• GitHub
  • GitHub Accounts
  • GitHub Repositories
  • Maintenance and Support

GitHub

The University of Helsinki maintains several official GitHub organizations.

• General GitHub organization of the University of Helsinki, managed by the Computer Centre.

Additionally, different departments and groups have their own, more limited-use GitHub organizations, such as:

• The National Library
• The Natural History Museum
• GitHub organization for Teaching and Student Services (OPA).

It is favorable to establish a public and open project on GitHub for code that does not contain encrypted or otherwise sensitive material.

According to current practices, TIKE favors open source code, thus it is desirable that completed software projects are also established on open GitHub.

Public GitHub repositories are suitable for projects requiring the visibility and international exposure offered by GitHub. GitHub Accounts

GitHub Accounts

• It is not necessary for the University of Helsinki staff to create a GitHub account for work purposes, but one may do so if desired. Staff accounts should be linked to the utilized GitHub organization.
  • Requests for association can be made via the organization’s support address.
• The use of two-factor authentication (2FA) is highly recommended.
  • For organization owners, 2FA is mandatory. It is recommended that repository admins also have mandatory 2FA.
  • Remember to store recovery codes in a safe place!

GitHub Repositories

• Organization members can create new open repositories.
• Requirements include:
  • Relates to the University of Helsinki, e.g., a UH project or application.
  • A description and README providing basic information about the purpose.
  • A defined license.
  • Responsible personnel with administrative rights to the repository who are responsible for keeping the repository information up to date.
• When a repository is no longer actively maintained, this information should be updated in the README file and the repository archived.
• Repository access permissions can be set at three levels:
  • Admin: all functionalities, including rights management and repository deletion.
  • Write: basic developer rights, including code publishing.
  • Read: read-only rights.
• Management of access permissions primarily uses GitHub teams.
  • Organization members can create teams, becoming team administrators.
  • Team administrators can add organization members to teams.
    • Note: Outsiders cannot be added to the organization. Staff and long-term consultants can request membership from the organization’s support address.
  • Rights can also be granted to individual users as needed, e.g., access for developers outside UH.
• There is a limited number of private repositories in each organization, so for ordinary private repositories, [GitLab] (version.helsinki.fi) is more advisable.
  • If GitLab is not a suitable option for a private project for some reason (e.g., a GitHub-dependent integration), a limited number of private repositories can also be created in GitHub.

Maintenance and Support

• Admins for the UniversityofHelsinki organization can be reached at: versionhallinta@helsinki.fi
• Admins for the UH-StudentServices organization include, among others, Antero Aunesluoma