Gerrit Code Review

title: " Quickstart for Installing Gerrit on Linux" sidebar: userguide_sidebar permalink: alpha-linux-quickstart.html

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This quickstart shows you how to install Gerrit on a Linux machine.

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Before you begin

To complete this quickstart, you need:

  1. A Unix-based server such as any of the Linux flavors or BSD.

  2. Java SE Runtime Environment version 1.8 or later.

Download Gerrit

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

  1. Open a terminal window.

  2. Download the Gerrit archive. See Gerrit Code Review - Releases for a list of available archives.

The steps in this quickstart used Gerrrit 2.14.2, which you can download using a command such as:

wget https://www.gerritcodereview.com/download/gerrit-2.14.2.war

Install and initialize Gerrit

From the command line, type the following:

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

The preceding command uses two parameters:

  • --batch. This parameter assigns default values to a variety of Gerrit configuration options. To learn more about these configuration options, see Configuration.

  • --dev. This parameter configures the server to use the authentication option, DEVELOPMENT_BECOME_ANY_ACCOUNT. This authentication type makes it easy for you to switch between different users to explore how Gerrit works. To learn more about setting up Gerrit for development, see Developer Setup.

This command displays a number of messages in the terminal window. The following is an example of these messages:

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 you should see is Starting Gerrit Code Review: OK. This message informs you that the Gerrit service is now running.

Update the listen URL

Another recommended task is to change the URL that Gerrit listens to from * to localhost. This change helps prevent outside connections from contacting the instance.

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

At this point, you have a basic installation of Gerrit. You can view this installation by opening a browser and entering the following URL:

http://localhost:8080