How to Quickly Deploy a Private GitLab Server with Docker

1. Introduction to GitLab

GitLab is an open-source Git-based code repository system.

The biggest difference from GitHub is that it allows you to set up your own private Git repository.

2. Installation

Installing GitLab directly is complex because it requires many dependencies such as Redis, Nginx, a database, etc.

To simplify the process, GitLab provides a Docker image that can be started quickly.

Specific steps:

(1) Configure Docker registry mirror

Pulling from Docker Hub can be slow, so a mirror is needed.

I use the accelerator provided by daocloud.io for fast speed.

(2) Pull GitLab image

docker pull gitlab/gitlab-ce

After download, list images: docker images The list shows the GitLab image, e.g.

docker.io/gitlab/gitlab-ce …

(3) Start the container

sudo docker run --detach \
    --hostname gitlab \
    --publish 443:443 \
    --publish 80:80 \
    --publish 2222:22 \
    --name gitlab \
    --restart always \
    --volume /root/data/gitlab/config:/etc/gitlab \
    --volume /root/data/gitlab/logs:/var/log/gitlab \
    --volume /root/data/gitlab/data:/var/opt/gitlab \
    docker.io/gitlab/gitlab-ce

The three --publish options map container ports to host ports for HTTP, HTTPS, and SSH.

The three --volume options map data volumes for GitLab configuration, logs, and data.

(4) Configure external URL

Edit the GitLab configuration file: docker exec -it gitlab vi /etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb Find the external_url line and set it to your server address, e.g. external_url 'http://114.215.223.62' Save and restart the container:

docker restart gitlab

(5) Access

GitLab is now installed and running; you can access it via the configured URL.

3. Configuration

On first login, GitLab asks to reset the admin password. After resetting, log in.

Create a new project by entering a name and description.

4. Client testing

(1) Global settings

GitLab project page provides global configuration commands, e.g.

git config --global user.name "Administrator"
git config --global user.email "[email protected]"

(2) Clone the newly created project

git clone http://114.215.223.62/root/test.git

(3) Modify the project, add a README

cd test
vi README.md # write "test"
git add README.md
git commit -m "add README"

(4) Push to the repository

git push -u origin master

The changes appear in GitLab, confirming the environment works.

GitLab documentation: https://docs.gitlab.com/ce/README.html