rpi-gitlab-ce

Project status: archived / read-only

GitLab now officially publishes ARM64 Docker images: https://hub.docker.com/r/gitlab/gitlab-ce. Because of that, this repository is no longer maintained.

GitLab 18 architecture change (important)

Starting with GitLab 18, the old armhf image variant is no longer available. Official ARM container support is now arm64 only.

If you are running GitLab 17 on armhf hardware, you cannot perform an in-place upgrade to GitLab 18 on the same armhf environment. A practical migration path is:

1. Create a backup on your GitLab 17 instance.
2. Move that backup to a machine that can run an x64 GitLab container.
3. Restore the backup to an x64 container running the same GitLab version, then upgrade it to GitLab 18.2.
4. Create a new backup from the upgraded 18.2 instance.
5. Restore that backup on your Raspberry Pi deployment using a GitLab CE 18.2 arm64 container.

This architecture transition is another reason this repository is archived.

For a Docker Compose step-by-step migration example, see UPGRADE.md.

Background

This project was based on the upstream GitLab Omnibus Docker setup: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/omnibus-gitlab/tree/master/docker

It includes Raspberry Pi-specific adjustments.

For better performance on low-memory Raspberry Pi devices, consider enabling zram: http://yulun.me/2015/enable-zram-for-raspberry-pi-debian/

Install Docker on Raspberry Pi

Official docs: https://docs.docker.com/install/linux/docker-ce/debian/#install-using-the-convenience-script

curl -sSL https://get.docker.com | sh

Install and run the container

Method 1: Use prebuilt image

sudo docker run --detach \
    --hostname IP \
    --publish 443:443 --publish 80:80 --publish 22:22 \
    --name gitlab \
    --restart always \
    --volume /srv/gitlab/config:/etc/gitlab \
    --volume /srv/gitlab/logs:/var/log/gitlab \
    --volume /srv/gitlab/data:/var/opt/gitlab \
    jubilee2/rpi-gitlab-ce:v12.4.1

Method 2: Build image yourself

Build GitLab image

sudo apt-get install git
git clone https://github.com/jubilee2/rpi-gitlab-ce.git
cd rpi-gitlab-ce
sudo docker build -t gitlab-ce .

Run GitLab container

sudo docker run --detach \
    --hostname IP \
    --publish 443:443 --publish 80:80 --publish 22:22 \
    --name gitlab \
    --restart always \
    --volume /srv/gitlab/config:/etc/gitlab \
    --volume /srv/gitlab/logs:/var/log/gitlab \
    --volume /srv/gitlab/data:/var/opt/gitlab \
    gitlab-ce:latest

Notes from prior Raspberry Pi usage

• On a Raspberry Pi 3 B+ with zram enabled, first startup took about 20 minutes.
• During startup, this known issue sometimes appeared: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/omnibus-gitlab/blob/master/doc/common_installation_problems/README.md#failed-to-modify-kernel-parameters-with-sysctl
• In prior testing, initialization still completed after several automatic restarts.

Additional official documentation

• GitLab Omnibus Docker docs: https://docs.gitlab.com/omnibus/docker/
• GitLab Docker install guide: https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/install/docker.html
• Memory-constrained environments: https://docs.gitlab.com/omnibus/settings/memory_constrained_envs/