How to install Gerrit on Alpine Linux

This tutorial will guide you through the process of installing Gerrit on an Alpine Linux system. Gerrit is a web-based code review tool which helps developers to collaborate and review code changes before merging them into the production code.

Prerequisites

• A running instance of Alpine Linux with root access.
• A Java Development Kit (JDK) version 8 or higher. We will be installing OpenJDK 11 in this tutorial.

Step 1: Update the system

It is important to ensure that your system is up-to-date before installing any new packages or software. You can do this by running the following command:

apk update && apk upgrade

Step 2: Install OpenJDK 11

Gerrit requires a Java runtime environment to run. In this tutorial, we will be installing OpenJDK 11. Run the following command to install it:

apk add openjdk11

Step 3: Download Gerrit

Download Gerrit from the official website:

wget https://gerrit-releases.storage.googleapis.com/gerrit-3.4.1.war

Step 4: Create a Gerrit user

We will create a Gerrit user to run Gerrit with limited permissions. Run the following command to create the Gerrit user:

adduser --disabled-password --gecos "" gerrit

Step 5: Configure Gerrit

Create a configuration file for Gerrit:

mkdir -p /var/gerrit/etc
touch /var/gerrit/etc/gerrit.config
chmod 600 /var/gerrit/etc/gerrit.config

Edit the gerrit.config file with your preferred text editor:

vi /var/gerrit/etc/gerrit.config

Add the following configuration:

[gerrit]
  basePath = git
  canonicalWebUrl = http://localhost:8080/
[database]
  type = h2
  database = /var/gerrit/db/ReviewDB
[auth]
  type = DEVELOPMENT_BECOME_ANY_ACCOUNT
[receive]
  enableSignedPush = false
[sendemail]
  smtpServer = localhost
  from = gerrit@localhost
[container]
  javaHome = /usr/lib/jvm/java-11-openjdk
[servlet]
  contextPath = /gerrit
[httpd]
  listenUrl = http://*:8080/

In this configuration, the base path is set to git, the canonical web URL is set to http://localhost:8080/, and the database type is set to h2.

Step 6: Start Gerrit

Create a Gerrit site by running the following command:

java -jar gerrit-3.4.1.war init -d /var/gerrit

Start Gerrit by running the following command:

java -jar /var/gerrit/bin/gerrit.war daemon --console-log -d /var/gerrit

You can now access Gerrit by navigating to http://localhost:8080/gerrit/ in your web browser.

Conclusion

You have successfully installed Gerrit on your Alpine Linux system. Gerrit is now ready for use, and you can perform code reviews and collaborate with other developers using the platform.

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