This content explains how to install a basic instance of Gerrit on a Linux machine.

Note

This quickstart is provided for demonstration purposes only. The Gerrit instance they install must not be used in a production environment.

Instead, to install a Gerrit production environment, see Standalone Daemon Installation Guide.

Before you start

Be sure you have:

  1. A Unix-based server, including any Linux flavor, MacOS, or Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD).

  2. Java SE Runtime Environment version 1.8. Gerrit is not compatible with Java 9 or newer yet.

Download Gerrit

From the Linux machine on which you want to install Gerrit:

  1. Open a terminal window.

  2. Download the desired Gerrit archive.

To view previous archives, see Gerrit Code Review: Releases. The steps below install Gerrit 2.15.1:

wget https://www.gerritcodereview.com/download/gerrit-2.15.1.war
Note
 To build and install Gerrit from the source files, see Gerrit Code Review: Developer Setup.

Install and initialize Gerrit

From the command line, enter:

java -jar gerrit*.war init --batch --dev -d ~/gerrit_testsite

This command takes two parameters:

  • --batch assigns default values to several Gerrit configuration options. To learn more about these options, see Configuration.

  • --dev configures the Gerrit server to use the authentication option, DEVELOPMENT_BECOME_ANY_ACCOUNT, which enables you to switch between different users to explore how Gerrit works. To learn more about setting up Gerrit for development, see Gerrit Code Review: Developer Setup.

While this command executes, status messages are displayed in the terminal window. For example:

Generating SSH host key ... rsa(simple)... done
Initialized /home/gerrit/gerrit_testsite
Executing /home/gerrit/gerrit_testsite/bin/gerrit.sh start
Starting Gerrit Code Review: OK

The last message confirms that the Gerrit service is running:

Starting Gerrit Code Review: OK.

Update the listen URL

To prevent outside connections from contacting your new Gerrit instance (strongly recommended), change the URL on which Gerrit listens from * to localhost. For example:

git config --file ~/gerrit_testsite/etc/gerrit.config httpd.listenUrl 'http://localhost:8080'

Restart the Gerrit service

You must restart the Gerrit service for your authentication type and listen URL changes to take effect:

~/gerrit_testsite/bin/gerrit.sh restart

Viewing Gerrit

To view your new basic installation of Gerrit, go to:

http://localhost:8080

Next steps

Now that you have a simple version of Gerrit running, use the installation to explore the user interface and learn about Gerrit. For more detailed installation instructions, see link:[Standalone Daemon Installation Guide](install.html).

Part of Gerrit Code Review