GitLab CE Hosting Live In 5 Minutes

GitLab CE hosting on xCloud gives your team a self-hosted DevOps platform with private Git repositories, merge requests and issues on a server you control. Deploy GitLab CE from the OneClick catalog and xCloud starts the official 19.4.2 image as one all-in-one container, generates the root administrator password, switches open sign-up off, mounts three volumes and publishes the web interface over HTTPS. The first start takes five to ten minutes.

Deploy your GitLab CE

No terminal
No technical skills needed
No lock-in, cancel anytime

What is GitLab CE?

GitLab Community Edition is the free edition of GitLab, which its README describes as open source software to collaborate on code: Git repositories with fine grained access controls, code review through merge requests, CI/CD pipelines, and an issue tracker, issue board and wiki for each project. GitLab is open-core, and most of the code is MIT while files in the ee directory are proprietary but source available. Self-hosted GitLab CE is a DevOps platform you run yourself instead of using GitLab.com or GitHub. CE is licensed under the MIT Expat licence.

Deployed on xCloud, this template starts GitLab CE 19.4.2 from the official image, pinned by digest, as one all-in-one container that runs the web server, PostgreSQL, Redis, Sidekiq and Gitaly. Configuration, data and logs sit on three volumes. GitLab Runner is separate software and is not bundled, and the manifest needs 8 GB of RAM and 4 CPU cores.

From Sign-Up to Your First Repository In Just 3 Easy Steps

A self-hosted GitLab normally means an Omnibus install or a hand-written container setup, a domain, a certificate and an administrator account before the first commit. This is the same result without assembling any of it.

Step 01
Sign Up
Create your xCloud account, pick GitLab CE from the OneClick catalog and choose a domain. There are no extra fields to fill in — xCloud generates the credentials.
Step 02
We Deploy It For You
One click. We run the official GitLab CE image as a single container with its bundled PostgreSQL, Redis, Sidekiq and Gitaly, mount the gitlab_config, gitlab_data and gitlab_logs volumes, generate a 24-character root password and publish the web interface over HTTPS. The first start takes about 5 to 10 minutes, and the page shows a 502 error until GitLab is ready.
Step 03
Sign In As root
Open your HTTPS GitLab URL and sign in as root with the administrator password from the protected installation credentials. Change that password from your profile, then create your first project and push to it.

Everything GitLab CE Does, On Your Own Server

GitLab Community Edition runs in full here: repositories, merge requests, issues, pipelines, packages and wikis in one app on your own domain.

Git Repositories And Merge Requests
Host private repositories and review changes through merge requests on your own server.
Issues And Wikis
Track work with issues and keep project documentation in wikis next to the code.
CI/CD Pipelines
Pipelines are part of GitLab CE. Runners are separate software and are not bundled with this template.
Package Registry
The package registry that ships in GitLab CE is available on your instance.
Git Over HTTPS And SSH
Git over HTTPS works behind the xCloud-managed domain. Git over SSH is published on its own public port, which you open in your own firewall.
Sign-Up Off By Default
Open sign-up is switched off on first start, so a public server does not accept anonymous accounts. Create users from the Admin Area.

Everything You Need To Run Your GitLab CE 24/7

Managed hosting for GitLab CE, so the parts that keep it online are not your problem.

GitLab CE 19.4.2 deployed instantly
Official image pinned by digest
Administrator password generated for you
Kept behind xCloud nginx
Free SSL certificate
Server backups and snapshots
Server security updates included
30+ server locations
Unused balance refunded

What You Can Do With GitLab CE

Keep private code on your own server
You host private Git repositories and review changes through merge requests without handing the code to a third-party host.
Plan work next to the code
You open issues for work in progress and keep project documentation in wikis beside the repositories they describe.
Define pipelines in the repository
You describe CI/CD pipelines in a .gitlab-ci.yml file, and the jobs run on GitLab Runner, which is separate software you add.
Publish packages from your own instance
You store the packages your projects build in the package registry that ships in GitLab CE.

GitLab CE Screenshots

GitLab's new project page after signing in as the root administrator

A GitLab project showing a file pushed to its repository

GitLab CE vs Alternatives

GitHub: GitHub is a hosted code platform run by GitHub. GitLab CE is software you run on your own server, with merge requests where GitHub has pull requests, and this page makes no feature-parity claim.
GitLab.com: GitLab.com is GitLab's own hosted service and the canonical home of the code. This template is a separate self-hosted instance of the Community Edition, not an account on that service.
Gitea: Gitea is a lightweight self-hosted Git service with its own OneClick page. GitLab CE bundles merge requests, issues, CI/CD pipelines, a package registry and wikis in one container, with an 8 GB RAM floor.
Forgejo: Forgejo is a community-governed Git forge forked from Gitea, with its own OneClick page. GitLab CE runs as one all-in-one container with its own PostgreSQL, Redis, Sidekiq and Gitaly.

Simple Pricing. Everything Included.

A dedicated Cloud VPS sized for GitLab CE hosting. GitLab needs at least 8 GB of RAM, so the 16 GB size is the entry rung.

Cloud VPS 16 GB

Already Have a Server? Bring Your Own

Connect any VPS — DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS, Hetzner or bare metal — and deploy GitLab CE on it through the same panel, for a per-server management fee instead of a Cloud VPS rental.

Free

Start your journey without cost.

$0forever

1 server
10 sites

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Starter

Professional

The same platform, discounted at 6–10 servers.

$4per server / month

6–10 servers
Unlimited sites
All features included
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Agency

The same platform, discounted at 11+ servers.

$3per server / month

11+ servers
Unlimited sites
All features included
Bring any VPS provider

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Priced per connected server, so your rate adjusts automatically as you add or remove servers. You pay your own provider for the server itself.

Self-managed hosting

Ready To Run Your Own Git Server?

GitLab CE on xCloud runs on a dedicated Cloud VPS that we provision, patch, monitor and restore. Deploy faster. Own the server. Stay in control.

Fast Provisioning
Deploy faster using an xCloud Managed Server built with optimized stacks and high-speed SSDs.
Enterprise-grade security
Protect your infrastructure with a free SSL certificate and more advanced security features at no additional cost.
Intuitive Control Panel
From Server creation to application deployment, everything can be managed from our intuitive control panel.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns you may have.

Is GitLab CE free?

Yes. GitLab Community Edition is free under the MIT Expat licence, linked from this page at the pinned v19.4.2 tag. GitLab is open-core, so files in the ee directory and the paid editions' extra features are separate. xCloud bills for the Cloud VPS under CE, not for GitLab, and there is no per-seat fee.

Can you self-host GitLab CE with Docker?

Yes, and this GitLab CE Docker hosting template does it for you: the official gitlab/gitlab-ce image, pinned by digest, runs as one all-in-one container on your own server with HTTPS in front of the web interface. It is not a GitLab CE cloud account on GitLab.com, so repositories stay with you.

How much RAM does GitLab CE need?

Per its manifest, GitLab CE needs at least 8192 MB of RAM, 4 CPU cores and 20 GB of disk, and a smaller server will be slow or run out of memory. QA measured about 6.2 GiB after boot. That floor is why this page sells the 16 GB tier, not the 6 GB one.

How do I sign in to GitLab CE?

Use the user root and the generated administrator password from the protected installation credentials. The password is only applied on the first start, so change it from your GitLab profile afterwards. The first start takes about 5 to 10 minutes, and the page shows a 502 error until GitLab is ready.

Can anyone create an account on my GitLab CE?

No. Open sign-up is switched off on the first start, so strangers cannot create accounts on a public server. Create users from Admin Area, Overview, Users, or re-enable sign-up under Admin Area, Settings, General, Sign-up restrictions if you want it open.

How do I use Git over SSH with GitLab CE?

Git over SSH is published on its own public TCP port, shown in the credentials. xCloud does not open that port for you, so allow it in your own firewall, or set GITLAB_DISABLE_OPENSSH=true to turn it off. Clone URLs show the server IP address because SSH cannot pass through an HTTPS proxy.

Does GitLab CE include a CI runner?

No. GitLab CE includes CI/CD pipelines, but GitLab Runner is separate software and is not bundled with this template, so pipeline jobs will not run until you register a runner. The container registry, GitLab Pages and Mattermost are also off by default here.

Can GitLab CE send e-mail?

Not until you add mail settings. Email is not configured, so GitLab sends no mail until SMTP settings are added through EXTRA_OMNIBUS_CONFIG or gitlab.rb inside the container, followed by a restart. Until then, password resets and notifications will not reach anyone.

Why do some dotfiles return 403 in GitLab CE?

Only common repository dotfiles such as .gitlab-ci.yml and .gitignore are viewable in the browser. Other dot paths return 403 in the web view, while clones, pushes and the API are unaffected. This is a limit of the proxy in front of GitLab, not of your repository.

How do I back up GitLab CE?

Back up the gitlab_config, gitlab_data and gitlab_logs volumes together from a consistent point in time. Keep gitlab_config safe, because it holds gitlab-secrets.json and the SSH host keys. GitLab's own gitlab-backup create can also be used. Test a restore.

Backup and restore Docker apps

How do I upgrade GitLab CE?

A running 19.4.2-ce.0 site stays exactly as installed until you adopt a newer template version on your own schedule. GitLab requires upgrades to follow its documented upgrade path, so back up first and read the upstream notes rather than skipping versions.

Can I cancel anytime?

Yes. There is no lock-in — cancel any time. Hosting is billed monthly and charged for what you actually use, so when you delete the server the unused balance is refunded to your account, less up to 10% in payment-processing fees.