How to install your own Ubuntu 20.04 Linux server | Part 8 of 10

In Part 8 of the tutorial we'll create a Gitlab Repository, establish ssh keys and configure a CI/CD

It's recommended that you have read the previous steps of this course. You'll find the overview at the end of this blogpost.

Course ingredients:

• Apple MacBook Pro
• Apache Web Server
• Hetzner Cloud Virtual Server

16. Create Gitlab Repository

First register a Gitlab account if you don't have one already.

Create a new project by clicking on the plus icon on the top of the page. Select blank project in this case. Initialize repository with a README.

You cannot clone empty repositories, so the purpose of this file is just to enable you to clone it right away if you like.

Give it a meaningful name, chose if it's public or private and confirm with create project.

17. Establish ssh keys and get started with CI/CD in Gitlab

In the sidebar to the left navigate to settings/CI/CD/Variables and click Expand.

Next click Add variable.

Create a set of variables:
SSH_PRIVATE_KEY -> Fill in your key and save it.
REMOTE_SERVER_USERNAME -> We'll create this user in the next chapter. Let's call it cicd
REMOTE_SERVER_IP -> Simply fill in your remote server IP.
REMOTE_SERVER_PATH -> Simply fill in the path to your public domain data directory.

In Gitlab navigate to your new Repository/Files view. Create a new file in the root directory and name it .gitlab-ci.yml

Copy and paste the following lines:

stages:
  - deploy

deploy:
  stage: deploy
  before_script:
    ##
    ## Install ssh-agent if not already installed, it is required by Docker.
    ## (change apt-get to yum if you use an RPM-based image)
    ##
    - "command -v ssh-agent >/dev/null || ( apt-get update -y && apt-get install openssh-client -y )"

    ##
    ## Run ssh-agent (inside the build environment)
    ##
    - eval $(ssh-agent -s)

    ##
    ## Add the SSH key stored in SSH_PRIVATE_KEY variable to the agent store
    ## We're using tr to fix line endings which makes ed25519 keys work
    ## without extra base64 encoding.
    ## https://gitlab.com/gitlab-examples/ssh-private-key/issues/1#note_48526556
    ##
    - echo "$SSH_PRIVATE_KEY" | tr -d '\r' | ssh-add -

    ##
    ## Create the SSH directory and give it the right permissions
    ##
    - mkdir -p ~/.ssh
    - chmod 700 ~/.ssh
    - '[[ -f /.dockerenv ]] && echo -e "Host *\n\tStrictHostKeyChecking no\n\n" > ~/.ssh/config'

    ##
    ## Optionally, if you will be using any Git commands, set the user name and
    ## and email.
    ##
    #- git config --global user.email "user@example.com"
    #- git config --global user.name "User name"

  script:
    - ssh "$REMOTE_SERVER_USERNAME"@"$REMOTE_SERVER_IP" "cd "$REMOTE_SERVER_PATH" && git pull && exit"

After committing this file the CI/CD pipeline will start immediatly. It will do so automatically after each upcoming commit in the future.

The Course Syllable:

22.05.2021 – Part 1

1. Introduction & reasoning

29.05.2021 – Part 2

2. Create Hetzner Cloud Server
3. Connect to Server

05.06.2021 – Part 3

4. Update and upgrade Ubuntu installation and install apache2
5. Install PHP

12.06.2021 – Part 4

6. Establish ssh keys
7. Add new sudo user
8. Deactivate root user
9. Make new sudo user owner of ssh service

19.06.2021 – Part 5

10. Buy Domain and point it to Hetzner Server
11. Create Virtual Host for domain

26.06.2021 – Part 6

12. Get free Let's Encrypt SSL certificates
13. Request certificate, active https and force SSL

03.07.2021 – Part 7

14. Install Git on Remote Server
15. Create CI/CD user and ssh keys for Gitlab on Remote Server

10.07.2021 – Part 8

16. Create Gitlab Repository
17. Establish ssh keys and configure CI/CD

17.07.2021 – Part 9

18. Install MySQL
19. Install phpMyAdmin

24.07.2021 – Part 10

20. Summary of project development workflow
21. I'll be back – The course update log

See you next week for more

Johnnie