For example, on a git push in a `source` repository, you want certain files to be pushed into a `destination` repository. A couple of examples of this could be:
* Specifying a directory in the `source` to be pushed to `destination`
* Generating some files using another GitHub Action (e.g. MarkDown to PDF) and pushing the PDFs across
* Using SSH deploy keys (recommended, a bit harder to set up): [push-to-another-repository-deploy-keys-example](https://github.com/cpina/push-to-another-repository-deploy-keys-example). The configuration is in the file [.github/workflows/ci.yml](https://github.com/cpina/push-to-another-repository-deploy-keys-example/blob/main/.github/workflows/ci.yml#L21)
* Using a Personal Access Token (first iteration, not recommended but easier to set up: [push-to-another-repository-example](https://github.com/cpina/push-to-another-repository-example). The configuration is in the file [.github/workflows/ci.yml](https://github.com/cpina/push-to-another-repository-example/blob/main/.github/workflows/ci.yml#L21)
In the above examples, the file [build.sh](https://github.com/cpina/push-to-another-repository-deploy-keys-example/blob/main/build.sh) is executed, which creates a new directory `output/` and this directory is copied across to the [destination repository](https://github.com/cpina/push-to-another-repository-output)
:warning: Please bear in mind that the files in the specified directory of the target repository are deleted unless the option `target-directory` is used (in this case, only the files for this directory are deleted).
Username/Organization of the GitHub repository that will be used for the `destination` repository. To output to a repository such as `https://github.com/cpina/push-to-another-repository-output` this variable would be `cpina`.
Name of the `destination` repository. To output to a repository such as `https://github.com/cpina/push-to-another-repository-output` this variable would be `push-to-another-repository-output`
:warning:: the GitHub Action currently deletes all the files and directories in the destination repository. The idea is to copy from an `output` directory into the `destination-repository-name`, removing all pre-existing files.
The name that will be used for the commit to the destination-repository-name. If not specified, the `destination-github-username` will be used instead.
The Username/Organization for the destination repository, if different from `destination-github-username`. For the repository `https://github.com/cpina/push-to-another-repository-output` this variable would be `cpina`.
Someone with write access to your repository or this action, could technically add code to leak the key. Thus, *it is recommended to use the SSH deploy key method to minimise the impact* if this were to happen.
This action supports both methods to keep backwards compatibility, because in the beginning it only supported the GitHub Personal Authentication token.
* In your computer terminal, generate an ssh key using: `ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "your_email@example.com"` (the type ed25519 is recommended by [GitHub documentation](https://docs.github.com/en/authentication/connecting-to-github-with-ssh/generating-a-new-ssh-key-and-adding-it-to-the-ssh-agent#generating-a-new-ssh-key)).
* ssh will ask for a file path: `Enter file in which to save the key`: write a new file name. I suggest the default directory and as a filename: `id_github_{name_of_your_destination_repository}` to avoid overwriting a previous file. If you will be using this action for multiple repositories, you might want to generate different keys for each one. For the repository `https://github.com/cpina/push-to-another-repository-example/`, `id_github_push-to-another-repository-example` could be used.
* Title: "GitHub Action push to another repository"
* Key: paste the contents of the file with the public key. This was generated in the "Generate the key files" step and the name is "id_github_name_of_your_repository.pub"
* Value: paste the contents of the file with the private key. This was generated in the "Generate the key files" step and the name is "id_github_name_of_your_repository"
You don't need to do this if you chose to set up the deploy keys using the steps above. This method is here for compatibility with the initial approach of this GitHub Action. The personal access token would have access to all your repositories, so if it were to be leaked the damage would be greater (push to the same repositories that the Personal Access Token owner has access and other possible associated permissions). On the other hand the setup is a bit easier because it does not involve creating the key.
* Generate a new token entering a name, Expiration date and choose "Repo". Click the bottom button "Generate token". If you choose an expiration date you will need to create a new token after it. I've chosen in this example "No expiration", use carefully.
This is the most common problem. The first suggestion is to follow the steps to create the ssh keys or Personal Access Token and set it up again.
In the GitHub Action pages of the source repository: read carefully the logs. The action tries to write the errors and possible solutions / hints.
Some problems that had happened in the past:
* User was logged in GitHub with an account that did not have permission to push into the destination repository. The action could not push (permission denied).
* Token expired at some point
* ssh generated key pair (public/private) was set in the wrong way, copy-paste errors, etc.
* Wrong copy-paste including spaces or other characters that did not belong to the key / token
The easier way might be to try to follow the steps again.
### How to test the Personal Access Token?
This might help understanding if the Personal Access Token that you generated have permissions to push to the destination repository. It could be expired, it could have the wrong permissions. It could be that the user that generated the Personal Access Token did not have permission to push into the destination repository.
For this you need the Personal Access Token and then in your terminal:
Instead of `.ssh/id_push-to-another-repository-output_ed25519` use the file as you created it. This is the **private** key (it does not end with `.pub`). If you used the right private key for the correctly uploaded public key it will print something along the lines of:
```
Hi cpina! You've successfully authenticated, but GitHub does not provide shell access.
Connection to github.com closed.
```
If you see:
```
git@github.com: Permission denied (publickey).
```
The public key for this private key is not available on GitHub.
#### Verify that the key is in the right repository
This should match what you see in the deploy key of the destination repository. If it does not match the deploy key is not properly set (you used different public/private key, etc.).
##### Permission of the key
Visualise the key in the destination repository, and it should say:
```
Read/Write
```
## FAQ
### How can I copy the whole repository?
Use `source_directory: .`. This will copy all the source GitHub repository to the destination.
:warning: this will also copy `.github/workflows/`! The destination repository will try to execute the action. It will probably fail because the Personal Acccess Token / ssh keys will not be available to the destination repository.
Suggestion if you are using `source_directory: .` is to disable the GitHub Actions in the destination repository. To disable Actions in the destination repository:
* Go to the destination repository (e.g. https://github.com/cpina/push-to-another-repository-output/settings)
* Click on "Settings"
* On the left side bar click on "Actions" and then "General"
* Click on "Disable actions"
* Click on "Save"
### How can I copy only some files / only some directories / exclude some files / etc.
The GitHub Action has some configuration options, but they will not suit all the possible uses cases for everyone. I'm trying to avoid adding more and more parameters to suit all the use cases and the reason is that it's then hard to test all the parameter combinations.
I have limited time to support the action. As much as I try I will not be able to suit everyone. The main priority is to have a stable GitHub Action (when GitHub made changes that affected the Action I tried to solve them as fast as possible) and having a small, single-purpose code helps. I have an open issue to add tests that would help then expanding the Action (see [issue #59](https://github.com/cpina/github-action-push-to-another-repository/issues/59]).
If you need something that it's not possible (exclude files, include only some, etc.) at the moment the two suggestions are:
* In a step before this action is ran you can "mv" or "cp" or even "rsync" (to use its --exclude and --include flexible parameters) and prepare the files that are going to be copied to the destination repository into a directory. Use this action to push this prepared directory. This is similar to the [example repository](https://github.com/cpina/push-to-another-repository-example/blob/main/.github/workflows/ci.yml#L19) creating PDFs/HTML from MarkDown and pushing it.
* Feel free to fork the GitHub Action and adjust it for your needs. It is implemented in Bash and does not have lots of logic (the execution is very linear) so you might be able to change for your needs.
### Error: URL using bad/illegal format or missing URL
It seems that GitHub created a Personal Token with a space character. This would happen if the Personal Token had a `#` or other characters.
Please check that no space was copied by mistake to the `API_TOKEN_GITHUB`. If GitHub created a token with `#` or a space inside I suggest to create a new one.
The problem, for the curious, is that the Personal Access Token is used in the git URLs and the URLs don't support `#`. The error "URL using bad/illegal format" is coming from curl library used by git.
