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Install Gitlab

This guide helps with installation of a dedicated Gitlab service. This Gitlab installation can be used as OAuth2 authorization provider to the DTaaS software. In addition, it is also possible to use the integrated Gitlab for enabling the digital twin DevOps experimental features of the DTaaS.

There are two possible ways you can install Gitlab:

  • At dedicated domain name (ex: gitlab.foo.com)
  • At a URL path on existing WWW server (ex: foo.com/gitlab)

This guide illustrates the installation of Gitlab at: foo.com/gitlab. But the instructions can be adapted to install Gitlab at a dedicated domain name.

Configure and Install

If you have not cloned the DTaaS git repository, cloning would be the first step. In case you already have the codebase, you can skip the cloning step. To clone, do:

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git clone https://github.com/into-cps-association/DTaaS.git
cd DTaaS/deploy/services/gitlab

This directory contains files needed to set up the docker container containing the local GitLab instance.

  1. ./data, ./config, ./logs are the directories that will contain data for the GitLab instance
  2. compose.gitlab.yml and .env are the Docker compose and environment files to manage the containerized instance of gitlab

If the DTaaS application and gitlab are to be hosted at https://foo.com, then the client config file (deploy/config/client/env.js) needs to use the https://foo.com/gitlab as REACT_APP_AUTH_AUTHORITY. In addition, this hosting at https://foo.com also requires changes to config file (.env.server).

If the DTaaS application and gitlab are to be hosted at https://localhost, then the client config file (deploy/config/client/env.local.js) needs to use the https://localhost/gitlab as REACT_APP_AUTH_AUTHORITY. If the application and the integrated gitlab are to be hosted at https://localhost/gitlab, then .env.server need not be modified.

Edit the .env file available in this directory to contain the following variables:

Variable Example Value Explanation
GITLAB_HOME '/home/Desktop/DTaaS/deploy/services/gitlab' Full path to the DTaaS gitlab directory. This is an absolute path with no trailing slash.
SERVER_DNS either foo.com or localhost The server DNS, if you are deploying with a dedicated server. Remember not use http(s) at the beginning of the DNS string.

NOTE: The DTaaS client uses the react-oidc-context node package, which incorrectly causes redirects to use the HTTPS URL scheme. This is a known issue with the package, and forces us to use HTTPS for the DTaaS server. If you are hosting the DTaaS locally, your GitLab instance should be available at https://localhost/gitlab. If you are hosting the DTaaS at https://foo.com, then you Gitlab instance should be available at https://foo.com/gitlab.

Run

NOTE: The GitLab instance operates with the dtaas-frontend network, which requires the DTaaS server to be running before you start it. You may refer to secure installation scenarios (../overview.md) for the same.

The commands to start and stop the instance are:

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# (cd deploy/services/gitlab)
docker compose -f compose.gitlab.yml up -d
docker compose -f compose.gitlab.yml down

Each time you start the container, it may take a few minutes. You can monitor the progress with watch docker ps and check if the gitlab container is healthy.

Post-install Configuration

Gitlab also requires post-installation configuration.

Information

This configuration needs to be done from within the running container.

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docker exec -it gitlab bash

The configuration file to change is /etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb. The variables to change are:

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external_url 'http(s)://foo.com/gitlab'
nginx['listen_port'] = 80
nginx['enable'] = true

nginx['listen_https'] = false
nginx['redirect_http_to_https'] = false
letsencrypt['enable'] = false

The external_url mentioned about indicates hosting of gitlab at https://foo.com/gitlab. If the gitlab needs to be available at https://localhost/gitlab, then the external_url should be https://localhost/gitlab.

Save the changes and reconfigure gitlab by running:

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# inside the gitlab docker container
gitlab-ctl reconfigure
exit

The administrator username for GitLab is: root. The password for this user account will be available in: /etc/gitlab/initial_root_password. Be sure to save this password somewhere, as this file will be deleted after 24 hours from the first time you start the local instance.

After running the container, your local GitLab instance will be available at external_url specified in gitlab.rb, i.e., either at https://foo.com/gitlab or at https://localhost/gitlab.

Create Users

The newly installed gitlab only contains root user. More users need to be created for use with DTaaS. Please see the Gitlab docs for further help.

Pending Tasks

This README helps with installation of Gitlab along side DTaaS application. But the OAuth2 integration between Gitlab and DTaaS will still be still pending. Follow the integration guide and runner setup to setup the Gitlab integration.