Finding the universal cover of a matrix group

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Consider the group $G = \left\{\begin{pmatrix} a & b\\ 0 & 1\end{pmatrix}: a \in \mathbb{C}^{\times}, b \in \mathbb{C}\right\} \subset GL(2, \mathbb{C})$. How does one find the universal cover of this group? In general, if I had a larger explicit matrix, what would I do?