10 Simple and Best Steps to Install Gitea on Ubuntu 20.04

Table of Contents

What is Gitea

Gitea is a painless self-hosted Git service. It is similar to GitHub, Bitbucket, and GitLab. Gitea is a fork of Gogs.

Steps to Install Gitea on Ubuntu 20.04

Also Read: How to Install JUnit on Ubuntu 20.04 in 4 Practical Steps

Step 1: Prerequisites

a) You should have a running Ubuntu 20.04 Server.

b) You should have sudo or root access to run privileged commands.

c) You should have wget utility installed in your Server.

Step 2: Update Your System

Let's first synchronize all the installed packages with the latest updates available on Ubuntu Repository using apt-get update command as shown below.

root@localhost:~# apt-get update
Hit:1 http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal InRelease
Get:2 http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates InRelease [114 kB]
Get:3 http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-backports InRelease [101 kB]
Get:4 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-security InRelease [114 kB]
Get:5 http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates/main i386 Packages [481 kB]
Get:6 http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates/main amd64 Packages [990 kB]
Get:7 http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates/main Translation-en [224 kB]
Get:8 http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates/main amd64 DEP-11 Metadata [274 kB]
Get:9 http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates/main DEP-11 48x48 Icons [57.6 kB]
Get:10 http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates/main DEP-11 64x64 Icons [90.7 kB]
Get:11 http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates/main amd64 c-n-f Metadata [13.4 kB]
Get:12 http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates/restricted amd64 Packages [226 kB]
Get:13 http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates/restricted amd64 c-n-f Metadata [436 B]
Get:14 http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates/universe i386 Packages [574 kB]
Get:15 http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates/universe amd64 Packages [778 kB]
Get:16 http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates/universe Translation-en [167 kB]

Step 3: Install Git

In the very first step, you need to install git client tool using apt-get install git command as shown below.

root@localhost:~# apt-get install git
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following additional packages will be installed:
git-man liberror-perl
Suggested packages:
git-daemon-run | git-daemon-sysvinit git-doc git-el git-email git-gui gitk gitweb git-cvs git-mediawiki git-svn
The following NEW packages will be installed:
git git-man liberror-perl
0 upgraded, 3 newly installed, 0 to remove and 111 not upgraded.
Need to get 5,468 kB of archives.
After this operation, 38.4 MB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y
Get:1 http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal/main amd64 liberror-perl all 0.17029-1 [26.5 kB]
Get:2 http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates/main amd64 git-man all 1:2.25.1-1ubuntu3.1 [884 kB]
Get:3 http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates/main amd64 git amd64 1:2.25.1-1ubuntu3.1 [4,557 kB]
Fetched 5,468 kB in 2s (2,341 kB/s)

Step 4: Create a Git User

Next step is to create a git user and a git group using adduser utility as shown below.

root@localhost:~# adduser \
> --system \
> --shell /bin/bash \
> --gecos 'Git Version Control' \
> --group \
> --disabled-password \
> --home /home/git \
> git
Adding system user `git' (UID 127) ...
Adding new group `git' (GID 133) ...
Adding new user `git' (UID 127) with group `git' ...
Creating home directory `/home/git' ...

Step 5: Download Gitea Binary

Download latest Gitea Binary package from Download Page. At the time of writing, gitea-1.14.2-linux-amd64 is the latest version so we are downloading and saving this package as gitea in current working directory.

root@localhost:~# wget -O gitea https://dl.gitea.io/gitea/1.14.2/gitea-1.14.2-linux-amd64
--2021-05-30 10:39:01-- https://dl.gitea.io/gitea/1.14.2/gitea-1.14.2-linux-amd64
Connecting to dl.gitea.io (dl.gitea.io)|172.67.186.211|:443... connected.
Location: https://storage.gitea.io/gitea-artifacts/gitea/1.14.2/gitea-1.14.2-linux-amd64?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=SU5ZZ3Q6D6AFIQSCOO65%2F20210530%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20210530T051159Z&X-Amz-Expires=600&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=3de65964e5c92fc43f20428815005cf750f151d7dec8d26eb845ad3d6b3d2734 [following]
--2021-05-30 10:41:59-- https://storage.gitea.io/gitea-artifacts/gitea/1.14.2/gitea-1.14.2-linux-amd64?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=SU5ZZ3Q6D6AFIQSCOO65%2F20210530%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20210530T051159Z&X-Amz-Expires=600&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=3de65964e5c92fc43f20428815005cf750f151d7dec8d26eb845ad3d6b3d2734
Connecting to storage.gitea.io (storage.gitea.io)|147.75.84.81|:443... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 107969264 (103M) [application/octet-stream]
Saving to: ‘gitea’

gitea 100%[============================================================================>] 102.97M 2.85MB/s in 44s

2021-05-30 10:44:55 (2.33 MB/s) - ‘gitea’ saved [107969264/107969264]
root@localhost:~# ls -lrt gitea
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 107969264 May 12 00:44 gitea

To run this package, you need to provide execute permission using chmod +x gitea command as shown below.

root@localhost:~# chmod +x gitea

Along with the main gitea package, you can also download gitea-1.14.2-linux-amd64.asc file to verify the GPG Signature.

root@localhost:~# wget https://dl.gitea.io/gitea/1.14.2/gitea-1.14.2-linux-amd64.asc
--2021-05-30 10:59:14-- https://dl.gitea.io/gitea/1.14.2/gitea-1.14.2-linux-amd64.asc
Resolving dl.gitea.io (dl.gitea.io)... 2606:4700:8d9d:e227:98d7:11e:20df:7b74, 172.67.186.211, 104.21.60.7
Connecting to dl.gitea.io (dl.gitea.io)|172.67.186.211|:443... connected.
Location: https://storage.gitea.io/gitea-artifacts/gitea/1.14.2/gitea-1.14.2-linux-amd64.asc?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=SU5ZZ3Q6D6AFIQSCOO65%2F20210530%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20210530T053133Z&X-Amz-Expires=600&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=91b34f0baa58b5513a944d400c667bf6fb4b867e17314a1eff0b11b4c78cc825 [following]
--2021-05-30 11:01:33-- https://storage.gitea.io/gitea-artifacts/gitea/1.14.2/gitea-1.14.2-linux-amd64.asc?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=SU5ZZ3Q6D6AFIQSCOO65%2F20210530%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20210530T053133Z&X-Amz-Expires=600&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=91b34f0baa58b5513a944d400c667bf6fb4b867e17314a1eff0b11b4c78cc825
Resolving storage.gitea.io (storage.gitea.io)... 2604:1380:2000:c600::5, 147.75.84.81
Connecting to storage.gitea.io (storage.gitea.io)|2604:1380:2000:c600::5|:443... failed: Connection timed out.
Connecting to storage.gitea.io (storage.gitea.io)|147.75.84.81|:443... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 833 [text/plain]
Saving to: ‘gitea-1.14.2-linux-amd64.asc’

gitea-1.14.2-linux-amd64.asc 100%[============================================================================>] 833 --.-KB/s in 0s

2021-05-30 11:03:44 (3.92 MB/s) - ‘gitea-1.14.2-linux-amd64.asc’ saved [833/833]

Step 6: Verify GPG Signature

To verify GPG Signature, first you need to import Teabot public key and then verify the gitea downloaded package by using gitea-1.14.2-linux-amd64.asc file as shown below.

root@localhost:~# gpg --keyserver keys.openpgp.org --recv 7C9E68152594688862D62AF62D9AE806EC1592E2
gpg: directory '/root/.gnupg' created
gpg: keybox '/root/.gnupg/pubring.kbx' created
gpg: /root/.gnupg/trustdb.gpg: trustdb created
gpg: key 2D9AE806EC1592E2: public key "Teabot <teabot@gitea.io>" imported
gpg: Total number processed: 1
gpg: imported: 1
root@localhost:~# gpg --verify gitea-1.14.2-linux-amd64.asc gitea
gpg: Signature made Sunday 09 May 2021 04:04:52 PM IST
gpg: using RSA key CC64B1DB67ABBEECAB24B6455FC346329753F4B0
gpg: Good signature from "Teabot <teabot@gitea.io>" [unknown]
gpg: WARNING: This key is not certified with a trusted signature!
gpg: There is no indication that the signature belongs to the owner.
Primary key fingerprint: 7C9E 6815 2594 6888 62D6 2AF6 2D9A E806 EC15 92E2
Subkey fingerprint: CC64 B1DB 67AB BEEC AB24 B645 5FC3 4632 9753 F4B0

Once verified, you can now move gitea binary to /usr/local/bin directory using mv gitea /usr/local/bin/ command as shown below.

root@localhost:~# mv gitea /usr/local/bin/

Step 7: Create Directory Structure

Next step is to create gitea directory structure and then change/modify directory ownership using below chmod and chown commands.

root@localhost:~# mkdir -p /var/lib/gitea/{custom,data,log}
root@localhost:~# chown -R git:git /var/lib/gitea/
root@localhost:~# chmod -R 750 /var/lib/gitea/
root@localhost:~# mkdir /etc/gitea
root@localhost:~# chown root:git /etc/gitea
root@localhost:~# chmod 770 /etc/gitea

Step 8: Create a Systemd Service

To create a systemd service, you can download Sample systemd service from below link and save it in /etc/systemd/system/gitea.service using wget utility as shown below.

root@localhost:~# wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/go-gitea/gitea/main/contrib/systemd/gitea.service -P /etc/systemd/system/
--2021-05-30 11:19:11-- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/go-gitea/gitea/main/contrib/systemd/gitea.service
Resolving raw.githubusercontent.com (raw.githubusercontent.com)... 185.199.109.133, 185.199.110.133, 185.199.111.133, ...
Connecting to raw.githubusercontent.com (raw.githubusercontent.com)|185.199.109.133|:443... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 2136 (2.1K) [text/plain]
Saving to: ‘/etc/systemd/system/gitea.service’

gitea.service 100%[============================================================================>] 2.09K --.-KB/s in 0s

2021-05-30 11:19:11 (6.43 MB/s) - ‘/etc/systemd/system/gitea.service’ saved [2136/2136]

Reload the daemon using systemctl daemon-reload command and then enable the service by using systemctl enable --now gitea command as shown below.

root@localhost:~# systemctl daemon-reload
root@localhost:~# systemctl enable --now gitea
Created symlink /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/gitea.service → /etc/systemd/system/gitea.service.

Now you can start the service using systemctl start gitea command if not already started and then check the status by using systemctl status gitea command as shown below.

root@localhost:~# systemctl start gitea
root@localhost:~# systemctl status gitea
● gitea.service - Gitea (Git with a cup of tea)
Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/gitea.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
Active: active (running) since Sun 2021-05-30 11:34:30 IST; 6s ago
Main PID: 5553 (gitea)
Tasks: 6 (limit: 2315)
Memory: 125.6M
CGroup: /system.slice/gitea.service
└─5553 /usr/local/bin/gitea web --config /etc/gitea/app.ini

May 30 11:34:30 cyberithub-node gitea[5553]: 2021/05/30 11:34:30 ...dules/setting/git.go:101:newGit() [I] Git Version: 2.25.1, Wire Protocol Version 2 Enab>
May 30 11:34:30 cyberithub-node gitea[5553]: 2021/05/30 11:34:30 routers/init.go:93:PreInstallInit() [T] AppPath: /usr/local/bin/gitea
May 30 11:34:30 cyberithub-node gitea[5553]: 2021/05/30 11:34:30 routers/init.go:94:PreInstallInit() [T] AppWorkPath: /var/lib/gitea
May 30 11:34:30 cyberithub-node gitea[5553]: 2021/05/30 11:34:30 routers/init.go:95:PreInstallInit() [T] Custom path: /var/lib/gitea/custom
May 30 11:34:30 cyberithub-node gitea[5553]: 2021/05/30 11:34:30 routers/init.go:96:PreInstallInit() [T] Log path: /var/lib/gitea/log
May 30 11:34:30 cyberithub-node gitea[5553]: 2021/05/30 11:34:30 routers/init.go:97:PreInstallInit() [T] Preparing to run install page
May 30 11:34:30 cyberithub-node gitea[5553]: 2021/05/30 11:34:30 routers/init.go:100:PreInstallInit() [I] SQLite3 Supported
May 30 11:34:30 cyberithub-node gitea[5553]: 2021/05/30 11:34:30 cmd/web.go:189:listen() [I] Listen: http://0.0.0.0:3000
May 30 11:34:30 cyberithub-node gitea[5553]: 2021/05/30 11:34:30 ...s/graceful/server.go:55:NewServer() [I] Starting new Web server: tcp:0.0.0.0:3000 on PI>
May 30 11:34:30 cyberithub-node gitea[5553]: 2021/05/30 11:34:30 ...s/graceful/server.go:66:func1() [D] Starting server on tcp:0.0.0.0:3000 (PID: 5553)

Step 9: Allow Port

If you are running firewall, then you need to allow TCP Port 3000 from firewall using ufw allow 3000/tcp command as shown below.

root@localhost:~# ufw allow 3000/tcp
Rules updated
Rules updated (v6)

Step 10: Configure Gitea

Go to your Browser and open http://localhost:3000 link as shown below. Here you can provide below settings before starting the installation.

Database Type: SQLite3
Path: /var/lib/gitea/data/gitea.db
Site Title: <Your Organization Name>
Repository Root Path: var/lib/gitea/data/gitea-repositories.
Git LFS Root Path: /var/lib/gitea/data/lfs.
Run As Username: git
SSH Server Domain: <Your Domain or IP Address>
SSH Port: 22
Gitea HTTP Listen Port: 3000
Gitea Base URL: By default, it will be localhost
Log Path: /var/lib/gitea/log

Then Click on Install. Once installed, you should now be able to see the Gitea Home page as shown below.

Cyberithub