GID - Gitlab in Docker

Overview

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This post describes how to deploy a GitLab CE server and a GitLab Runner using Docker Compose. The setup includes:

• A GitLab CE container serving the web interface and repository management functions.
• A GitLab Runner container to execute CI/CD jobs.

Prerequisites

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• Docker
• Docker Compose

Deployment

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Save the following content as docker-compose.yml:

version: '3.8'
services:

  gitlab-server:
    image: 'gitlab/gitlab-ce:latest'
    container_name: gitlab-server
    ports:
      - '8000:8000'
    environment:
      GITLAB_ROOT_EMAIL: "chxmxii.ctf@gmail.com"
      GITLAB_ROOT_PASSWORD: "v3ryl0ng&&secur3p455w0rd"
      GITLAB_OMNIBUS_CONFIG: |
        external_url 'http://localhost:8000'
        nginx['listen_port'] = 8000        
    volumes:
      - ./gitlab/config:/etc/gitlab
      - ./gitlab/data:/var/opt/gitlab

  gitlab-runner:
    image: gitlab/gitlab-runner:alpine
    container_name: gitlab-runner
    network_mode: 'host'
    volumes:
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock

Now you can deploy the containers using:

docker compose up -d

Access

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The GitLab server will be available at:
http://localhost:8000

Use the specified email and password to log in.

Notes

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• GitLab data is saved locally in the ./gitlab directory.
• The GitLab Runner uses the Docker socket to run jobs in containers.
• network_mode: 'host' lets the runner reach the GitLab server without extra setup.

Registering the Runner

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To register the GitLab Runner, execute the following command:

docker exec -it gitlab-runner gitlab-runner register

You will be asked for the following information:

• GitLab instance URL: http://localhost:8000
• Registration token: You can find this in GitLab under Admin Area > Runners
• Description: Any label for this runner (e.g., local-runner)
• Tags: Optional tags (e.g., docker)
• Executor: Choose docker and specify the default image (e.g., alpine:latest)

After successful registration, the runner will be ready to execute jobs from GitLab.