GitLab Packages administration (PREMIUM ONLY)

GitLab Packages allows organizations to utilize GitLab as a private repository for a variety of common package managers. Users are able to build and publish packages, which can be easily consumed as a dependency in downstream projects.

The Packages feature allows GitLab to act as a repository for the following:

Software repository	Description	Available in GitLab version
Maven Repository	The GitLab Maven Repository enables every project in GitLab to have its own space to store Maven packages.	11.3+
NPM Registry	The GitLab NPM Registry enables every project in GitLab to have its own space to store NPM packages.	11.7+

Don't you see your package management system supported yet? Please consider contributing to GitLab. This development documentation will guide you through the process.

Enabling the Packages feature

NOTE: Note: After the Packages feature is enabled, the repositories are available for all new projects by default. To enable it for existing projects, users will have to explicitly do so in the project's settings.

To enable the Packages feature:

Omnibus GitLab installations

Edit /etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb and add the following line:
```
gitlab_rails['packages_enabled'] = true
```
Save the file and reconfigure GitLab for the changes to take effect.

Installations from source

After the installation is complete, you will have to configure the packages section in config/gitlab.yml. Set to true to enable it:
```
packages:
  enabled: true
```
Restart GitLab for the changes to take effect.

Changing the storage path

By default, the packages are stored locally, but you can change the default local location or even use object storage.

Changing the local storage path

The packages for Omnibus GitLab installations are stored under /var/opt/gitlab/gitlab-rails/shared/packages/ and for source installations under shared/packages/ (relative to the git homedir). To change the local storage path:

Omnibus GitLab installations

Edit /etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb and add the following line:

gitlab_rails['packages_storage_path'] = "/mnt/packages"

Save the file and reconfigure GitLab for the changes to take effect.

Installations from source

Edit the packages section in config/gitlab.yml:

packages:
  enabled: true
  storage_path: shared/packages

Restart GitLab for the changes to take effect.

Using object storage

Instead of relying on the local storage, you can use an object storage to upload packages:

Omnibus GitLab installations

Edit /etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb and add the following lines (uncomment where necessary):

gitlab_rails['packages_enabled'] = true
gitlab_rails['packages_storage_path'] = "/var/opt/gitlab/gitlab-rails/shared/packages"
gitlab_rails['packages_object_store_enabled'] = true
gitlab_rails['packages_object_store_remote_directory'] = "packages" # The bucket name.
gitlab_rails['packages_object_store_direct_upload'] = false         # Use Object Storage directly for uploads instead of background uploads if enabled (Default: false).
gitlab_rails['packages_object_store_background_upload'] = true      # Temporary option to limit automatic upload (Default: true).
gitlab_rails['packages_object_store_proxy_download'] = false        # Passthrough all downloads via GitLab instead of using Redirects to Object Storage.
gitlab_rails['packages_object_store_connection'] = {
  ##
  ## If the provider is AWS S3, uncomment the following
  ##
  #'provider' => 'AWS',
  #'region' => 'eu-west-1',
  #'aws_access_key_id' => 'AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID',
  #'aws_secret_access_key' => 'AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY',
  ##
  ## If the provider is other than AWS (an S3-compatible one), uncomment the following
  ##
  #'host' => 's3.amazonaws.com',
  #'aws_signature_version' => 4             # For creation of signed URLs. Set to 2 if provider does not support v4.
  #'endpoint' => 'https://s3.amazonaws.com' # Useful for S3-compliant services such as DigitalOcean Spaces.
  #'path_style' => false                    # If true, use 'host/bucket_name/object' instead of 'bucket_name.host/object'.
}

Save the file and reconfigure GitLab for the changes to take effect.

Installations from source

Edit the packages section in config/gitlab.yml (uncomment where necessary):

  packages:
    enabled: true
    ##
    ## The location where build packages are stored (default: shared/packages).
    ##
    #storage_path: shared/packages
    object_store:
      enabled: false
      remote_directory: packages # The bucket name.
      #direct_upload: false      # Use Object Storage directly for uploads instead of background uploads if enabled (Default: false).
      #background_upload: true   # Temporary option to limit automatic upload (Default: true).
      #proxy_download: false     # Passthrough all downloads via GitLab instead of using Redirects to Object Storage.
      connection:
        ##
        ## If the provider is AWS S3, uncomment the following
        ##
        #provider: AWS
        #region: us-east-1
        #aws_access_key_id: AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID
        #aws_secret_access_key: AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY
        ##
        ## If the provider is other than AWS (an S3-compatible one), uncomment the following
        ##
        #host: 's3.amazonaws.com'             # default: s3.amazonaws.com.
        #aws_signature_version: 4             # For creation of signed URLs. Set to 2 if provider does not support v4.
        #endpoint: 'https://s3.amazonaws.com' # Useful for S3-compliant services such as DigitalOcean Spaces.
        #path_style: false                    # If true, use 'host/bucket_name/object' instead of 'bucket_name.host/object'.

Restart GitLab for the changes to take effect.

Migrating local packages to object storage

After configuring the object storage, you may use the following task to migrate existing packages from the local storage to the remote one. The processing will be done in a background worker and requires no downtime.

For Omnibus GitLab:

sudo gitlab-rake "gitlab:packages:migrate"

For installations from source:

RAILS_ENV=production sudo -u git -H bundle exec rake gitlab:packages:migrate