GitHub import fails with "There was an error importing commits"

[GoogleCodeExporter]

What steps will reproduce the problem?
Attempt to export https://code.google.com/p/ftpii/ to 
https://github.com/joedj/ftpii/

What is the expected output? What do you see instead?
Expected output is a successful project import.
Observed output is "There was an error importing commits" at 
https://import.github.com/joedj/ftpii/import

Original issue reported on code.google.com by joe.goo...@psychlaw.com.au on 13 Mar 2015 at 2:29

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Thank you for the bug report. That particular error indicates the problem was 
with the GitHub importer. I'll forward on your project's information. I'll 
update this bug as soon as the issue gets resolved.

If you are a hurry to migrate your project, you can manually export your 
project using our guide here:
https://code.google.com/p/support-tools/wiki/MigratingToGitHub

Original comment by chrsm...@google.com on 13 Mar 2015 at 2:33

[GoogleCodeExporter]

I'm seeing that as well: https://import.github.com/spookypeanut/t7gre/import. 
I'm guessing there will be more: could you put contact details for who to send 
the info to in here for anyone else that sees this please?

Original comment by spookypeanut on 13 Mar 2015 at 11:02

[GoogleCodeExporter]

I'm still working on updating our documentation and error messages here, but it 
appears that one of the most common sources of this error is that GitHub has a 
100MB restriction on the size of individual files. So it is possible to have a 
Google Code repo containing files larger than 100MB, but those will fail to 
import into GitHub.

You can push your repository to GitHub if you *obliterate* any offending files 
from your repo. (But a simple `git rm` will not work.)

IF you delete the file in a single commit, the large file is still in your 
repository's history. And therefore will still fail when importing a prior 
commit. For git-based projects you can use the steps outlined in GitHub's 
[https://help.github.com/articles/remove-sensitive-data/ removing sensitive 
data] article, which will walk you though how to remove a file from a repos 
history entirely.

As for hg and svn-based projects, I still need to track down how you can remove 
any offending files before the GitHub import.

Original comment by chrsm...@google.com on 14 Mar 2015 at 10:56

• Changed state: Accepted

[GoogleCodeExporter]

In the case of https://code.google.com/p/ftpii/ there has never been a 100MB 
file in the SVN repository.  The repository size has never exceeded 10MB.

I've attached a script that others may find useful to check for this - note 
that it looks at the size of the repo, not individual files.

Original comment by joe.jor...@gmail.com on 14 Mar 2015 at 12:32

Attachments:

• check_svn_repo_size.sh

[GoogleCodeExporter]

I have an SVN repo that I do have a file larger than 100 MB in, that is causing 
this error. Please update this ticket if you find a way to remove this from the 
history so I can finish my migration.

Original comment by ris...@gmail.com on 15 Mar 2015 at 12:05

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Getting it for https://code.google.com/p/dwscript/ there are no 100 MB files in 
the repository.

Would it be possible to at least see the actual error(s)?
This is a developer tool, no need for simplified error messages ala Internet 
Explorer :)

Original comment by zar...@gmail.com on 17 Mar 2015 at 9:15

[GoogleCodeExporter]

I'm getting the "There was an error importing commits" error as well, with no 
file > 100mb in SVN.
* How do I directly report the bug against GitHubImporter?
* How do I view the logs to see a meaningful error message so I can perhaps 
actually fix the problem?

Original comment by bobbitdi...@gmail.com on 17 Mar 2015 at 7:41

[GoogleCodeExporter]

FWIW manually importing to github worked (clone with git svn, then push to 
github), but during the process, the Google Code SVN server encountered issues: 
it would become unresponsive for several seconds. The git svn cloning had to be 
restarted manually half a dozen times before all commits could be cloned.

Original comment by zar...@gmail.com on 18 Mar 2015 at 7:41

[GoogleCodeExporter]

The issue with ftpii specifically, whatever it was, now appears to have been 
resolved.

Original comment by joe.jor...@gmail.com on 4 Apr 2015 at 2:57

[GoogleCodeExporter]

I too am having an issue where I can't migrate from google code to github 
because of a large file in an old commit (even though the current head version 
does not have the file anymore).

Original comment by pmaddaloni@gmail.com on 4 Apr 2015 at 10:24

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Our colleagues at GitHub are working to improve their code import APIs (i.e. 
fewer imports failing), as well as improve the error messages sent to clients 
(i.e. tell you exactly why it failed.)

As GitHub improves the import API and its error messages, the Google 
Code-to-GitHub exporter will pick up those changes automatically.

In the mean time, if you do have a consistent error importing your code into 
GitHub please contact GitHub's support at "https://github.com/contact". Please 
include the name of the target repository (e.g. https://github.com/user/repo), 
and they will be able to assist you from there.

Original comment by chrsm...@google.com on 6 Apr 2015 at 11:51

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Issue 47 has been merged into this issue.

Original comment by chrsm...@google.com on 9 Apr 2015 at 3:37

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Issue 56 has been merged into this issue.

Original comment by chrsm...@google.com on 24 Apr 2015 at 9:50