GitLab Community Edition (CE) is a powerful platform for hosting Git repositories and facilitating continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) workflows. In this guide, we will show you how to install and configure GitLab CE on CentOS 8. Whether you're using a Windows VPS UK or another VPS hosting solution, this guide will help you get GitLab up and running.

Prerequisites

Before getting started, ensure you have the following:

• A CentOS 8 server, which can be hosted on a UK Windows VPS or other Windows Virtual Private Servers.
• Root or sudo privileges on your server.
• A domain name or a public IP address for accessing GitLab.
• At least 4 GB of RAM.

Step 1: Update Your System

Start by updating your CentOS 8 system to ensure all installed packages are up to date:

sudo dnf update -y

Step 2: Install Required Dependencies

Before installing GitLab, make sure that your server has the necessary dependencies installed. GitLab requires curl, policycoreutils, and openssh-server. Install them by running the following command:

sudo dnf install curl policycoreutils openssh-server -y

Start and enable the SSH service:

sudo systemctl enable sshd
sudo systemctl start sshd

Step 3: Add the GitLab CE Repository

Next, add the GitLab repository to your system and install GitLab Community Edition. Use the following command to add the GitLab CE repository:

curl https://packages.gitlab.com/install/repositories/gitlab/gitlab-ce/script.rpm.sh | sudo bash

Step 4: Install GitLab CE

Once the repository is added, install GitLab CE by running the following command, replacing your-domain.com with your actual domain or server IP:

sudo EXTERNAL_URL="http://your-domain.com" dnf install -y gitlab-ce

This command will install GitLab and configure it to run on the specified domain or IP address. After the installation is complete, GitLab will automatically configure itself based on the provided URL.

Step 5: Configure the Firewall

If you have a firewall running on your server, ensure that HTTP and HTTPS traffic is allowed. Run the following commands to open the necessary ports:

sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=http
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=https
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

Step 6: Configure GitLab

After installation, GitLab will be accessible via the domain or IP you provided. To complete the configuration, open your web browser and navigate to http://your-domain.com. You will be prompted to set a new password for the GitLab root account.

Once the password is set, log in using the following default credentials:

• Username: root
• Password: The one you just set

Step 7: Enable Let's Encrypt SSL (Optional)

To secure your GitLab installation with SSL, you can enable Let's Encrypt. Open the GitLab configuration file:

sudo nano /etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb

Find the following lines and enable Let's Encrypt by setting letsencrypt['enable'] to true:

external_url "https://your-domain.com"
letsencrypt['enable'] = true

Save and exit the file, then reconfigure GitLab to apply the changes:

sudo gitlab-ctl reconfigure

Now your GitLab instance will automatically generate and install an SSL certificate using Let's Encrypt.

Step 8: Using GitLab

Your GitLab instance is now ready for use. You can create new repositories, manage users, and set up CI/CD pipelines. GitLab offers a wide range of features to streamline development processes and improve team collaboration, making it an ideal solution for environments like VPS Windows Servers or Windows VPS Italy.

Conclusion

By following this guide, you have successfully installed and configured GitLab CE on CentOS 8. This setup is highly scalable and can be tailored to meet the needs of teams using agile development workflows, whether you're hosting on a Windows VPS UK or other Windows Virtual Dedicated Server Hosting environments.