This version of GitHub Enterprise Server was discontinued on 2023-09-25. No patch releases will be made, even for critical security issues. For better performance, improved security, and new features, upgrade to the latest version of GitHub Enterprise Server. For help with the upgrade, contact GitHub Enterprise support.

Managing dormant users

In this article

By default, a user account is considered to be dormant if it has not been active for 90 days. You can configure the length of time a user must be inactive to be considered dormant and choose to suspend dormant users to release user licenses.

About dormant users

A user is considered active if the user has performed any of the following activities on your GitHub Enterprise Server instance.

  • Signing into your GitHub Enterprise Server instance
  • Creating a repository
  • Pushing to a repository via HTTPS
  • Being added to a repository
  • Changing the visibility of a repository
  • Creating an issue or pull request
  • Commenting on an issue or pull request
  • Closing or reopening an issue or pull request
  • Applying a label to an issue or pull request, or removing a label
  • Assigning or unassigning an issue or pull request
  • Requesting a review of a pull request, or removing a review request
  • Creating or editing a comment in a pull request review
  • Dismissing a comment in a pull request
  • Synchronizing a pull request
  • Commenting on a commit
  • Publishing a release
  • Pushing to a wiki
  • Watching a repository
  • Starring a repository
  • Deleting a repository
  • Joining an organization

A user will also be considered active if their account has been updated by LDAP.

Pushing to a repository via SSH does not affect a user's dormancy.

Viewing dormant users

You can view a list of all dormant users who have not been suspended and who are not site administrators.

  1. From an administrative account on GitHub Enterprise Server, in the upper-right corner of any page, click .
  2. If you're not already on the "Site admin" page, in the upper-left corner, click Site admin.
  3. In the left sidebar, click Dormant users.
  4. To suspend all the dormant users in this list, at the top of the page, click Suspend all.

Determining whether a user account is dormant

  1. From an administrative account on GitHub Enterprise Server, in the upper-right corner of any page, click .

  2. If you're not already on the "Site admin" page, in the upper-left corner, click Site admin.

  3. Under "Search users, organizations, teams, repositories, gists, and applications", type the name of the user in the text field.

  4. To the right of text field, click Search. Screenshot of the "Search" page of the "Site admin" settings. The button to search users, labeled "Search," is highlighted with an orange outline.

    • If an exact account name match isn't found, under "Search results – Accounts", in the "Fuzzy matches" section, click the name of the user you want to manage. Screenshot of search results in the "Site admin" settings. In the "Fuzzy matches" section, an example user name is highlighted with an orange outline.

  5. Review the user details in the site admin page to confirm you have identified the correct user. Screenshot of the Site admin account overview page.

  6. In the User info section, view the status of the user's account. Any users labeled with " Dormant" are dormant, and users labeled with " "Active" are not.

    Screenshot of the "User info" section of the site admin page for a user. The "User info" heading is highlighted in dark orange. Under the heading, the user is marked as active.

Configuring the dormancy threshold

The dormancy threshold is the length of time a user must be inactive to be considered dormant. The default dormancy threshold is 90 days, however you can customize the dormancy threshold for your GitHub Enterprise Server instance.

  1. In the top-right corner of GitHub Enterprise Server, click your profile photo, then click Enterprise settings.

    Screenshot of the drop-down menu that appears when you click the profile photo on GitHub Enterprise Server. The "Enterprise settings" option is highlighted in a dark orange outline.

  2. In the enterprise account sidebar, click Policies.

  3. Under Policies, click Options.

  4. Under "Dormancy threshold", select the dropdown menu, and click the desired dormancy threshold.