This guide outlines the steps to deploy a private GitLab instance on a CentOS 7 system.

Prerequisites

Install required dependencies:

sudo yum install curl policycoreutils openssh-server openssh-client
sudo systemctl enable sshd
sudo systemctl start sshd
sudo yum install postfix
sudo systemctl enable postfix
sudo systemctl start postfix

Installation

Method 1: Install via YUM Repository

sudo yum install -y gitlab-ce

Method 2: Install Specific Version

Download the desired version from the mirror site:

https://mirrors.tuna.tsinghua.edu.cn/gitlab-ce/yum/el7/

Install the downloaded RPM package:

rpm -i gitlab-ce-11.6.3-ce.0.el7.x86_64.rpm

If you encounter an error related to policycoreutils-python, install it:

sudo yum -y install policycoreutils-python

Configuration

Edit the GitLab configuration file:

vim /etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb

Locate the external_url setting and update it with your domain or IP address and port.

Apply the configuration changes:

sudo gitlab-ctl reconfigure

This process may take several minutes. A successful configuration is indicated by completion messages.

Starting GitLab

Start the GitLab services:

sudo gitlab-ctl start

Common GitLab Commands

# Remove all GitLab-related files
find / -name gitlab | xargs rm -rf

# Start all GitLab components
sudo gitlab-ctl start

# Stop all GitLab components
sudo gitlab-ctl stop

# Restart all GitLab components
sudo gitlab-ctl restart

# Check service status
sudo gitlab-ctl status

# View logs
sudo gitlab-ctl tail

# View logs for a specific service
sudo gitlab-ctl tail <service_name>

After starting GitLab, access it via you're configured IP address and port.

Accessing the Administrator Account

Default Root Password

View the initial root password:

vi /etc/gitlab/initial_root_password

Creating an Administrator Account

If the initial password file is unavailable, create an administrator account via the Rails console:

sudo gitlab-rails console

Execute the following commands in the console:

admin_user = User.new(email: 'admin@example.com', username: 'admin_user', name: 'Administrator', password: 'secure_password')

admin_user.skip_confirmation!

admin_user.save!

# Assign administrator role
admin_user.add_role(:admin)

# Exit the console
quit

Migration Considerations

For migration purposes, note the following:

1. Ensure GitLab versions are consistent.
2. Key data directories:
   • Project repository path: /var/opt/gitlab/git-data/repositories
   • PostgreSQL data path: /var/opt/gitlab/postgresql/data

Set appropriate permissions for these directories:

sudo chown -R git:root /var/opt/gitlab/git-data/repositories
sudo chmod -R 0700 /var/opt/gitlab/git-data/repositories
sudo chown -R gitlab-psql:gitlab-psql /var/opt/gitlab/postgresql/data
sudo chmod -R 0700 /var/opt/gitlab/postgresql/data