Install Gitea, your own private Git server

Gitea is a lightweight, self-hosted Git service, similar to GitHub or GitLab. You get private repositories, pull requests, issues, a wiki, and built-in CI/CD (Gitea Actions), with your code stored on your own VPS. It's fast and runs happily on a small server.

This guide runs Gitea in Docker, with Caddy in front of it to provide a free HTTPS certificate automatically. It works on every operating system we offer: Ubuntu 22.04, 24.04 and 26.04, Debian 12 and 13, AlmaLinux 8, 9 and 10, and Rocky Linux 9 and 10.

Before you start

• Docker must be installed. If it isn't, follow our guide: Install Docker Engine and Docker Compose on your VPS.
• A VPS with at least 1 GB of RAM, and enough disk for your repositories.
• A domain or subdomain with an A record pointing to your VPS IP address, for example git.example.co.nz.
• Nothing else using ports 80 or 443 on the server. If you already use Nginx Proxy Manager, see the note near the end.
• SSH access as root or as a user with sudo rights. If you're logged in as root, you can leave sudo off the commands.

Step 1: Open the firewall

Gitea needs ports 80 and 443 for the website, and port 2222 for Git over SSH. Your server's own SSH stays on port 22.

Ubuntu/Debian with UFW enabled:

sudo ufw allow 80/tcp
sudo ufw allow 443
sudo ufw allow 2222/tcp

AlmaLinux/Rocky with firewalld:

sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=http --add-service=https --add-port=443/udp --add-port=2222/tcp
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

Step 2: Create the configuration files

sudo mkdir -p /opt/gitea
cd /opt/gitea
sudo nano .env

Paste in the following, replacing the domain with your own:

DOMAIN=git.example.co.nz

Press Ctrl+O and Enter to save, then Ctrl+X to exit. Next, create the Docker Compose file:

sudo nano compose.yaml

Paste in the following. You don't need to change anything in this file.

services:
  gitea:
    image: docker.gitea.com/gitea:1
    container_name: gitea
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      - USER_UID=1000
      - USER_GID=1000
      - GITEA__server__DOMAIN=${DOMAIN}
      - GITEA__server__ROOT_URL=https://${DOMAIN}/
      - GITEA__server__SSH_DOMAIN=${DOMAIN}
      - GITEA__server__SSH_PORT=2222
    volumes:
      - ./gitea:/data
      - /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro
    ports:
      - "2222:22"

  caddy:
    image: caddy:2
    container_name: caddy
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      - DOMAIN=${DOMAIN}
    ports:
      - "80:80"
      - "443:443"
      - "443:443/udp"
    volumes:
      - ./Caddyfile:/etc/caddy/Caddyfile:ro
      - caddy_data:/data
      - caddy_config:/config

volumes:
  caddy_data:
  caddy_config:

Save and exit. Finally, create the Caddy configuration:

sudo nano Caddyfile

Paste in the following exactly as shown:

{$DOMAIN} {
    reverse_proxy gitea:3000
}

Save and exit.

Step 3: Start Gitea

sudo docker compose up -d

Caddy gets an SSL certificate for your domain automatically. This usually takes under a minute.

Step 4: Run the setup wizard

Open https://git.example.co.nz in your browser. You'll see the Initial Configuration page.

1. Database Type: choose SQLite3. It's the simplest option and works well for individuals and small teams.
2. Check that Server Domain, SSH Server Port (2222) and Gitea Base URL (https://git.example.co.nz/) are filled in correctly.
3. Expand Server and Third-Party Service Settings and tick Disable Self-Registration, so strangers can't create accounts on your server.
4. Expand Administrator Account Settings and create your admin account with a strong password.
5. Click Install Gitea.

Step 5: Add your SSH key and create a repository

1. In Gitea, go to your avatar → Settings → SSH / GPG Keys and add the public key from your computer (for example, the contents of ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub).
2. Click + → New Repository, give it a name and create it.
3. Clone it on your computer over SSH:

git clone ssh://git@git.example.co.nz:2222/YOUR_USERNAME/YOUR_REPO.git

Or over HTTPS: git clone https://git.example.co.nz/YOUR_USERNAME/YOUR_REPO.git

To bring existing projects across, use + → New Migration. Gitea can import repositories, issues and more from GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket and others.

Back up your data

All your repositories, settings and the database are stored in /opt/gitea/gitea. Back it up regularly, and keep copies off the server:

cd /opt/gitea
sudo docker compose stop gitea
sudo tar czf /root/gitea-backup-$(date +%F).tar.gz gitea
sudo docker compose start gitea

Keeping it up to date

Check the Gitea release notes for anything to watch out for, take a backup, then run:

cd /opt/gitea
sudo docker compose pull
sudo docker compose up -d

Already using Nginx Proxy Manager?

Leave out the caddy service and the Caddyfile, add Gitea to your proxy network, and create a proxy host pointing to gitea on port 3000 with an SSL certificate. Keep the 2222:22 port mapping for Git over SSH.

Troubleshooting

• The site won't load over HTTPS: check the Caddy logs with sudo docker logs caddy. The usual cause is DNS that doesn't point to this VPS yet, or ports 80 and 443 being blocked.
• Git over SSH asks for a password or is refused: make sure you're using port 2222 in the clone URL, that port 2222 is open, and that your public key is added in Gitea.
• Clone URLs show the wrong address: check DOMAIN in /opt/gitea/.env. You can also correct ROOT_URL in /opt/gitea/gitea/gitea/conf/app.ini, then run sudo docker compose restart gitea.
• Gitea won't start: check the logs with sudo docker logs gitea.

Need help?

Our Cloud VPS plans are self-managed, so you're responsible for installing, securing and maintaining the software on your server. If something on our side isn't working, such as the network, or your VPS won't boot, open a support ticket. New to your VPS? Start with our Cloud VPS Getting Started Guide.