Other Git Hoster
If there is no automatic importer for the Git hoster you are using, the basic features of MergeBoard are still available. However, you will have to configure a few things manually. MergeBoard supports all git remotes that use the SSH, HTTP(S) or git protocol.
Step 1: Importing your Git Repository
To import your project into MergeBoard, first click Projects in the navigation bar at the top, then on the Import Projects button. Select Other Git Hoster from the dropdown menu.
- Name
Select the name for the newly created project here. This is the name under which the project will appear in MergeBoard.
- Repository URL
URL of your repository, e.g.,
git@github.com:<user>/<project>.git.- Authentication Type
Configure how MergeBoard authenticates against the Git hoster.
- None
No credentials are necessary to access the git remote host. This is usually only suitable for testing as no publicly reachable git server should allow pushing changes without authentication. You will therefore not be able to merge anything.
- Username and Password
Your project is not publicly available and you can access it by entering your username and password 1. For GitHub projects that would be your GitHub username and password. This will usually not work if you have two factor authentication enabled. Use an SSH key (e.g. a deploy key) in these cases.
- SSH / Deploy Key
The git host supports authentication via SSH keys. If you want to know more about this, please check out the great explanation by GitHub.
You can either provide the SSH username as part of the URL (
git@...) or via the username field. If both are provided, the username field takes precedence. Please be aware that the SSH username usually does not match your username at the service and is instead something else likegit.Enter a private SSH key in the text box below SSH / Deploy Key 2. It is recommended to use a unique SSH key for MergeBoard, or, if supported by your git hoster, a deploy key, which is basically just a SSH key with access limited to certain repositories. Note that your SSH / deploy key must have write access to perform merges.
Recommended Authentication Method
The recommended authentication method is using an SSH or Deploy key.
- Visibility
Select here whether the project to be imported is private or public. Public projects can be viewed by all visitors on the Internet, even without a MergeBoard account.
In order for projects to actually be shared publicly, an administrator of your MergeBoard workspace must additionally activate the Allow public projects option in the administration settings.
All that is left to do is to click Import Project. Your project should now appear in the list of projects.
Step 2: Setting up Webhooks
We strongly recommend using webhooks so that MergeBoard automatically pulls the latest Git commits when code changes are made. To do this, your Git hoster sends a data packet to MergeBoard, and MergeBoard then retrieves the latest changes from the Git repository.
The following instructions describe the setup steps depending on which Git hoster you use.
Footnotes
- 1
MergeBoard will store your password in an encrypted fashion and only use it to login into the server stated in the URL. It is recommended to use SSH or HTTPS as protocol to ensure your credentials are only transferred via an encrypted connection. Credentials will never be sent back to the user.
- 2
MergeBoard will store your SSH key in an encrypted fashion and only use it to login into the server stated in the URL.