Merge branch 'poffey21-master-patch-36132' into 'master'

Document a second option for importing

See merge request gitlab-org/gitlab!73002

doc/user/project/settings/import_export.md

@@ -235,13 +235,16 @@ Review [issue 276930](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/276930), and
 - Ensure shared runners are enabled in both the source and destination projects.
 - Disable shared runners on the parent group when you import the project. 
 
-### Import workaround for large repositories
+### Import workarounds for large repositories
 
 [Maximum import size limitations](#import-the-project)
-can prevent an import from being successful.
-If changing the import limits is not possible,
-the following local workflow can be used to temporarily
-reduce the repository size for another import attempt.
+can prevent an import from being successful. If changing the import limits is not possible, you can
+try one of the workarounds listed here.
+
+#### Workaround option 1
+
+The following local workflow can be used to temporarily
+reduce the repository size for another import attempt:
 
 1. Create a temporary working directory from the export:
 
@@ -291,6 +294,58 @@ reduce the repository size for another import attempt.
    delete the temporary, `smaller-tmp-main` branch, and
    the local, temporary data.
 
+#### Workaround option 2
+
+Rather than attempting to push all changes at once, this workaround:
+
+- Separates the project import from the Git Repository import
+- Incrementally pushes the repository to GitLab
+
+1. Make a local clone of the repository to migrate. In a later step, you push this clone outside of
+   the project export.
+1. Download the export and remove the `project.bundle` (which contains the Git repository):
+
+   ```shell
+   tar -czvf new_export.tar.gz --exclude='project.bundle' @old_export.tar.gz
+   ```
+
+1. Import the export without a Git repository. It asks you to confirm to import without a
+   repository.
+1. Save this bash script as a file and run it after adding the appropriate origin.
+
+   ```shell
+   #!/bin/sh
+
+   # ASSUMPTIONS:
+   # - The GitLab location is "origin"
+   # - The default branch is "main"
+   # - This will attempt to push in chunks of 500MB (dividing the total size by 500MB).
+   #   Decrease this size to push in smaller chunks if you still receive timeouts.
+
+   git gc
+   SIZE=$(git count-objects -v 2> /dev/null | grep size-pack | awk '{print $2}')
+
+   # Be conservative... and try to push 2GB at a time
+   # (given this assumes each commit is the same size - which is wrong)
+   BATCHES=$(($SIZE / 500000))
+   TOTAL_COMMITS=$(git rev-list --count HEAD)
+   if (( BATCHES > TOTAL_COMMITS )); then
+       BATCHES=$TOTAL_COMMITS
+   fi
+
+   INCREMENTS=$(( ($TOTAL_COMMITS / $BATCHES) - 1 ))
+
+   for (( BATCH=BATCHES; BATCH>=1; BATCH-- ))
+   do
+     COMMIT_NUM=$(( $BATCH - $INCREMENTS ))
+     COMMIT_SHA=$(git log -n $COMMIT_NUM --format=format:%H | tail -1)
+     git push -u origin ${COMMIT_SHA}:refs/heads/main
+   done
+   git push -u origin main
+   git push -u origin -—all
+   git push -u origin -—tags
+   ```
+
 ### Manually execute export steps
 
 Exports sometimes fail without giving enough information to troubleshoot. In these cases, it can be