[github] GitHub: How to make a fork of public repository private?

How can I fork a public repository, but make my fork private? I do have the subscription to support private repositories.

The current answers are a bit out of date so, for clarity:

The short answer is:

1. Do a bare clone of the public repo.
2. Create a new private one.
3. Do a mirror push to the new private one.

This is documented on GitHub: duplicating-a-repository

You have to duplicate the repo

You can see this doc (from github)

To create a duplicate of a repository without forking, you need to run a special clone command against the original repository and mirror-push to the new one.

In the following cases, the repository you're trying to push to--like exampleuser/new-repository or exampleuser/mirrored--should already exist on GitHub. See "Creating a new repository" for more information.

Mirroring a repository

To make an exact duplicate, you need to perform both a bare-clone and a mirror-push.

Open up the command line, and type these commands:

$ git clone --bare https://github.com/exampleuser/old-repository.git
# Make a bare clone of the repository

$ cd old-repository.git
$ git push --mirror https://github.com/exampleuser/new-repository.git
# Mirror-push to the new repository

$ cd ..
$ rm -rf old-repository.git
# Remove our temporary local repository

If you want to mirror a repository in another location, including getting updates from the original, you can clone a mirror and periodically push the changes.

$ git clone --mirror https://github.com/exampleuser/repository-to-mirror.git
# Make a bare mirrored clone of the repository

$ cd repository-to-mirror.git
$ git remote set-url --push origin https://github.com/exampleuser/mirrored
# Set the push location to your mirror

As with a bare clone, a mirrored clone includes all remote branches and tags, but all local references will be overwritten each time you fetch, so it will always be the same as the original repository. Setting the URL for pushes simplifies pushing to your mirror. To update your mirror, fetch updates and push, which could be automated by running a cron job.

$ git fetch -p origin
$ git push --mirror

https://help.github.com/articles/duplicating-a-repository

There is one more option now ( January-2015 )

1. Create a new private repo
2. On the empty repo screen there is an "import" option/button
3. click it and put the existing github repo url There is no github option mention but it works with github repos too.
4. DONE

The answers are correct but don't mention how to sync code between the public repo and the fork.

Here is the full workflow (we've done this before open sourcing React Native):

First, duplicate the repo as others said (details here):

Create a new repo (let's call it private-repo) via the Github UI. Then:

git clone --bare https://github.com/exampleuser/public-repo.git
cd public-repo.git
git push --mirror https://github.com/yourname/private-repo.git
cd ..
rm -rf public-repo.git

Clone the private repo so you can work on it:

git clone https://github.com/yourname/private-repo.git
cd private-repo
make some changes
git commit
git push origin master

To pull new hotness from the public repo:

cd private-repo
git remote add public https://github.com/exampleuser/public-repo.git
git pull public master # Creates a merge commit
git push origin master

Awesome, your private repo now has the latest code from the public repo plus your changes.

Finally, to create a pull request private repo -> public repo:

Use the GitHub UI to create a fork of the public repo (the small "Fork" button at the top right of the public repo page). Then:

git clone https://github.com/yourname/the-fork.git
cd the-fork
git remote add private_repo_yourname https://github.com/yourname/private-repo.git
git checkout -b pull_request_yourname
git pull private_repo_yourname master
git push origin pull_request_yourname

Now you can create a pull request via the Github UI for public-repo, as described here.

Once project owners review your pull request, they can merge it.

Of course the whole process can be repeated (just leave out the steps where you add remotes).

GitHub now has an import option that lets you choose whatever you want your new imported repository public or private

Just go to https://github.com/new/import .

In the section "Your old repository's clone URL" paste the repo URL you want and in "Privacy" select Private.