How to Install GitLab on RockyLinux 8

GitLab is an open-core company that operates GitLab, a DevOps software package that combines the ability to develop, secure, and operate software in a single application.

Note: GitLab requires a minimum of 4GB of system RAM.

In this article, we are going to learn how to install GitLab on RockyLinux 8. So, let’s get started.

Checkout the GitLab Project Here.

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Update the System

Update the available packages to their latest version,

yum update -y 

yum upgrade -y 

Install the Required Packages

Install the required package dependencies,

dnf -y install curl vim policycoreutils python3-policycoreutils git

Add the GitLab CE Repository on RockyLinux 8

Add the GitLab CE repository using below command,

vim /etc/yum.repos.d/gitlab_gitlab-ce.repo

Add the below lines to the file,

[gitlab_gitlab-ce]
name=gitlab_gitlab-ce
baseurl=https://packages.gitlab.com/gitlab/gitlab-ce/el/8/$basearch
repo_gpgcheck=1
gpgcheck=1
enabled=1
gpgkey=https://packages.gitlab.com/gitlab/gitlab-ce/gpgkey
       https://packages.gitlab.com/gitlab/gitlab-ce/gpgkey/gitlab-gitlab-ce-3D645A26AB9FBD22.pub.gpg
sslverify=1
sslcacert=/etc/pki/tls/certs/ca-bundle.crt
metadata_expire=300

[gitlab_gitlab-ce-source]
name=gitlab_gitlab-ce-source
baseurl=https://packages.gitlab.com/gitlab/gitlab-ce/el/8/SRPMS
repo_gpgcheck=1
gpgcheck=1
enabled=1
gpgkey=https://packages.gitlab.com/gitlab/gitlab-ce/gpgkey
       https://packages.gitlab.com/gitlab/gitlab-ce/gpgkey/gitlab-gitlab-ce-3D645A26AB9FBD22.pub.gpg
sslverify=1
sslcacert=/etc/pki/tls/certs/ca-bundle.crt
metadata_expire=300

After added, verify if the repository has been added,

dnf repolist

Output:

[root@vps ~]# dnf repolist
repo id                                                                  repo name
appstream                                                                RockyLinux 8 - AppStream
baseos                                                                   RockyLinux 8 - BaseOS
extras                                                                   RockyLinux 8 - Extras
gitlab_gitlab-ce                                                         gitlab_gitlab-ce
gitlab_gitlab-ce-source                                                  gitlab_gitlab-ce-source
[root@vps ~]# 

Install the GitLab CE on RockyLinux 8

After the repositories added, Install GitLab CE on RockyLinux 8 using below command,

dnf install gitlab-ce -y

Output:

Transaction Summary
==================================================================================================================================================
Install  118 Packages

Total download size: 1.1 G
Installed size: 2.4 G
Downloading Packages:
.
.
It looks like GitLab has not been configured yet; skipping the upgrade script.

       *.                  *.
      ***                 ***
     *****               *****
    .******             *******
    ********            ********
   ,,,,,,,,,***********,,,,,,,,,
  ,,,,,,,,,,,*********,,,,,,,,,,,
  .,,,,,,,,,,,*******,,,,,,,,,,,,
      ,,,,,,,,,*****,,,,,,,,,.
         ,,,,,,,****,,,,,,
            .,,,***,,,,
                ,*,.

     _______ __  __          __
    / ____(_) /_/ /   ____ _/ /_
   / / __/ / __/ /   / __ `/ __ \
  / /_/ / / /_/ /___/ /_/ / /_/ /
  \____/_/\__/_____/\__,_/_.___/

Thank you for installing GitLab!

Configure the GitLab CE on RockyLinux 8

Edit the GitLab configuration file which stores in /etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb,

vim /etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb

Edit the below line,

external_url 'http://gitlab.example.com'

Note: Replace gitlab.example.com with your actual domain

Save the file and run the below command to apply changes,

gitlab-ctl reconfigure

Output:

[root@vps ~]# gitlab-ctl reconfigure
[2022-11-15T14:17:52+00:00] INFO: Started Cinc Zero at chefzero://localhost:1 with repository at /opt/gitlab/embedded (One version per cookbook)
Cinc Client, version 17.10.0
Patents: https://www.chef.io/patents
Infra Phase starting
[2022-11-15T14:17:52+00:00] INFO: *** Cinc Client 17.10.0 ***
[2022-11-15T14:17:52+00:00] INFO: Platform: x86_64-linux
[2022-11-15T14:17:52+00:00] INFO: Cinc-client pid: 65882
[2022-11-15T14:17:53+00:00] INFO: Setting the run_list to ["recipe[gitlab]"] from CLI options
[2022-11-15T14:17:53+00:00] INFO: Run List is [recipe[gitlab]]
[2022-11-15T14:17:53+00:00] INFO: Run List expands to [gitlab]
[2022-11-15T14:17:53+00:00] INFO: Starting Cinc Client Run for vps.server.com
[2022-11-15T14:17:53+00:00] INFO: Running start handlers
[2022-11-15T14:17:53+00:00] INFO: Start handlers complete.
.
.
.
.
Warnings:
Environment variable LANG specifies a non-UTF-8 locale. GitLab requires UTF-8 encoding to function properly. Please check your locale settings.
Notes:
Default admin account has been configured with following details:
Username: root
Password: You didn't opt-in to print initial root password to STDOUT.
Password stored to /etc/gitlab/initial_root_password. This file will be cleaned up in first reconfigure run after 24 hours.
NOTE: Because these credentials might be present in your log files in plain text, it is highly recommended to reset the password following https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/security/reset_user_password.html#reset-your-root-password.

gitlab Reconfigured!

After done, check GitLab running status,

gitlab-ctl status

Output:

[root@vps ~]# gitlab-ctl status
run: alertmanager: (pid 69620) 3s; run: log: (pid 67620) 713s
run: gitaly: (pid 69186) 154s; run: log: (pid 66836) 888s
run: gitlab-exporter: (pid 69161) 155s; run: log: (pid 67447) 737s
run: gitlab-kas: (pid 69125) 158s; run: log: (pid 67070) 863s
run: gitlab-workhorse: (pid 69134) 157s; run: log: (pid 67251) 805s
run: logrotate: (pid 66647) 904s; run: log: (pid 66678) 901s
run: nginx: (pid 67297) 799s; run: log: (pid 67312) 797s
run: node-exporter: (pid 69150) 156s; run: log: (pid 67406) 754s
run: postgres-exporter: (pid 69346) 144s; run: log: (pid 67830) 680s
run: postgresql: (pid 66908) 870s; run: log: (pid 66921) 869s
run: prometheus: (pid 69302) 148s; run: log: (pid 67577) 719s
run: puma: (pid 68898) 180s; run: log: (pid 67174) 821s
run: redis: (pid 66694) 898s; run: log: (pid 66732) 895s
run: redis-exporter: (pid 69174) 155s; run: log: (pid 67564) 725s
run: sidekiq: (pid 69168) 155s; run: log: (pid 67197) 816s

You can start,stop GitLab using below command,

gitlab-ctl stop
gitlab-ctl start

Allow Ports on Firewall

Allow the HTTP/HTTPS through the firewall,

firewall-cmd --permanent --zone=public --add-service=http

firewall-cmd --permanent --zone=public --add-service=https

firewall-cmd --reload

Access GitLab Web Console

You can access visit GitLab browser using the provided URL http://gitlab.example.com.

Note: Replace gitlab.example.com with your actual domain

For password, you can obtain using below command,

cat /etc/gitlab/initial_root_password

Output:

[root@vps ~]# cat /etc/gitlab/initial_root_password
# WARNING: This value is valid only in the following conditions
#          1. If provided manually (either via `GITLAB_ROOT_PASSWORD` environment variable or via `gitlab_rails['initial_root_password']` setting in `gitlab.rb`, it was provided before database was seeded for the first time (usually, the first reconfigure run).
#          2. Password hasn't been changed manually, either via UI or via command line.
#
#          If the password shown here doesn't work, you must reset the admin password following https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/security/reset_user_password.html#reset-your-root-password.

Password: eMMwu4e8UJN2f/+IKS1KCBAp1dTfmGMet2maOAewPg8=

# NOTE: This file will be automatically deleted in the first reconfigure run after 24 hours.
[root@vps ~]# 

images

The dashboard will look like this,

images

You can change your password here,

images

images

images

Done.