• General upgrading steps
  • 0. Backup
  • 1. Stop server
  • 2. Get the EE code
  • 3. Install libraries, migrations, etc
  • 4. Install gitlab-elasticsearch-indexer
  • 5. Start application
  • 6. Check application status
• Things went south? Revert to previous version (Community Edition)
  • 1. Revert the code to the previous version
  • 2. Restore from the backup
• Version specific steps

Upgrading from Community Edition to Enterprise Edition from source

If you want to upgrade the version only, for example 11.8 to 11.9, without changing the GitLab edition you are using (Community or Enterprise), see the Upgrading from source documentation.

General upgrading steps

This guide assumes you have a correctly configured and tested installation of GitLab Community Edition. If you run into any trouble or if you have any questions please contact us at support@gitlab.com.

In all examples, replace EE_BRANCH with the Enterprise Edition branch for the version you are using, and CE_BRANCH with the Community Edition branch. Branch names use the format major-minor-stable-ee for Enterprise Edition, and major-minor-stable for Community Edition. For example, for 11.8.0 you would use the following branches:

• Enterprise Edition: 11-8-stable-ee
• Community Edition: 11-8-stable

0. Backup

Make a backup just in case something goes wrong:

cd /home/git/gitlab
sudo -u git -H bundle exec rake gitlab:backup:create RAILS_ENV=production

For installations using MySQL, this may require granting “LOCK TABLES” privileges to the GitLab user on the database version.

1. Stop server

sudo service gitlab stop

2. Get the EE code

cd /home/git/gitlab
sudo -u git -H git remote add -f ee https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab.git
sudo -u git -H git checkout EE_BRANCH

3. Install libraries, migrations, etc

cd /home/git/gitlab

# If you haven't done so during installation or a previous upgrade already
sudo -u git -H bundle config set --local deployment 'true'
sudo -u git -H bundle config set --local without 'development test mysql aws kerberos'

# Update gems
sudo -u git -H bundle install

# Optional: clean up old gems
sudo -u git -H bundle clean

# Run database migrations
sudo -u git -H bundle exec rake db:migrate RAILS_ENV=production

# Compile GetText PO files
sudo -u git -H bundle exec rake gettext:compile RAILS_ENV=production

# Update node dependencies and recompile assets
sudo -u git -H bundle exec rake yarn:install gitlab:assets:clean gitlab:assets:compile RAILS_ENV=production NODE_ENV=production NODE_OPTIONS="--max_old_space_size=4096"

# Clean up cache
sudo -u git -H bundle exec rake cache:clear RAILS_ENV=production

4. Install gitlab-elasticsearch-indexer

Please follow the install instruction.

5. Start application

sudo service gitlab start
sudo service nginx restart

6. Check application status

Check if GitLab and its environment are configured correctly:

sudo -u git -H bundle exec rake gitlab:env:info RAILS_ENV=production

To make sure you didn’t miss anything run a more thorough check with:

sudo -u git -H bundle exec rake gitlab:check RAILS_ENV=production

If all items are green, then congratulations upgrade complete!

Things went south? Revert to previous version (Community Edition)

1. Revert the code to the previous version

cd /home/git/gitlab
sudo -u git -H git checkout CE_BRANCH

2. Restore from the backup

cd /home/git/gitlab
sudo -u git -H bundle exec rake gitlab:backup:restore RAILS_ENV=production

Version specific steps

Certain versions of GitLab may require you to perform additional steps when upgrading from Community Edition to Enterprise Edition. Should such steps be necessary, they are listed per version below.