GitLab - ArchWiki

# GitLab

From ArchWiki

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From GitLab's homepage:

  GitLab offers git repository management, code reviews, issue tracking, activity feeds and wikis. Enterprises install GitLab on-premise and connect it with LDAP and Active Directory servers for secure authentication and authorization. A single GitLab server can handle more than 25,000 users but it is also possible to create a high availability setup with multiple active servers.

An example live version can be found at GitLab.com.

## Installation

Note: This article covers installing and configuring GitLab without HTTPS at first. If needed, see #Advanced Configuration to set up SSL.

GitLab requires Redis and a database backend. If you plan to run it on the same machine, first install either MySQL or PostgreSQL.

Install the gitlab package.

In order to receive mail notifications, a mail server must be installed and configured. See Category:Mail server for details.

## Configuration

### Preliminary Notes

GitLab is composed of multiple components, see the architecture overview page.

The gitlab package installs GitLab's files in a manner that more closely follow standard Linux conventions:

Description | GitLab's Official | gitlab
--- | --- | ---
Configuration File GitShell | `/home/git/gitlab-shell/config.yml` | `/etc/webapps/gitlab-shell/config.yml`
Configuration File GitLab | `/home/git/gitlab/config/gitlab.yml` | `/etc/webapps/gitlab/gitlab.yml`
User (Home Directory) | `git` (`/home/git`) | `gitlab` (`/var/lib/gitlab`)

Tip: If you are familiar with the Arch Build System you can edit the PKGBUILD and relevant files to change gitlab's home directory to a place of your liking.

### GitLab

Edit `/etc/webapps/gitlab/gitlab.yml` and setup at least the following parameters:

Note: The `hostname` and `port` are used for the `git clone http://hostname:port` as example.

Hostname: In the `gitlab:` section set `host:` - replacing `localhost` to `yourdomain.com` (note: no 'http://' or trailing slash) - into your fully qualified domain name.

Port: `port:` can be confusing. This is not the port that the gitlab server (unicorn) runs on; it's the port that users will initially access through in their browser. Basically, if you intend for users to visit 'yourdomain.com' in their browser, without appending a port number to the domain name, leave `port:` as `80`. If you intend your users to type something like 'yourdomain.com:3425' into their browsers, then you'd set `port:` to `3425`. You will also have to configure your webserver to listen on that port.

Timezone (optional): The `time_zone:` parameter is optional, but may be useful to force the zone of GitLab applications.

Finally set the correct permissions to the uploads directory:

    # chmod 700 /var/lib/gitlab/uploads

### Custom port for Unicorn

GitLab Unicorn is the main component which processes most of the user requests. By default, it listens on the `127.0.0.1:8080` address which can be changed in the `/etc/webapps/gitlab/unicorn.rb` file:

    /etc/webapps/gitlab/unicorn.rb

    listen "/run/gitlab/gitlab.socket", :backlog => 1024
    listen "127.0.0.1:8080", :tcp_nopush => true

If the Unicorn address is changed, the configuration of other components which communicate with Unicorn have to be updated as well:

- For GitLab Shell, update the `gitlab_url` variable in `/etc/webapps/gitlab-shell/config.yml`.

  Tip: According to the comment in the config file, UNIX socket path can be specified with URL-escaped slashes (i.e. `http+unix://%2Frun%2Fgitlab%2Fgitlab.socket` for the default `/run/gitlab/gitlab.socket`). Additionally, un-escaped slashes can be used to specify the relative URL root (e.g. `/gitlab`).

- For GitLab Workhorse, edit the `gitlab-workhorse.service` and update the `-authBackend` option.

### Secret strings

Make sure that the files `/etc/webapps/gitlab/secret` and `/etc/webapps/gitlab-shell/secret` files contain something. Their content should be kept secret because they are used for the generation of authentication tokens etc.

For example, random strings can be generated with the following commands:

    # hexdump -v -n 64 -e '1/1 "%02x"' /dev/urandom > /etc/webapps/gitlab/secret
    # chown root:gitlab /etc/webapps/gitlab/secret
    # chmod 640 /etc/webapps/gitlab/secret

    # hexdump -v -n 64 -e '1/1 "%02x"' /dev/urandom > /etc/webapps/gitlab-shell/secret
    # chown root:gitlab /etc/webapps/gitlab-shell/secret
    # chmod 640 /etc/webapps/gitlab-shell/secret

### Redis

In order to provide sufficient performance you will need a cache database. Install and configure a Redis instance, being careful to the section dedicated to listening via a socket.

- Add the `gitlab` user to the `redis` user group.

- Update the configuration files:

    /etc/webapps/gitlab/resque.yml

    development: unix:/run/redis/redis.sock
    test: unix:/run/redis/redis.sock
    production: unix:/run/redis/redis.sock

    /etc/webapps/gitlab-shell/config.yml

    # Redis settings used for pushing commit notices to gitlab
    redis:
      bin: /usr/bin/redis-cli
      host: 127.0.0.1
      port: 6379
      # pass: redispass # Allows you to specify the password for Redis
      database: 5 # Use different database, default up to 16
      socket: /run/redis/redis.sock # uncomment this line
      namespace: resque:gitlab

### Database backend

The factual accuracy of this article or section is disputed.

Reason: GitLab recommends to use PostgreSQL. (Discuss in Talk:GitLab#)

A Database backend will be required before Gitlab can be run. Currently GitLab supports MariaDB and PostgreSQL. By default, GitLab assumes you will use MySQL. Extra work is needed if you plan to use PostgreSQL.

#### MariaDB

To set up MySQL (MariaDB) you need to create a database called `gitlabhq_production` along with a user (default: `gitlab`) who has full privileges to the database:

    $ mysql -u root -p

    mysql> CREATE DATABASE `gitlabhq_production` DEFAULT CHARACTER SET `utf8` COLLATE `utf8_unicode_ci`;
    mysql> CREATE USER 'gitlab'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'password';
    mysql> GRANT ALL ON `gitlabhq_production`.* TO 'gitlab'@'localhost';
    mysql> \q

Try connecting to the new database with the new user:

    $ mysql -u gitlab -p -D gitlabhq_production

Copy the MySQL template file before configuring it:

    # cp /usr/share/doc/gitlab/database.yml.mysql /etc/webapps/gitlab/database.yml

Next you will need to open `/etc/webapps/gitlab/database.yml` and set `username:` and `password:` for the `gitlabhq_production`:

    /etc/webapps/gitlab/database.yml

    #
    # PRODUCTION
    #
    production:
      adapter: mysql2
      encoding: utf8
      collation: utf8_general_ci
      reconnect: false
      database: gitlabhq_production
      pool: 10
      username: username
      password: "password"
      # host: localhost
      # socket: /run/mysqld/mysqld.sock # If running MariaDB as socket
    ...

It should not be set as world readable, e.g. only processes running under the `gitlab` user should have read/write access:

    # chmod 600 /etc/webapps/gitlab/database.yml
    # chown gitlab:gitlab /etc/webapps/gitlab/database.yml

For more info and other ways to create/manage MySQL databases, see the MariaDB documentation and the GitLab official (generic) install guide.

#### PostgreSQL

Login to PostgreSQL and create the `gitlabhq_production` database with along with its user. Remember to change `your_username_here` and `your_password_here` to the real values:

    # psql -d template1

    template1=# CREATE USER your_username_here WITH PASSWORD 'your_password_here';
    template1=# ALTER USER your_username_here SUPERUSER;
    template1=# CREATE DATABASE gitlabhq_production OWNER your_username_here;
    template1=# \q

Note: The reason for creating the user as a superuser is that GitLab is trying to be "smart" and install extensions (not just create them in its own userspace). And this is only allowed by superusers in Postgresql.

Try connecting to the new database with the new user to verify it works:

    # psql -d gitlabhq_production

Copy the PostgreSQL template file before configuring it (overwriting the default MySQL configuration file):

    # cp /usr/share/doc/gitlab/database.yml.postgresql /etc/webapps/gitlab/database.yml

Open the new `/etc/webapps/gitlab/database.yml` and set the values for `username:` and `password:`. For example:

    /etc/webapps/gitlab/database.yml

    #
    # PRODUCTION
    #
    production:
      adapter: postgresql
      encoding: unicode
      database: gitlabhq_production
      pool: 10
      username: your_username_here
      password: "your_password_here"
      # host: localhost
      # port: 5432
      # socket: /tmp/postgresql.sock
    ...

For our purposes (unless you know what you are doing), you do not need to worry about configuring the other databases listed in `/etc/webapps/gitlab/database.yml`. We only need to set up the production database to get GitLab working.

### Firewall

If you want to give direct access to your Gitlab installation through an iptables firewall, you may need to adjust the port and the network address:

    # iptables -A tcp_inbound -p TCP -s 192.168.1.0/24 --destination-port 80 -j ACCEPT

To enable API-access:

    # iptables -A tcp_inbound -p TCP -s 192.168.1.0/24 --destination-port 8080 -j ACCEPT

If you are behind a router, do not forget to forward this port to the running GitLab server host, if you want to allow WAN-access.

### Initialize Gitlab database

Start the Redis server before we create the database.

Initialize the database and activate advanced features:

    # su - gitlab -s /bin/sh -c "cd '/usr/share/webapps/gitlab'; bundle-2.3 exec rake gitlab:setup RAILS_ENV=production"

Finally run the following commands to check your installation:

    # su - gitlab -s /bin/sh -c "cd '/usr/share/webapps/gitlab'; bundle-2.3 exec rake gitlab:env:info RAILS_ENV=production"
    # su - gitlab -s /bin/sh -c "cd '/usr/share/webapps/gitlab'; bundle-2.3 exec rake gitlab:check RAILS_ENV=production"

Note:

- The gitlab:env:info and gitlab:check commands will show a fatal error related to git. This is OK.
- The gitlab:check will complain about missing initscripts. This is nothing to worry about, as systemd service files are used instead (which GitLab does not recognize).

### Adjust modifier bits

(The gitlab check won't pass if the user and group ownership isn't configured properly)

    # chmod -R ug+rwX,o-rwx /var/lib/gitlab/repositories/
    # chmod -R ug-s /var/lib/gitlab/repositories
    # find /var/lib/gitlab/repositories/ -type d -print0 | xargs -0 chmod g+s

## Start and test GitLab

Make sure MySQL or PostgreSQL and Redis are running and setup correctly.

Then start/enable `gitlab.target`.

Now test your GitLab instance by visiting http://localhost:8080 or http://yourdomain.com, you should be prompted to create a password:

    username: root
    password: You'll be prompted to create one on your first visit.

See #Troubleshooting and log files inside the `/usr/share/webapps/gitlab/log/` directory for troubleshooting.

## Upgrade database on updates

After updating the gitlab package, it is required to upgrade the database:

    # su - gitlab -s /bin/sh -c "cd '/usr/share/webapps/gitlab'; bundle-2.3 exec rake db:migrate RAILS_ENV=production"

Afterwards, restart gitlab-related services:

    # systemctl daemon-reload
    # systemctl restart gitlab-sidekiq gitlab-unicorn gitlab-workhorse gitlab-gitaly

## Advanced Configuration

### Basic SSH

After completing the basic installation, set up SSH access for users. Configuration for OpenSSH is described below. Other SSH clients and servers will require different modifications.

For tips on adding user SSH keys, the process is well-documented on the GitLab website. You can check the administrator logs at `/var/lib/gitlab/log/gitlab-shell.log` to confirm user SSH keys are being submitted properly. Behind the scenes, GitLab adds these keys to its authorized_keys file in `/var/lib/gitlab/.ssh/authorized_keys`.

The common method of testing keys (ex: `$ ssh -T git@YOUR_SERVER`) requires a bit of extra configuration to work correctly. The user configured in `/etc/webapps/gitlab/gitlab.yml` (default user: `gitlab`) must be added to the server's sshd configuration file, in addition to a handful of other changes:

    /etc/ssh/sshd_config

    PubkeyAuthentication   yes
    AuthorizedKeysFile     %h/.ssh/authorized_keys

After updating the configuration file, restart the ssh daemon:

    # systemctl restart sshd

Test user SSH keys (optionally add -v to see extra information):

    $ ssh -T gitlab@YOUR_SERVER

### Custom SSH Connection

If you are running SSH on a non-standard port, you must change the GitLab user's SSH config:

    /var/lib/gitlab/.ssh/config

    host localhost      # Give your setup a name (here: override localhost)
    user gitlab         # Your remote git user
    port 2222           # Your port number
    hostname 127.0.0.1; # Your server name or IP

You also need to change the corresponding options (e.g. ssh_user, ssh_host, admin_uri) in the `/etc/webapps/gitlab/gitlab.yml` file.

### HTTPS/SSL

#### Change GitLab configs

Modify `/etc/webapps/gitlab/shell.yml` so the url to your GitLab site starts with `https://`. Modify `/etc/webapps/gitlab/gitlab.yml` so that `https:` setting is set to `true`.

See also Apache HTTP Server#TLS and Let’s Encrypt.

#### Let's Encrypt

To validate your URL, the Let's Encrypt process will try to access your gitlab server with something like `https://gitlab.YOUR_SERVER_FQDN/.well-known/acme-challenge/A_LONG_ID`. But, due to gitlab configuration, every request to `gitlab.YOUR_SERVER_FQDN` will be redirected to a proxy (gitlab-workhorse) that will not be able to deal with this URL.

To bypass this issue, you can use the Let's Encrypt webroot configuration, setting the webroot at `/srv/http/letsencrypt/`.

Additionally, force the Let's Encrypt request for gitlab to be redirected to this webroot by adding the following:

    /etc/http/conf/extra/gitlab.conf

    Alias "/.well-known"  "/srv/http/letsencrypt/.well-known"
    RewriteCond   %{REQUEST_URI}  !/\.well-known/.*

### Web server configuration

If you want to integrate Gitlab into a running web server instead of using its build-in http server Unicorn, then follow these instructions.

##### Node.js

You can easily set up an http proxy on port 443 to proxy traffic to the GitLab application on port 8080 using http-master for Node.js. After you have created your domain's OpenSSL keys and have gotten you CA certificate (or self signed it), then go to https://github.com/CodeCharmLtd/http-master to learn how easy it is to proxy requests to GitLab using HTTPS. http-master is built on top of node-http-proxy.

#### Nginx

See Nginx#Configuration for basic nginx configuration and Nginx#TLS/SSL for enabling HTTPS. The sample in this section also assumes that server blocks are managed with Nginx#Managing server entries.

Create and edit the configuration based on the following snippet. See the upstream GitLab repository for more examples.

    /etc/nginx/servers-available/gitlab

    upstream gitlab-workhorse {
      server unix:/run/gitlab/gitlab-workhorse.socket fail_timeout=0;
    }

    server {
      listen 80;
      #listen 443 ssl; # uncomment to enable ssl
      server_name example.com

      #ssl_certificate ssl/example.com.crt;
      #ssl_certificate_key ssl/example.com.key;

      location / {
          # unlimited upload size in nginx (so the setting in GitLab applies)
          client_max_body_size 0;

          # proxy timeout should match the timeout value set in /etc/webapps/gitlab/unicorn.rb
          proxy_read_timeout 60;
          proxy_connect_timeout 60;
          proxy_redirect off;

          proxy_set_header Host $http_host;
          proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
          proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Ssl on;
          proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
          proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;

          proxy_pass http://gitlab-workhorse;
      }

      error_page 404 /404.html;
      error_page 422 /422.html;
      error_page 500 /500.html;
      error_page 502 /502.html;
      error_page 503 /503.html;
      location ~ ^/(404|422|500|502|503)\.html$ {
        root /usr/share/webapps/gitlab/public;
        internal;
      }
    }

#### Apache

Install and configure the Apache HTTP Server. You can use these upstream recipes to get started with the configuration file for GitLab's virtual host.

For the SSL configuration see Apache HTTP Server#TLS. If you do not need it, remove it. Notice that the SSL virtual host needs a specific IP instead of generic. Also if you set a custom port for Unicorn, do not forget to set it at the `BalanceMember` line.

### Gitlab-workhorse

This section is being considered for removal.

Reason: The gitlab-workhorse component is nowadays required. The default configuration is sufficient for common cases so this section can be removed. (Discuss in Talk:GitLab#)

This article or section needs expansion.

Reason: This section needs configuration instructions. (Discuss in Talk:GitLab#)

Since 8.0 GitLab uses separate HTTP server gitlab-workhorse for large HTTP requests like Git push/pull. If you want to use this instead of SSH, install the gitlab-workhorse package, enable `gitlab-workhorse.service` and configure web server for this. gitlab-workhorse should now be preferred over `gitlab-unicorn` according to the GitLab team: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/22528#note_16036216

Note: Unicorn is still needed so don't disable or stop `gitlab-unicorn.service`.

By default gitlab-workhorse listens on `/run/gitlab/gitlab-workhorse.socket`. You can edit `gitlab-workhorse.service` and change the parameter `-listenAddr` to make it listen on an address, for example `-listenAddr 127.0.0.1:8181`. If listening on an address you also need to set the network type to `-listenNetwork tcp`

When using nginx remember to edit your nginx configuration file. To switch from gitlab-unicorn to gitlab-workhorse edit the two following settings accordingly

    /etc/nginx/servers-available/gitlab

    upstream gitlab {
       server unix:/run/gitlab/gitlab-workhorse.socket fail_timeout=0;
    }

    ...

          proxy_pass http://unix:/run/gitlab/gitlab-workhorse.socket;
      }
    }

## Useful Tips

### Hidden options

Go to Gitlab's home directory:

    # cd /usr/share/webapps/gitlab

and run:

    # rake -T | grep gitlab

    rake gitlab:app:check                         # GITLAB | Check the configuration of the GitLab Rails app
    rake gitlab:backup:create                     # GITLAB | Create a backup of the GitLab system
    rake gitlab:backup:restore                    # GITLAB | Restore a previously created backup
    rake gitlab:check                             # GITLAB | Check the configuration of GitLab and its environment
    rake gitlab:cleanup:block_removed_ldap_users  # GITLAB | Cleanup | Block users that have been removed in LDAP
    rake gitlab:cleanup:dirs                      # GITLAB | Cleanup | Clean namespaces
    rake gitlab:cleanup:repos                     # GITLAB | Cleanup | Clean repositories
    rake gitlab:env:check                         # GITLAB | Check the configuration of the environment
    rake gitlab:env:info                          # GITLAB | Show information about GitLab and its environment
    rake gitlab:generate_docs                     # GITLAB | Generate sdocs for project
    rake gitlab:gitlab_shell:check                # GITLAB | Check the configuration of GitLab Shell
    rake gitlab:import:all_users_to_all_groups    # GITLAB | Add all users to all groups (admin users are added as owners)
    rake gitlab:import:all_users_to_all_projects  # GITLAB | Add all users to all projects (admin users are added as masters)
    rake gitlab:import:repos                      # GITLAB | Import bare repositories from gitlab_shell -> repos_path into GitLab project instance
    rake gitlab:import:user_to_groups[email]      # GITLAB | Add a specific user to all groups (as a developer)
    rake gitlab:import:user_to_projects[email]    # GITLAB | Add a specific user to all projects (as a developer)
    rake gitlab:satellites:create                 # GITLAB | Create satellite repos
    rake gitlab:setup                             # GITLAB | Setup production application
    rake gitlab:shell:build_missing_projects      # GITLAB | Build missing projects
    rake gitlab:shell:install[tag,repo]           # GITLAB | Install or upgrade gitlab-shell
    rake gitlab:shell:setup                       # GITLAB | Setup gitlab-shell
    rake gitlab:sidekiq:check                     # GITLAB | Check the configuration of Sidekiq
    rake gitlab:test                              # GITLAB | Run all tests
    rake gitlab:web_hook:add                      # GITLAB | Adds a web hook to the projects
    rake gitlab:web_hook:list                     # GITLAB | List web hooks
    rake gitlab:web_hook:rm                       # GITLAB | Remove a web hook from the projects
    rake setup                                    # GITLAB | Setup gitlab db

### Backup and restore

Create a backup of the gitlab system:

    # sudo -u gitlab -H rake RAILS_ENV=production gitlab:backup:create

Restore the previously created backup file `/home/gitlab/gitlab/tmp/backups/20130125_11h35_1359131740_gitlab_backup.tar`:

    # sudo -u gitlab -H rake RAILS_ENV=production gitlab:backup:restore BACKUP=/home/gitlab/gitlab/tmp/backups/20130125_11h35_1359131740

Note: Backup folder is set in `config/gitlab.yml`. GitLab backup and restore is documented here.

### Sending mails from Gitlab via SMTP

You might want to use a gmail (or other mail service) to send mails from your gitlab server. This avoids the need to install a mail daemon on the gitlab server.

Adjust `smtp_settings.rb` according to your mail server settings:

    /usr/share/webapps/gitlab/config/initializers/smtp_settings.rb

    if Rails.env.production?
      Gitlab::Application.config.action_mailer.delivery_method = :smtp

      ActionMailer::Base.delivery_method = :smtp
      ActionMailer::Base.smtp_settings = {
        address:              'smtp.gmail.com',
        port:                 587,
        domain:               'gmail.com',
        user_name:            'username@gmail.com',
        password:             'application password',
        authentication:       'plain',
        enable_starttls_auto: true
      }
    end

Gmail will reject mails received this way (and send you a mail that it did). You will need to disable secure authentication (follow the link in the rejection mail) to work around this. The more secure approach is to enable two-factor authentication for username@gmail.com and to set up an application password for this configuration file.

## Troubleshooting

### HTTPS is not green (gravatar not using https)

Redis caches gravatar images, so if you have visited your GitLab with http, then enabled https, gravatar will load up the non-secure images. You can clear the cache by doing

    cd /usr/share/webapps/gitlab
    RAILS_ENV=production bundle-2.3 exec rake cache:clear

as the gitlab user.

### Errors after updating

After updating the package from the AUR, the database migrations and asset updates will sometimes fail. These steps may resolve the issue, if a simple reboot does not.

First, move to the gitlab installation directory.

    # cd /usr/share/webapps/gitlab

If every gitlab page gives a 500 error, then the database migrations and the assets are probably stale. If not, skip this step.

    # su - gitlab -s /bin/sh -c "cd '/usr/share/webapps/gitlab'; bundle-2.3 exec rake db:migrate RAILS_ENV=production"

If gitlab is constantly waiting for the deployment to finish, then the assets have probably not been recompiled.

    # su - gitlab -s /bin/sh -c "cd '/usr/share/webapps/gitlab'; bundle-2.3 exec rake gitlab:assets:clean gitlab:assets:compile cache:clear RAILS_ENV=production"

Finally, restart the gitlab services and test your site.

    # systemctl restart gitlab-unicorn gitlab-sidekiq gitlab-workhorse

### Gitlab-Unicorn cannot access non-default repositories directory

If a custom repository storage directory is set in `/home`, disable the `ProtectHome=true` parameter in the `gitlab-unicorn.service` (see Systemd#Drop-in files and the relevant forum thread on gitlab.com).

### Failed to connect to Gitaly

Sometimes, the Gitaly service won't get started, leaving GitLab unable to connect to Gitaly. The solution is simple:

    # systemctl start gitlab-gitaly

## See also

- Official installation documentation
- GitLab recipes with further documentation on running it with several web servers
- GitLab source code

Categories:

- Version Control System
- Web applications

Hidden categories:

- Pages or sections flagged with Template:Accuracy
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