Changing Git Remote Repository URL

Overview

When a Git repository’s domain or hosting platform changes, you don’t need to clone it again. You can simply update the remote URL in your local repository configuration.

Common Scenarios

Company domain migration
Moving from one Git hosting service to another (GitLab → GitHub, Bitbucket → GitLab, etc.)
Switching from HTTP to SSH authentication
Repository transfer to different organization/user
Self-hosted Git server domain change

Quick Solution

Step 1: Check Current Remote URL

Navigate to your repository folder and run:

git remote -v

Output example:

origin  https://old-domain.com/company/repository.git (fetch)
origin  https://old-domain.com/company/repository.git (push)

Step 2: Update Remote URL

git remote set-url origin https://new-domain.com/company/repository.git

Step 3: Verify Changes

git remote -v

Expected output:

origin  https://new-domain.com/company/repository.git (fetch)
origin  https://new-domain.com/company/repository.git (push)

Step 4: Test Connection

git fetch origin

If successful, the remote URL is correctly configured.

Detailed Examples

Example 1: HTTPS URL Change

Scenario: Company migrated from GitLab to GitHub

# Check current URL
git remote -v
# origin  https://gitlab.oldcompany.com/dev/project.git (fetch)
# origin  https://gitlab.oldcompany.com/dev/project.git (push)

# Update to new URL
git remote set-url origin https://github.com/newcompany/project.git

# Verify
git remote -v
# origin  https://github.com/newcompany/project.git (fetch)
# origin  https://github.com/newcompany/project.git (push)

Example 2: SSH URL Change

Scenario: Self-hosted GitLab domain changed

# Check current URL
git remote -v
# origin  git@git.oldserver.com:team/repo.git (fetch)
# origin  git@git.oldserver.com:team/repo.git (push)

# Update to new URL
git remote set-url origin git@git.newserver.com:team/repo.git

# Verify
git remote -v
# origin  git@git.newserver.com:team/repo.git (fetch)
# origin  git@git.newserver.com:team/repo.git (push)

Example 3: Switching from HTTPS to SSH

Scenario: Want to use SSH keys instead of password authentication

# Current HTTPS URL
git remote -v
# origin  https://github.com/user/repo.git (fetch)
# origin  https://github.com/user/repo.git (push)

# Switch to SSH
git remote set-url origin git@github.com:user/repo.git

# Verify
git remote -v
# origin  git@github.com:user/repo.git (fetch)
# origin  git@github.com:user/repo.git (push)

Example 4: Switching from SSH to HTTPS

Scenario: SSH keys not configured on new machine

# Current SSH URL
git remote -v
# origin  git@github.com:user/repo.git (fetch)
# origin  git@github.com:user/repo.git (push)

# Switch to HTTPS
git remote set-url origin https://github.com/user/repo.git

# Verify
git remote -v
# origin  https://github.com/user/repo.git (fetch)
# origin  https://github.com/user/repo.git (push)

Advanced Usage

Multiple Remote Repositories

If you have multiple remotes (origin, upstream, etc.):

# List all remotes
git remote -v

# Update specific remote
git remote set-url origin https://new-url.com/repo.git
git remote set-url upstream https://another-url.com/repo.git

# Add new remote
git remote add backup https://backup-server.com/repo.git

# Remove remote
git remote remove backup

Update Only Push or Fetch URL

In rare cases, you might want different URLs for push and fetch:

# Set different push URL
git remote set-url --push origin https://push-server.com/repo.git

# Verify
git remote -v
# origin  https://fetch-server.com/repo.git (fetch)
# origin  https://push-server.com/repo.git (push)

Rename Remote

# Rename 'origin' to 'upstream'
git remote rename origin upstream

# Verify
git remote -v

Common URL Formats

HTTPS Format

https://domain.com/username/repository.git
https://domain.com/organization/repository.git

Common platforms:

GitHub: https://github.com/user/repo.git
GitLab: https://gitlab.com/user/repo.git
Bitbucket: https://bitbucket.org/user/repo.git
Azure DevOps: https://dev.azure.com/org/project/_git/repo

SSH Format

git@domain.com:username/repository.git
ssh://git@domain.com/username/repository.git

Common platforms:

GitHub: git@github.com:user/repo.git
GitLab: git@gitlab.com:user/repo.git
Bitbucket: git@bitbucket.org:user/repo.git
Azure DevOps: git@ssh.dev.azure.com:v3/org/project/repo

Troubleshooting

Error: Repository not found

If you get this error after changing URL:

# Verify URL is correct
git remote -v

# Test connection
git ls-remote origin

# Check authentication
git fetch origin

Solutions:

Verify the new URL is correct
Check if you have access to the repository
Ensure credentials are updated
For SSH, verify SSH keys are configured

Error: Permission denied (publickey)

For SSH connections:

# Test SSH connection
ssh -T git@github.com  # For GitHub
ssh -T git@gitlab.com  # For GitLab

# Check SSH keys
ls -la ~/.ssh

# Generate new SSH key if needed
ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "your.email@example.com"

# Add SSH key to ssh-agent
eval "$(ssh-agent -s)"
ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

Error: Authentication failed

For HTTPS connections:

# Clear cached credentials
git credential reject

# Update credentials on next operation
git fetch origin

On Windows, you may need to update credentials in Windows Credential Manager.

Verify Remote Configuration

# Show remote configuration details
git config --get remote.origin.url

# Show all git configuration
git config --list | grep remote

# Edit git config manually (if needed)
git config --edit

Batch Update Multiple Repositories

If you need to update multiple repositories:

Bash Script (Linux/Mac)

#!/bin/bash

OLD_DOMAIN="old-domain.com"
NEW_DOMAIN="new-domain.com"

# Find all git repositories
find . -name ".git" -type d | while read git_dir; do
  repo_dir=$(dirname "$git_dir")
  echo "Updating: $repo_dir"

  cd "$repo_dir"

  # Get current URL
  current_url=$(git config --get remote.origin.url)

  # Replace domain
  new_url=$(echo "$current_url" | sed "s/$OLD_DOMAIN/$NEW_DOMAIN/g")

  # Update URL
  git remote set-url origin "$new_url"

  echo "Updated to: $new_url"
  echo "---"

  cd - > /dev/null
done

PowerShell Script (Windows)

$OldDomain = "old-domain.com"
$NewDomain = "new-domain.com"

Get-ChildItem -Directory -Recurse -Filter ".git" | ForEach-Object {
    $repoDir = $_.Parent.FullName
    Write-Host "Updating: $repoDir"

    Push-Location $repoDir

    $currentUrl = git config --get remote.origin.url
    $newUrl = $currentUrl -replace $OldDomain, $NewDomain

    git remote set-url origin $newUrl

    Write-Host "Updated to: $newUrl"
    Write-Host "---"

    Pop-Location
}

View Remote Details

# Show remote with full details
git remote show origin

# Get specific remote URL
git config --get remote.origin.url

# List all remotes with their URLs
git remote -v

Working with Multiple Remotes

# Add additional remote
git remote add upstream https://github.com/original/repo.git

# Fetch from specific remote
git fetch upstream

# Pull from specific remote
git pull upstream main

# Push to specific remote
git push origin main

Best Practices

Always verify the URL before updating: Copy the exact URL from your Git hosting platform
Test after changing: Run git fetch to ensure connection works
Update credentials if needed: HTTPS may require password/token update
Keep SSH keys updated: Ensure your public key is added to the new platform
Document changes: Inform team members about URL changes
Update CI/CD configurations: Don’t forget to update deployment pipelines

Configuration Files

Git stores remote configuration in:

# Repository-specific configuration
.git/config

# View remote section
cat .git/config | grep -A 2 "\[remote"

Example .git/config content:

[remote "origin"]
    url = https://github.com/user/repo.git
    fetch = +refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/origin/*

Security Considerations

Using SSH (Recommended)

# More secure than HTTPS
git remote set-url origin git@github.com:user/repo.git

# Benefits:
# - No password prompts
# - Key-based authentication
# - More secure than token/password

Using HTTPS with Personal Access Token

# For GitHub, GitLab, etc.
git remote set-url origin https://username:TOKEN@github.com/user/repo.git

# Better approach: Use credential helper
git config --global credential.helper store

Additional Resources

Summary

Changing a Git remote URL is a simple process that doesn’t require re-cloning:

Check current URL: git remote -v
Update URL: git remote set-url origin <new-url>
Verify change: git remote -v
Test connection: git fetch origin

No data is lost in this process, and all your local branches, commits, and history remain intact.