GitLab exposes certain environment variables which can be used to override their defaults values.
People usually configure GitLab with /etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb for Omnibus installations, or gitlab.yml for installations from source.
You can use the following environment variables to override certain values:
Supported environment variables
| Variable | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
DATABASE_URL | string | The database URL; is of the form: postgresql://localhost/blog_development. |
ENABLE_BOOTSNAP | string | Toggles Bootsnap for speeding up initial Rails boot. Enabled by default for non-production environments. Set to 0 to disable. |
EXTERNAL_URL | string | Specify the external URL at the time of installation. |
EXTERNAL_VALIDATION_SERVICE_TIMEOUT | integer | Timeout, in seconds, for an external CI/CD pipeline validation service. Default is 5. |
EXTERNAL_VALIDATION_SERVICE_URL | string | URL to an external CI/CD pipeline validation service. |
EXTERNAL_VALIDATION_SERVICE_TOKEN | string | The X-Gitlab-Token for authentication with an external CI/CD pipeline validation service. |
GITLAB_CDN_HOST | string | Sets the base URL for a CDN to serve static assets (for example, https://mycdnsubdomain.fictional-cdn.com). |
GITLAB_EMAIL_DISPLAY_NAME | string | The name used in the From field in emails sent by GitLab. |
GITLAB_EMAIL_FROM | string | The email address used in the From field in emails sent by GitLab. |
GITLAB_EMAIL_REPLY_TO | string | The email address used in the Reply-To field in emails sent by GitLab. |
GITLAB_EMAIL_SUBJECT_SUFFIX | string | The email subject suffix used in emails sent by GitLab. |
GITLAB_HOST | string | The full URL of the GitLab server (including http:// or https://). |
GITLAB_MARKUP_TIMEOUT | string | Timeout, in seconds, for rest2html and pod2html commands executed by the gitlab-markup gem. Default is 10. |
GITLAB_ROOT_PASSWORD | string | Sets the password for the root user on installation. |
GITLAB_SHARED_RUNNERS_REGISTRATION_TOKEN | string | Sets the initial registration token used for runners. |
RAILS_ENV | string | The Rails environment; can be one of production, development, staging, or test. |
UNSTRUCTURED_RAILS_LOG | string | Enables the unstructured log in addition to JSON logs (defaults to true). |
Adding more variables
We welcome merge requests to make more settings configurable by using variables. Make changes to the config/initializers/1_settings.rb file, and use the naming scheme GITLAB_#{name in 1_settings.rb in upper case}
I’m Rajesh Kumar, a DevOps, SRE, DevSecOps, Cloud, and Platform Engineering expert passionate about sharing practical knowledge, real-world experiences, and industry best practices. I have worked at Cotocus and regularly write about technology, travel, investing, health, product reviews, and digital marketing through my various platforms.
I publish technical articles at DevOps School, travel stories at Holiday Landmark, stock market insights at Stocks Mantra, health and fitness guidance at My Medic Plus, product reviews at TrueReviewNow, and SEO and digital marketing strategies at Wizbrand.
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