4 32 GB 250 GB 200 GB
3000-5000 8 64 GB 500 GB 200 GB
5000-8000 12 72 GB 750 GB 200 GB
8000-10000+ 16 128 GB 1000 GB 200 GB

These are minimum recommendations. More resources may be required depending on your usage, such as user activity and selected integrations.

Note: The root disk cannot be resized without building a new appliance. For more information, see "Increasing the root partition size."

Warning: We recommend you use webhooks to fetch repository changes for continuous integration (CI) or similar systems. Regular automatic checks, or polling, will significantly reduce the scalability of your instance.

An encrypted data volume provides an extra level of security by ensuring that any data you write to your instance is protected. There's a slight peformance impact when using encrypted disks. If you decide to encrypt your volume, we strongly recommend doing so before starting your instance for the first time.

If you decide to enable encryption after you've configured your instance, you will need to migrate your data to the encrypted volume, which will incur some downtime for your users.

Download the GitHub Enterprise VM

  1. Navigate to the GitHub Enterprise download page.

  2. To download your license file, click Download license.

  3. Click Get the latest release.

  4. Select GitHub On-premises, then click Hyper-V (VHD).

  5. Click Download for Hyper-V (VHD).

Import the GitHub Enterprise VM

  1. Start the Hyper-V Manager.
  2. In the Actions menu, click New > Virtual Machine.... Create new VM menu option
  3. Click Next. New VM creation instructions
  4. In the Name field, type a name for your virtual machine. Name VM stage
  5. Select Generation 1. Name VM stage
  6. Configure the VM's memory storage based on your seat count. For more information, see the hardware requirements. Configure memory storage page
  7. In the Connection field, select a network available to your Hyper-V host to map to the virtual network interface in the VM. Configure memory storage page
  8. Select Use an existing virtual hard disk. On your computer, locate where the Hyper-V VHD was downloaded. Import GHE VHD
  9. Click Finish. Leave the VM powered off. Complete configuration

Configure additional block storage

  1. In the right pane, click Settings. Settings menu
  2. In the left pane, click SCSI Controller. SCSI Controller menu option
  3. Select Hard Drive, then click Add. Add new hard drive
  4. Select Virtual hard disk, then click New. Create new hard drive image
  5. Click Next. Skip first hard drive setting
  6. For the hard disk format, select VHDX. Creating a VHDX drive
  7. For the hard disk type, select Dynamically expanding. Creating a dynamically expanding drive
  8. Type a name for your virtual hard disk. Either keep the default location, or click Browse... to choose a new destination. Naming your virtual hard disk
  9. To create the disk, click Create a new blank virtual hard disk. Configure the size of the hard disk based on your seat count. For more information, see the hardware requirements. Setting your hard disk's size
  10. To start the import, click Finish. Completing the addition

Start the VM

  1. To start the VM, in the right pane, click Connect.... VM start button
  2. After a few moments, the GitHub Enterprise management screen will open. Take note of your VM's IP address. Network tab
  3. Copy the VM's IP address and paste it into a web browser.
  4. Configure the GitHub Enterprise appliance.