How to Install, Configure, and Operate GitLab CE on CentOS

GitLab introduction

Private code repository; alternatives include Gogs.

Fine‑grained permission configuration.

Control user/group permissions to prevent unauthorized pushes to master.

GitLab architecture

Deploy GitLab CE

# Use Tsinghua mirror to install directly
yum install -y https://mirrors.tuna.tsinghua.edu.cn/gitlabce/yum/el7/gitlab-ce-12.3.5-ce.0.el7.x86_64.rpm

# Or install a local RPM
yum localinstall -y gitlab-ce-10.2.2-ce.0.el7.x86_64.rpm

# Configure external URL in /etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb
external_url 'http://gitlab.wc.com'

# Email configuration example
gitlab_rails['gitlab_email_enabled'] = true
gitlab_rails['gitlab_email_from'] = '[email protected]'
gitlab_rails['gitlab_email_display_name'] = 'wc gitlab notice'
gitlab_rails['smtp_enable'] = true
gitlab_rails['smtp_address'] = "smtp.qq.com"
gitlab_rails['smtp_port'] = 465
gitlab_rails['smtp_user_name'] = "[email protected]"
gitlab_rails['smtp_password'] = "dizyzzjjujhxdefe"
gitlab_rails['smtp_domain'] = "qq.com"
gitlab_rails['smtp_authentication'] = "login"
gitlab_rails['smtp_enable_starttls_auto'] = true
gitlab_rails['smtp_tls'] = true

# Disable Prometheus and related exporters if not needed
prometheus['enable'] = false
prometheus_monitor['enable'] = false
node_exporter['enable'] = false
redis_exporter['enable'] = false
postgres_exporter['enable'] = false
gitlab_monitor['enable'] = false
grafana['enable'] = false
alertmanager['enable'] = false

# Reload configuration
gitlab-ctl reconfigure

# Verify reconfiguration
Chef Client finished, 299/430 resources updated in 02 minutes 28 seconds
gitlab Reconfigured!

GitLab operations

# Check service status
gitlab-ctl status

# Stop all services
gitlab-ctl stop

# Start all services
gitlab-ctl start

# Restart all services
gitlab-ctl restart

# Stop a specific service (e.g., nginx)
gitlab-ctl stop nginx

# Start a specific service
gitlab-ctl start nginx

# View logs for all components
gitlab-ctl tail

# View logs for a specific component
gitlab-ctl tail nginx

# Open Rails console
gitlab-rails console

# Test email sending
Notify.test_email('[email protected]', 'sbsbsb', 'hei/hei/hei').deliver_now

# Reset root password via console
user = User.where(id: 1).first
user.password = '123456789'
user.password_confirmation = '123456789'
user.save

GitLab Chinese localization

# Download Chinese language pack
wget https://gitlab.com/xhang/gitlab/-/archive/10-2-stable-zh/gitlab10-2-stable-zh.tar.gz

# Extract the package
tar xf gitlab-10-2-stable-zh.tar.gz

# Stop all services
gitlab-ctl stop

# Overwrite existing files with the localized ones
\cp -a gitlab-10-2-stable-zh/* /opt/gitlab/embedded/service/gitlabrails/

# Reload configuration and start services
gitlab-ctl reconfigure
gitlab-ctl start

Create a project (HTTP)

# Global Git configuration
git config --global user.name "Administrator"
git config --global user.email "[email protected]"

# Clone a new repository
git clone http://gitlab.zls.com/root/linux2.git
cd linux2
touch README.md
git add README.md
git commit -m "add README"
git push -u origin master

# Use an existing folder
cd existing_folder
git init
git remote add origin http://gitlab.zls.com/root/linux2.git
git add .
git commit -m "Initial commit"
git push -u origin master

# Use an existing Git repository
cd existing_repo
git remote rename origin old-origin
git remote add origin http://gitlab.zls.com/root/linux2.git
git push -u origin --all
git push -u origin --tags

Create a project (SSH)

# Global Git configuration
git config --global user.name "Administrator"
git config --global user.email "[email protected]"

# Clone via SSH
git clone [email protected]:root/linux2.git
cd linux2
touch README.md
git add README.md
git commit -m "add README"
git push -u origin master

# Existing folder via SSH
cd existing_folder
git init
git remote add origin [email protected]:root/linux2.git
git add .
git commit -m "Initial commit"
git push -u origin master

# Existing repository via SSH
cd existing_repo
git remote rename origin old-origin
git remote add origin [email protected]:root/linux2.git
git push -u origin --all
git push -u origin --tags

Add a remote repository

# Add remote
git remote add zls [email protected]:root/linux2.git

# Add hosts entry for DNS resolution
vim /etc/hosts
# Add line: 10.0.0.91 gitlab.zls.com

# Generate SSH key pair
ssh-keygen

# View public key
cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub

# Add the public key in the GitLab web UI

GitLab user and group management (screenshots omitted for brevity)

Clone a GitLab repository

# Clone repository via SSH
git clone [email protected]:ops/new_linux2.git

# Pull latest changes
git pull

# Fetch all branches
git fetch -vp