Can CockroachDB and YugabyteDB Run GitLab? A Comprehensive Compatibility Test

Test Background

GitLab switched to PostgreSQL‑only support from version 12.1.0, prompting the need for a unified, scalable, and highly available GitLab deployment across multiple business units. The study investigates whether the PG‑compatible distributed databases CockroachDB and YugabyteDB can host GitLab and support its core functions.

Test Environment

CockroachDB

defaultdb=# SELECT version();
CockroachDB CCL v22.1.0 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu, built 2022/05/23 16:27:47, go1.17.6)
(1 row)

YugabyteDB

gitlab=# SELECT version();
PostgreSQL 11.2-YB-2.13.2.0-b0 on x86_64-pc-linux-gnu, compiled by clang version 12.0.1 (https://github.com/yugabyte/llvm-project.git bdb147e675d8c87cee72cc1f87c4b82855977d94), 64-bit
(1 row)

GitLab

GitLab information
Version: 12.1.0-ee
Revision: 1f2e6f3f6d8
Directory: /home/git/gitlab
DB Adapter: PostgreSQL

Test Scenarios

The following GitLab features were exercised after migrating a standard GitLab database to each target DB:

Project List

Project View

Repository View

Branch List

Issue List

Merge Request List

Merge Request View

New Project

Create Branch

Create Issue

Create Merge Request

PR Merge

Add Project Member

Test Process

1. Export schema and data from PostgreSQL

pg_dump --host 10.3.70.132 --port 32298 --user postgres --no-owner -W gitlabhq_production > /root/gitlabhq_production.sql

2. Import into CockroachDB

psql --host 10.3.70.189 --port 26258 --user root gitlab -f /root/gitlabhq_production.sql > pg_import_crdb.log

During import, CockroachDB reported two types of errors:

ERROR:  at or near "pg_trgm": syntax error: unimplemented: this syntax
ERROR:  at or near ".": syntax error: unimplemented: this syntax

These errors relate to unsupported extensions (pg_trgm) and operator classes. After ignoring them, the object count was:

relkind | count
--------+------
r       | 249
i       | 890
S       | 231
(3 rows)

The database was then linked to GitLab, the configuration reloaded, and GitLab restarted:

sudo -u git -H editor config/database.yml
sudo /etc/init.d/gitlab restart

GitLab started successfully and the login page loaded without errors.

3. Import into YugabyteDB

psql --host 10.3.70.189 --port 5434 --user postgres gitlab -f /root/gitlabhq_production.sql > pg_import_ygdb.log

Import completed without errors. Object count after import:

relkind | count
--------+------
r       | 249
i       | 903
S       | 231
(3 rows)

GitLab was pointed to this database, restarted, and all core UI pages (login, project list, issue list, merge request view, etc.) displayed correctly.

Results

For each scenario the outcome was recorded. The most relevant observations are summarized below.

CockroachDB

Project List, Project View, Repository View, Branch List, Issue List, Merge Request List, Merge Request View, New Project, Create Branch, Create Issue, Create Merge Request, Add Project Member – all functioned correctly.

Failed scenarios: New Project (500 error, missing column "namespaces.rowid"), GitLab Import (cannot reach the import page), PR Merge (merge request stuck in loading, eventually error).

YugabyteDB

All scenarios succeeded except PR Merge , which exhibited the same loading‑then‑error behavior as CockroachDB.

Conclusion

YugabyteDB demonstrated better overall compatibility with GitLab, with only the PR‑merge operation failing. CockroachDB failed three core operations, indicating more gaps in PostgreSQL feature support. The PR‑merge issue may be unrelated to the database layer and warrants further investigation.