How to Install Forgejo on Rocky Linux 9

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Forgejo is a lightweight, self-hosted Git service, ideal for teams or individuals who want to host their own Git repositories with a modern web interface.

Prerequisites

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• A Rocky Linux 9 VPS
• A user with sudo privileges
• Basic knowledge of Linux commands

Update Your System

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sudo dnf clean all
sudo dnf update -y

Install Dependencies

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sudo dnf install git wget tar sqlite -y

Create a Dedicated User

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sudo groupadd --system forgejo
sudo useradd --system \
  --shell /bin/bash \
  --comment "Forgejo Git Service" \
  --home /var/lib/forgejo \
  --gid forgejo \
  forgejo

Download Forgejo

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cd /tmp
wget https://codeberg.org/forgejo/forgejo/releases/download/v9.0.1/forgejo-9.0.1-linux-amd64
sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/bin
sudo mv forgejo-9.0.1-linux-amd64 /usr/local/bin/forgejo
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/forgejo

Create Data Directories

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sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/forgejo/{custom,data,log}
sudo chown -R forgejo:forgejo /var/lib/forgejo

Create Systemd Service

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sudo vi /etc/systemd/system/forgejo.service

Paste the following content:

[Unit]
Description=Forgejo (Self-Hosted Git Service)
After=network.target

[Service]
RestartSec=2s
Type=simple
User=forgejo
Group=forgejo
WorkingDirectory=/var/lib/forgejo
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/forgejo web
Restart=always
Environment=USER=forgejo HOME=/var/lib/forgejo GITEA_WORK_DIR=/var/lib/forgejo

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Save and exit.

Start and Enable Forgejo

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sudo setenforce 0
sudo systemctl restart forgejo
sudo systemctl status forgejo

Allow Firewall Port (Optional)

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If firewalld is enabled:

sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=3000/tcp
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

If firewalld is not available, use iptables:

sudo iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 3000 -j ACCEPT
sudo service iptables save
sudo systemctl restart iptables

Access Forgejo

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Visit http://your-server-ip:3000 in your browser and complete setup.
Use SQLite3 for quick setup, or MariaDB/PostgreSQL if preferred.

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Initial Configuration

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After starting Forgejo for the first time, open http://your-server-ip:3000 in your browser.
You will see the Initial Configuration screen. Use the following recommended values for a typical Rocky Linux 9 setup:

Setting	Recommended Value (Rocky Linux 9 Setup)
Database type	SQLite3 (simple setup) OR MariaDB/PostgreSQL if you want production-ready.
Database settings	If using SQLite3, no host/user/password is needed. For MariaDB/PostgreSQL, fill in Host, Username, Password, Database name.
Instance title	Forgejo (or your team/project name).
Instance slogan	Optional (default: Beyond coding. We Forge.).
Repository root path	/var/lib/forgejo/data/forgejo-repositories (keep default).
Git LFS root path	/var/lib/forgejo/data/lfs (keep default unless you want to disable LFS).
User to run as	forgejo (must match the user created earlier).
Server domain	Your server IP or domain name (e.g. git.example.com).
SSH server port	22 (keep default unless you use a custom SSH port).
HTTP listen port	3000 (keep as is unless using a reverse proxy later).
Base URL	http://your-server-ip:3000/ or https://git.example.com/ if using HTTPS.
Log path	/var/lib/forgejo/log (default).
Allow user registration	Keep unchecked if this is a private instance.
Version check	Leave enabled unless you want to disable version checks.

Administrator Account Setup

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Scroll down to Administrator Account Settings and create your first user:

• Username: your admin username (e.g., admin)
• Password: a strong password
• Email: your admin email address

This account will have full control of the Forgejo instance.