Install Gitea Private Git Server on VPS

June 2026 · 7 min read

Gitea is a lightweight, self-hosted Git service similar to GitHub but installed on your own VPS. It supports repositories, issue tracking, pull requests, webhooks, and organization management. Written in Go, Gitea uses minimal RAM — a 1GB VPS can comfortably run Gitea with hundreds of repositories.

Install Gitea Using Binary Directly

# Create user for Gitea
sudo adduser --system --shell /bin/bash --gecos 'Git Version Control' --group --disabled-password --home /home/git git

# Create directories
sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/gitea/{custom,data,log}
sudo chown -R git:git /var/lib/gitea/
sudo chmod -R 750 /var/lib/gitea/
sudo mkdir /etc/gitea
sudo chown root:git /etc/gitea
sudo chmod 770 /etc/gitea

# Download Gitea binary (check latest version at gitea.io)
wget -O /tmp/gitea https://dl.gitea.com/gitea/1.21.11/gitea-1.21.11-linux-amd64
sudo chmod +x /tmp/gitea
sudo mv /tmp/gitea /usr/local/bin/gitea

Create systemd Service

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/gitea.service

[Unit]
Description=Gitea (Git with a cup of tea)
After=syslog.target network.target mysql.service

[Service]
RestartSec=2s
Type=simple
User=git
Group=git
WorkingDirectory=/var/lib/gitea/
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/gitea web --config /etc/gitea/app.ini
Restart=always
Environment=USER=git HOME=/home/git GITEA_WORK_DIR=/var/lib/gitea

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable --now gitea

Configure Nginx Reverse Proxy + TLS

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/gitea

server {
    listen 443 ssl;
    server_name git.yourdomain.com;

    ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/git.yourdomain.com/fullchain.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/git.yourdomain.com/privkey.pem;

    client_max_body_size 512M;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:3000;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
    }
}
server {
    listen 80;
    server_name git.yourdomain.com;
    return 301 https://$host$request_uri;
}

sudo certbot --nginx -d git.yourdomain.com
sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/gitea /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
sudo nginx -t && sudo systemctl reload nginx

Initial Setup via Web

Open your browser to https://git.yourdomain.com. The installation page will appear. Configure the following:

• Database: SQLite3 (sufficient for personal use) or MySQL/PostgreSQL
• Site URL: https://git.yourdomain.com
• SSH Server Port: 22 (must be open in firewall)
• Create first admin account

# After setup is complete, lock the config to prevent web editing
sudo chmod 750 /etc/gitea
sudo chmod 640 /etc/gitea/app.ini

Verify Gitea is Working Correctly

# Check service status
sudo systemctl status gitea

# Check port 3000 is open
sudo ss -tulnp | grep 3000

# View logs
sudo journalctl -u gitea -n 50

# Test cloning via HTTPS
git clone https://git.yourdomain.com/youruser/yourrepo.git

Common Issues & Troubleshooting

Error: "repository not found" after clone

Check directory permissions for Gitea data:

sudo chown -R git:git /var/lib/gitea/
ls -la /var/lib/gitea/data/
sudo systemctl restart gitea

SSH push fails with Permission denied

You must add SSH keys to your Gitea account and authorized_keys:

# Check authorized_keys
cat /home/git/.ssh/authorized_keys
# Should contain gitea-internal command for each key

# If SSH keys in Gitea are not synced, resync them
sudo -u git gitea admin regenerate keys -c /etc/gitea/app.ini

Gitea is very slow with large repositories

Run Git GC to optimize the repository:

sudo -u git gitea admin git repositories gc -c /etc/gitea/app.ini
# Or run gc for a specific repo
cd /var/lib/gitea/data/repositories/user/repo.git
git gc --aggressive

Webhooks not working (ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED)

Gitea blocks localhost webhooks by default. Configure in app.ini:

sudo nano /etc/gitea/app.ini
[webhook]
ALLOWED_HOST_LIST = external,loopback
sudo systemctl restart gitea

Frequently Asked Questions

How does Gitea differ from GitLab CE?

Gitea uses much less RAM (approximately 100-200MB compared to 2-4GB for GitLab). Gitea is ideal for small VPS instances and small teams. GitLab CE has a more powerful built-in CI/CD system and more comprehensive features for enterprise environments.

How do I backup Gitea?

Use Gitea's built-in dump command, which backs up all repositories, database, configuration, and attachments into a single zip file:

sudo -u git gitea dump -c /etc/gitea/app.ini -w /tmp

Can I migrate a repository from GitHub to Gitea?

Yes. Go to Explore > Migrate Repository, select GitHub as the source platform, enter your token and repository URL. Gitea will clone all code, issues, labels, milestones, and wiki for you.