Install GitLab Using Docker Compose

This article is for those looking for a detailed and straightforward guide on installing GitLab using Docker Compose.

GitLab is an open-source end-to-end software development platform with built-in version control, issue tracking, code review, CI/CD, and more.

💾 You can find the repository used in this guide on GitHub.

NOTE

We’ll use Traefik as our reverse proxy. It’ll handle obtaining cryptographic certificates from Let’s Encrypt for your domain names and route requests to the corresponding services based on those domains.

CAUTION

To obtain cryptographic certificates, you will need A-type records in the external DNS zone, which point to the IP address of your server where Traefik is installed. If you have created these records recently, you should wait before starting the installation of the services. Full replication of these records between DNS servers can take from a few minutes to 48 hours or even longer in rare cases.

IMPORTANT

Docker Engine and Docker Compose must be installed on the server.

For a step-by-step guide on installing Docker Engine on Ubuntu Server, see Install Docker Engine and Docker Compose on Ubuntu Server

IMPORTANT

OpenSSH must be installed on the server, and port 22 must be open in order to be able to connect to the server using the SSH protocol.

To install OpenSSH on the server you can use the command:

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sudo apt install openssh-server

NOTE

To connect to the server from a Windows system, you can use tools like PuTTY or MobaXterm.

NOTE

This guide walks you through connecting to a server with the iTerm2 terminal emulator on macOS.

CAUTION

You will need to open the following TCP ports for access to the services:

• TCP port 80 - to obtain a free cryptographic certificate through the Let’s Encrypt certification center.
• TCP port 443 - to access the GitLab web interface.
• TCP port 2222 - for secure SSH Git operations, user SSH key management, encrypted data transfer, and server administration tasks.

We connect to the server on which GitLab is planned to be installed.

Now it is necessary to create networks for your services.

We create a network for Traefik using the command:

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docker network create traefik-network

We create a network for GitLab using the command:

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docker network create gitlab-network

Next, you need to clone the repository that contains the configuration files, which include all the necessary conditions for GitLab to work.

You can clone the repository using the command:

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git clone https://github.com/heyvaldemar/gitlab-traefik-letsencrypt-docker-compose.git

Navigate to the directory with the repository using the command:

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cd gitlab-traefik-letsencrypt-docker-compose

Next, you need to change the variables in the .env file according to your requirements.

IMPORTANT

The .env file should be in the same directory as gitlab-traefik-letsencrypt-docker-compose.yml.

Now let’s start GitLab with the command:

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docker compose -f gitlab-traefik-letsencrypt-docker-compose.yml -p gitlab up -d

Now, let’s retrieve the password for the root user. This will allow you to log into the GitLab management panel.

Use the following command:

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sudo docker exec -it $(sudo docker ps -aqf "name=gitlab-gitlab-1") grep 'Password:' /etc/gitlab/initial_root_password

The password for the root user has been successfully retrieved.

To access the GitLab management panel, go to https://gitlab.heyvaldemar.net from your workstation, where gitlab.heyvaldemar.net is the domain name of my service. Accordingly, you need to specify your domain name that points to the IP address of your server with the installed Traefik service, which will redirect the request to GitLab.

NOTE

You need to specify the domain name of the service, previously defined in the .env file.

Use root as the username and the previously obtained password, then click the “Sign in” button.

Welcome to the GitLab control panel.

Next, let’s retrieve the registration token for the GitLab Runner and register it to handle upcoming CI/CD jobs.

GitLab Runner is the open-source project that is used to run your CI/CD jobs and send the results back to GitLab.

To view the GitLab Runner’s configuration, go to https://gitlab.heyvaldemar.net/admin/runners from your workstation, where gitlab.heyvaldemar.net is the domain name of my service. Accordingly, you need to specify your domain name that points to the IP address of your server with the installed Traefik service, which will redirect the request to GitLab.

NOTE

You need to specify the domain name of the service, previously defined in the .env file.

Click on the three dots on the right to access the menu, then copy the registration token.

Next, let’s register the GitLab Runner.

Return to the Terminal emulator.

CAUTION

Remember to replace REGISTRATION_TOKEN with the “Registration token” value you received in the previous step on the GitLab web interface.

To register the runner, use the following command:

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REGISTRATION_TOKEN=LgcfPEKgawRTGR8P4uPQ && \
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docker exec -it $(sudo docker ps -aqf "name=gitlab-runner-1") gitlab-runner register \
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  --non-interactive \
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  --url "http://gitlab/" \
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  --registration-token "$REGISTRATION_TOKEN" \
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  --executor "docker" \
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  --docker-image docker:stable \
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  --description "docker-runner-1" \
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  --tag-list "docker,linux" \
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  --run-untagged="true" \
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  --docker-privileged \
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  --output-limit "50000000" \
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  --access-level="not_protected" \
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  --docker-volumes "/var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock"

GitLab Runner has been successfully registered and is ready to work.

Return to the web interface and verify that the GitLab Runner is now online.

To access the Traefik control panel, go to https://traefik.gitlab.heyvaldemar.net from your workstation, where traefik.gitlab.heyvaldemar.net is the domain name of my service. Accordingly, you need to specify your domain name that points to the IP address of your server with the installed Traefik.

NOTE

You need to specify the domain name of the service, previously defined in the .env file.

Enter the username and password previously set in the .env file, and click the “OK” button.

Welcome to the Traefik control panel.