Self-Hosting Your Own Git Server with Gitea

Introduction

Self-hosted Git servers give you full control over access, backups, and integrations. Gitea is a popular, lightweight option that runs quickly on modest hardware and ships with a friendly web UI, SSH access, and an API. This guide walks you through a practical setup using Docker Compose, so you can host a private Git server for your team or personal projects.

Why choose Gitea for self-hosting

• Lightweight and fast: very small resource footprint compared to larger platforms.
• Easy to install: single binary in typical deployments, plus Docker support.
• Built-in features: code hosting, issue tracking, wiki, pull requests, and webhooks.
• Flexible deployment: works behind a reverse proxy with TLS termination.

Prerequisites

• A server you control (VPS or dedicated) with Linux (Ubuntu/Debian recommended).
• A domain name or static IP for access (optional but recommended).
• Basic familiarity with Docker and Docker Compose.
• Ports 80/443 available for TLS termination if you plan to use a domain.

Quick start with Docker Compose

This approach runs Gitea with PostgreSQL as the database and exposes the web UI on port 3000 (behind a reverse proxy if you configure TLS).

# docker-compose.yaml
version: '3.8'

services:
  db:
    image: postgres:15
    restart: unless-stopped
    volumes:
      - db-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    environment:
      POSTGRES_USER: gitea
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: gitea123
      POSTGRES_DB: gitea

  gitea:
    image: gitea/gitea:1.19.0
    depends_on:
      - db
    environment:
      - USER_UID=1000
      - USER_GID=1000
      - GITEA__database__DB_TYPE=postgres
      - GITEA__database__HOST=db:5432
      - GITEA__database__NAME=gitea
      - GITEA__database__USER=gitea
      - GITEA__database__PASS=gitea123
      - GITEA__server__ROOT_URL=https://git.example.com/
    restart: unless-stopped
    volumes:
      - gitea-data:/data
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
      - "22:22"

volumes:
  db-data:
  gitea-data:

Steps to run:

• On your server, create a directory for the project and place docker-compose.yaml there.
• Run: docker compose up -d
• Wait a minute or two for Gitea to initialize, then visit http://:3000 or your domain if you’re using a reverse proxy.

Domain, TLS, and reverse proxy considerations

• If you’re using a domain (recommended), point an A/AAAA record to your server and set ROOT_URL in the Gitea environment to your domain (e.g., https://git.yourdomain.com/).
• For TLS, place a reverse proxy in front of Gitea (e.g., Nginx, Traefik, or Caddy) and terminate TLS there. If you use Nginx:
  • Configure a server block for your domain that proxies requests to http://localhost:3000.
  • Enable TLS with Let’s Encrypt or your certificate.
• You can also deploy Gitea behind Traefik with automatic Let’s Encrypt certificates.

Example Nginx snippet (simplified):

• server_name git.yourdomain.com;
• location / { proxy_pass http://localhost:3000; }

Remember to adjust ROOT_URL to reflect the public URL you expose to users.

First run and basic configuration

• Open your domain or IP in a browser and complete the initial setup wizard.
• Create an admin user and connect at least one repository.
• Enable SSH access for git operations and configure your SSH keys for collaborators.
• In Gitea, configure user permissions, repository visibility, and webhook defaults as needed.

Security and best practices

• Keep your Gitea image up to date by pulling the latest tag and restarting containers after updates.
• Use a strong admin password and limit admin access to trusted accounts.
• Enable TLS at the reverse proxy to encrypt in transit.
• Regularly back up data:
  • /path/to/gitea-data (the Gitea data directory)
  • /path/to/db-data (PostgreSQL data)
• Consider separate users for deployment tasks and restrict SSH access to trusted keys.
• Disable or tightly control unnecessary services (e.g., SSH if you don’t need it publicly).

Maintenance and upgrades

• To upgrade Gitea, pull the latest image and recreate the containers:
  • docker compose pull
  • docker compose up -d
• Test the upgrade in a staging environment if possible, especially if you rely on custom hooks or plugins.

Conclusion

Gitea provides a compact, capable foundation for self-hosted Git workflows. With Docker Compose, you can get a private Git server up quickly while keeping the setup approachable for ongoing maintenance. By pairing Gitea with a TLS-enabled reverse proxy, you gain a secure, accessible hub for your code, issues, and collaboration.