Cross-Platform Restore

Restore data between GitHub and GitLab with Cloudback's cross-platform restore feature, using the entity conversion system for bidirectional migration.

Cloudback supports bidirectional cross-platform restore between GitHub and GitLab. You can restore a GitHub backup into a GitLab project, or a GitLab backup into a GitHub repository - with automatic data format conversion.

Supported Entities

Entity	GitHub → GitLab	GitLab → GitHub	Notes
Repository (Git)	✓	✓	All branches, tags, refs pushed via git push --mirror
Issues	✓	✓	Title, body, state, dates, assignee
Labels	✓	✓	Name, color, description
Milestones	✓	✓	Title, description, state, dates
Issue Comments	✓	✓	Body, author, dates
Pull Requests / Merge Requests	✓	✓	Title, body, state, branches, draft status
PR/MR Comments	Partial	-	GitHub→GitLab: PR comments are included in the issue comments file and may be restored as issue notes. GitLab→GitHub: MR notes are extracted but not written to the GitHub output.
Boards	✓	✓	Column structure and issue assignments
Time Tracking	-	Appended*	GitLab-specific; appended to issue body on GitHub
Weight	-	Appended*	GitLab-specific; appended to issue body on GitHub
Health Status	-	Appended*	GitLab-specific; appended to issue body on GitHub
Confidential Flag	-	Appended*	GitLab-specific; appended to issue body on GitHub

* GitLab-specific fields that have no GitHub equivalent are preserved by appending them as a metadata block at the end of the issue body.

GitLab-Specific Fields in GitHub

When restoring GitLab data to GitHub, fields without a direct equivalent are appended to the issue body as a formatted metadata block:

[Original issue body]

---

**Weight:** 5 | **Health Status:** On Track | **Start Date:** 2024-01-01 | **Due Date:** 2024-12-31 | **Confidential:** Yes | **Time Estimate:** 3600s | **Time Spent:** 1800s

This ensures no data is lost, even when the target platform doesn't support the field natively.

How to Perform a Cross-Platform Restore

GitHub → GitLab

1. Navigate to a GitHub repository in the Cloudback dashboard

2. Open the Backups tab and select a backup

3. Click Restore

4. In the restore wizard, select GitLab as the target platform

5. Select the target namespace (personal account or group) from the list of connected accounts - clicking on the namespace starts the restore immediately

6. If no GitLab account is connected, click Connect New GitLab Account to authorize via OAuth first

GitLab → GitHub

1. Navigate to a GitLab project in the Cloudback dashboard

2. Open the Backups tab and select a backup

3. Click Restore

4. In the restore wizard, select GitHub as the target platform

5. Enter the target GitHub account name

6. Click Start Restore - you will be guided through installing the GitHub restore app if needed

Learn More

• GitLab: Getting Started - Connect your GitLab account

• GitLab: Backup Contents - What data is in GitLab backups

• GitLab: Restoring Data - Same-platform GitLab restore

• Restoring a Backup - General restore documentation

• GitHub Backup Contents - What data is in GitHub backups