How to Install Gitlab on AlmaLinux

Version control is tracking and managing changes in the software code. Version control systems, Git being one of them, allow you to track every change in a file. Gitlab is a Git repository that provides a distributed version control platform. This article will teach you How to Install Gitlab on AlmaLinux. If you intend to buy a Linux VPS server, you can visit the packages offered on the Eldernode website.

Tutorial Setup Gitlab on AlmaLinux

GitLab is an open-source and web-based Git repository that offers a distributed version control platform. It has evolved from a code management platform to a monitoring and deployment platform and calls itself a complete DevOps platform. This tool allows professionals to perform all the tasks in a project and also allows teams to collaborate and build better software. With the help of GitLab, teams can reduce product life cycles and increase productivity, which in turn creates value for customers.

GitLab offers two main editions which are GitLab Community Edition (CE) and GitLab Enterprise Edition (EE). It should be noted that GitLab Community Edition (CE) is a free version, but GitLab Enterprise Edition (EE) requires a license to use. In this article, we will teach you how to install the free version of GitLab.

Adding the GitLab CE Repository on AlmaLinux

First, start by updating the available packages to their latest available versions:

sudo dnf -y update

And install the required package dependencies using the following command:

sudo dnf -y install curl vim policycoreutils python3-policycoreutils git

AlmaLinux does not have Gitlab in default repositories. So you should add the official repository to your system to be able to install Gitlab. To do this, open the following file with your desired text editor:

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

And add the following 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

Now check if the repository is added or not with the help of the below command:

dnf repolist

Installing and Configuring GitLab CE on AlmaLinux

Now it’s time to install Gitlab CE on AlmaLinux as shown below:

sudo dnf install gitlab-ce -y

The GitLab configuration file is stored in /etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb. You should edit the configuration to the variables that are suitable for your environment.

So, open the configuration file with your desired text editor:

sudo vim /etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb

And find the following line:

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

Then you should replace gitlab.example.com with your domain name for GitLab.

Once finished save the file and apply the changes as follows:

sudo gitlab-ctl reconfigure

You can check the status of GitLab using the command below:

sudo gitlab-ctl status

To stop Gitlab, run the following command:

sudo gitlab-ctl stop

And to start it, use the command below:

sudo gitlab-ctl start

Also, remember to allow the HTTP/HTTPS and SSH services through the firewall as shown below:

sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service={ssh,http,https} --permanent

Finally, reload the Firewall:

sudo firewall-cmd --reload

Accessing GitLab Web Console on AlmaLinux

First, open your browser and go to the following URL:

http://gitlab.example.com

You will see the following screen:

As you see, it asks you for the root password. To obtain the root password, use the following command:

sudo cat /etc/gitlab/initial_root_password

Now you can sign in to GitLab.

Once you logged in, you should see the following dashboard. You can set if you want the account to be used by everyone or for personal use by disabling/enabling user sign up:

It’s better to change the root password. You can do this from the Admin Area section:

Now click on New Projects as shown below to create a new project:

There are 3 options provided to create a new project which are create a blank project, import, or create using a template. Choose one of them to proceed:

You can use a template as shown below:

After you created the Project, it will appear as you see below:

That’s it!

Conclusion

GitLab is a complete DevOps platform that enables professionals to manage various project tasks on their servers. In this article, we introduced you to Gitlab and taught you how to install it on AlmaLinux. I hope this tutorial was helpful for you and helps you to install Gitlab on AlmaLinux. You can contact us in the Comments section if you face any problems or have any questions.