How to Self-Host GitLab for Free on Windows Using WSL- (Localhost)

I tried creating my own AWS account to host GitLab, but it didn't work out 😅. The free tier VM, t2.micro, couldn't support the full GitLab 😕, and the VM kept crashing 💥, so I hosted my own GitLab instead 😊.

You can also host your own GitLab with a custom domain. Let's get started building it! 🚀💻✨

Setting Up GitLab CE in WSL with Docker (Localhost → gitlab.example.in)

Setting Up GitLab CE in WSL with Docker (Localhost → gitlab.example.in) 🎉🐳

The steps below will guide you through hosting GitLab Community Edition (CE) locally in WSL2 using Docker and accessing it via a custom domain gitlab.example.in mapped to localhost. We will skip HTTPS for simplicity and remove unnecessary services to keep it lightweight. 🚀🔧

1️⃣ Prerequisites 📋

• WSL2/Ubuntu app installed on Windows 🖥️

• Docker installed and configured for WSL2 backend or within Ubuntu 🐋

• Basic familiarity with terminal commands 💻

Optional: A text editor like nano or Vim. ✏️

2️⃣ Map Custom Domain to Localhost 🌐

We want to use gitlab.example.in in our browser instead of localhost. 🌍

• Open the Windows hosts file: C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts 📂

• Add the following line: ✍️

•   127.0.0.1 gitlab.example.in
  

• Save the file.

✅ Now, http://gitlab.example.in will resolve to your local WSL instance.

3️⃣ Create a Minimal Docker Compose File

Create a directory for GitLab Docker setup:

mkdir ~/gitlab-docker
cd ~/gitlab-docker

Create a file docker-compose.yml:

version: '3.8'

services:
  gitlab:
    image: gitlab/gitlab-ce:latest
    container_name: gitlab
    restart: always
    hostname: gitlab.example.in
    environment:
      GITLAB_OMNIBUS_CONFIG: |
        external_url 'http://gitlab.example.in'       # Use HTTP only
        nginx['redirect_http_to_https'] = false   # Disable HTTPS redirect
        prometheus['enable'] = false              # Disable Prometheus
        gitlab_kas['enable'] = false              # Disable Kubernetes agent
        letsencrypt['enable'] = false             # Disable LetsEncrypt
        registry_nginx['enable'] = false          # Disable Docker registry
        gitlab_rails['gitlab_shell_ssh_port'] = 22
    ports:
      - "80:80"
      - "22:22"
     #- "443:443" #Keeping it commented as we are not using HTTPS which requires Certificate and 
                  #domain registered
    volumes:
      - ./gitlab/config:/etc/gitlab
      - ./gitlab/logs:/var/log/gitlab
      - ./gitlab/data:/var/opt/gitlab

✅ Explanation

• external_url 🌐 → We use HTTP only (http://gitlab.example.com) for local testing. 🧪

• Disabled services 🚫 → Prometheus, KAS, Let's Encrypt, and registry are disabled to reduce memory footprint. 🧠

• Volumes 📦 → Persist configuration, logs, and repository data. 🗂️

• Ports 🔌 → HTTP on 80, SSH on 22 for Git operations. 🛠️

4️⃣ Start GitLab

docker-compose up -d

• This will pull the latest GitLab CE image and start the container.

• The first start may take a few minutes to download images

Check container status:

docker ps
docker exec -it gitlab gitlab-ctl status

5️⃣ Access GitLab

• Open your browser and navigate to: http://gitlab.example.in

• The first login will prompt you to enter the uname password.

• In GitLab Omnibus Docker, the initial root password is automatically generated and stored in a file inside the container. You can retrieve it instead of setting it manually.

• Access the GitLab container

    docker exec -it gitlab /bin/bash
    cat /etc/gitlab/initial_root_password
  

• Copy the password and log in (default username = root)

• The initial_root_password file is only generated once during the first startup.

• If you forget it later, you can reset the root password via:

    docker exec -it gitlab gitlab-rails console
    # then use: user = User.where(id: 1).first; user.password = 'newpassword'; user.save!
  

6️⃣ Push Your Local Repository

Step 6.1 — Create a project

• In GitLab UI, click New Project → Create blank project

• Name it e.g., first-repo

Step 6.2 — Initialize local repo

cd ~/first-repo
git init
git add .
git commit -m "Initial commit"

Step 6.3 — Add GitLab remote

git remote add origin http://gitlab.example.in/first-repo

Step 6.4—Authenticate using Personal Access Token (PAT)

1. Go to User Settings → Access Tokens

2. Create token with write_repository scope

3. Use the token as a password when Git prompts during git push.

Step 6.5 — Push to GitLab

If the remote is empty:

git push -u origin main

If the remote has a default README and you get conflicts:

git fetch origin
git rebase origin/main
# Resolve any conflicts
git push -u origin main

7️⃣ Optional: Using Nano ✏️

• During conflict resolution, Git may open files in nano. 📝

• Exit nano: 🚪

  • Ctrl + X → exit ❌

  • Y → save changes 💾

  • N → discard changes 🚫

8️⃣ Summary 📋

• GitLab CE now runs locally in Docker on WSL. 🐳

• Access via http://gitlab.example.in. 🌐

• Minimal setup: no HTTPS, no monitoring, only essential services. 🔧

• Local projects can be pushed via HTTP using Personal Access Token. 🔑

• Docker volumes ensure data persistence. 📦

9️⃣ Next Steps 🚀

• Add more repositories for microservices. 📂

• Experiment with GitLab CI/CD using .gitlab-ci.yml. 🤖

• Optionally enable SSH push for convenience. 🔑

• Once confident, move to production VM with HTTPS & monitoring enabled. 🌐🔍

This setup is perfect for learning DevOps, GitLab administration, and CI/CD pipelines without worrying about certificates or resource-heavy monitoring. 🎓💻