Deploying GitLab on CentOS 8 Using RPM Packages and Configuring an External PostgreSQL Database

This article demonstrates how to install GitLab CE on a CentOS 8 system using the Tsinghua mirror RPM package, configure the instance, control its services, test web access, and optionally connect it to an external PostgreSQL database.

Using RPM Package Deployment

The system is CentOS 8 and the package is fetched from the Tsinghua mirror.

## 下载软件包
wget https://mirrors.tuna.tsinghua.edu.cn/gitlab-ce/yum/el8/gitlab-ce-13.7.0-ce.0.el8.x86_64.rpm

## 安装
rpm -ivh gitlab-ce-13.7.0-ce.0.el8.x86_64.rpm

## 日志输出
warning: gitlab-ce-13.7.0-ce.0.el8.x86_64.rpm: Header V4 RSA/SHA256 Signature, key ID f27eab47: NOKEY
Verifying...                          ################################# [100%]
Preparing...                          ################################# [100%]
Updating / installing...
   1:gitlab-ce-13.7.0-ce.0.el8        ################################# [100%]
It looks like GitLab has not been configured yet; skipping the upgrade script.

After installation, GitLab prompts to set external_url in /etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb and run sudo gitlab-ctl reconfigure to start the instance.

Configuration

Edit /etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb to set the desired hostname. The default line is:

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

To change the domain, replace it, for example:

## 修改gitlab.rb
external_url 'http://gitlab.devops.com'
## 重新配置
gitlab-ctl reconfigure

Service Control

## 启动服务
gitlab-ctl start
## 重启服务
gitlab-ctl restart
## 查看状态
gitlab-ctl status
## 停止
gitlab-ctl stop

Access Test

Add the chosen domain to /etc/hosts (e.g., 192.168.1.200 gitlab.devops.com ) and browse to http://gitlab.devops.com/ . Log in with the default user root and the password you set (e.g., devops1234 ).

Extension: Using an External PostgreSQL Database

Start PostgreSQL with Docker

mkdir /root/gitlab/pgdata

docker run --name dockerPG11 \
-e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=postgres \
-v /root/gitlab/pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data \
-p 54322:5432 \
-d postgres:11.5

## 创建数据库
psql -U postgres -h localhost -p 54322
# create role gitlab login encrypted password 'gitlab';
# create database gitlabhq_production owner=gitlab ENCODING = 'UTF8';
\c gitlabhq_production
CREATE EXTENSION IF NOT EXISTS btree_gist;
CREATE EXTENSION IF NOT EXISTS pg_trgm;
\q

These extensions must be created by a superuser; otherwise you will see permission‑denied errors.

Modify gitlab.rb for PostgreSQL

654 gitlab_rails['db_adapter'] = "postgresql"
655 gitlab_rails['db_encoding'] = "utf8"
657 gitlab_rails['db_database'] = "gitlabhq_production"
658 gitlab_rails['db_username'] = "gitlab"
659 gitlab_rails['db_password'] = "gitlab"
660 gitlab_rails['db_host'] = "192.168.1.200"
661 gitlab_rails['db_port'] = 54322
1025 postgresql['enable'] = false

## 配置更新
gitlab-ctl reconfigure

Verify Configuration

cat /opt/gitlab/embedded/service/gitlab-rails/config/database.yml

# This file is managed by gitlab-ctl. Manual changes will be
# erased! To change the contents below, edit /etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb
# and run `sudo gitlab-ctl reconfigure`.

production:
  adapter: postgresql
  encoding: utf8
  collation:
  database: gitlabhq_production
  username: "gitlab"
  password: "gitlab"
  host: "192.168.1.200"
  port: 54322

After reconfiguring, GitLab should start successfully and be reachable at the configured URL.