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Warning

Migrations are coming to VA GitHub. See the Migrations section for more information.

About GitHub Enterprise Cloud - US

What is GitHub Enterprise Cloud - US?

GitHub Enterprise Cloud - US (GHEC-US) is a new, centralized GitHub Enterprise Cloud environment authorized to operate at the VA Moderate level. It enables agency-wide collaboration by providing a secure, modern software development platform for all VA teams in a single GitHub instance. Prior to GHEC-US, users had to choose between GitHub Enterprise Cloud (GHEC) and GitHub Enterprise Server (GHES) based on specific project security requirements.

GHEC-US is an enterprise SaaS solution that provides data residency in the United States and delivers the same core capabilities, performance guarantees, and site reliability as GitHub.com. It includes features like high availability, real-time monitoring, zero-downtime updates, and industry-standard incident response.

Benefits of GHEC-US

  • Moderate Authorization: GHEC-US meets the security and compliance needs of the VA by implementing VA Moderate standards, enabling development of systems handling sensitive but unclassified data.

  • Single GitHub Instance Across the Agency: No more choosing between multiple GitHub environments—GHEC-US consolidates VA development efforts into a single platform, simplifying onboarding, collaboration, and code management.

  • Enterprise-Grade SaaS with U.S. Data Residency: GHEC-US leverages GitHub’s Enterprise Cloud infrastructure with guarantees around performance, reliability, and data residency, ensuring alignment with VA operational needs. GHEC-US is an instance of GitHub Enterprise Cloud with Data Residency located in the US, ensuring US Data Residency for VA data and workflows.

  • Improved Collaboration and Discoverability: Centralizing projects from across the enterprise improves code reuse and visibility across teams, reduces duplication of effort, and promotes best practices in secure, open development.

Who is Eligible for GHEC-US?

GHEC-US is being rolled out agency-wide and will be available to all VA development teams. Please note a few important eligibility and access considerations:

  • Repositories containing PII/PHI cannot be migrated to GHEC-US. OCTO/AES will provide further guidance on how to handle these repositories.

  • Public repositories are not supported in GHEC-US. GHEC-US emphasizes internal, secure development and is not intended for publicly accessible content. We are working with AES to implement a solution for the current GHEC public repositories where they can migrate for VA use and workflows, yet maintain a public presence on GHEC.

  • Access is currently limited to government-furnished equipment (GFE) or VA virtual desktops (AVD/CAG). This is a VA Entra ID restriction, and we are already working with the VA Entra ID team to remove this restriction.

How do I Get Started with GHEC-US?

To get access to GHEC-US follow the Getting GHEC-US Access guide.

Once onboarded you will have access to the GHEC-US Handbook. The GHEC-US Handbook is private to GHEC-US users, so you must be onboarded to GHEC-US to have access to it.