How to Install Gitlist on POP! OS Latest

Gitlist is an open-source web-based Git repository viewer that helps to browse repositories and their contents. It is a simple and easy-to-use tool that comes with functionalities such as file browsing, comparing commits, and syntax highlighting. In this tutorial, we will guide you through the steps to install Gitlist on POP! OS Latest.

Prerequisites

Before proceeding with this tutorial, ensure that:

• You have a POP! OS Latest installed.
• You have root or sudo user access to the system.
• You have an active Internet connection.

Step 1 - Update and Upgrade the System

First, open the terminal and update the system repositories list by running:

sudo apt update

Then, upgrade the system packages to their latest version using the command:

sudo apt upgrade

Step 2 - Install Apache Web Server

Gitlist requires a webserver to run. In this tutorial, we will use Apache as our webserver. Run the following command to install Apache:

sudo apt install apache2

Once the installation is complete, start the Apache service by running:

sudo systemctl start apache2

You can verify the Apache server status using the following command:

sudo systemctl status apache2

If Apache is running successfully, you should see the output status as:

● apache2.service - The Apache HTTP Server
   Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/apache2.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
   Active: active (running) since Tue 2022-08-16 08:18:44 EDT; 20h ago
 Main PID: 1239 (apache2)
    Tasks: 6 (limit: 19176)
   Memory: 30.8M
   CGroup: /system.slice/apache2.service
           ├─1239 /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start
           ├─1954 /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start
           ├─1955 /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start
           ├─1956 /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start
           ├─1957 /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start
           └─1958 /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start

Step 3 - Install PHP and Required Modules

Gitlist is written in PHP, so we need to install PHP and some required modules to enable Gitlist's functionalities. Run the following command to install PHP and its modules:

sudo apt install php libapache2-mod-php php-xml php-mbstring

Once the installation is complete, restart the Apache service to apply the changes by running:

sudo systemctl restart apache2

Step 4 - Download and Configure Gitlist

Now, we will download the Gitlist archive and configure the Gitlist application. Create a directory where you store your Git repositories by running:

sudo mkdir /var/www/gitlist

Next, navigate to the Gitlist directory:

cd /var/www/gitlist

Download the Gitlist archive from the official repository using the wget command:

sudo wget -O gitlist.tar.gz https://github.com/klaussilveira/gitlist/releases/download/1.0.2/gitlist-1.0.2.tar.gz

Extract the archive contents by running:

sudo tar -xvf gitlist.tar.gz --strip-components 1

Rename the config.ini-example file to config.ini using the command below:

sudo mv config.ini-example config.ini

Open the config.ini file using any text editor:

sudo nano config.ini

Update the repositories[] option to point to the directory where you store your Git repositories. In our case, it is /home/user1/repos:

repositories[] = /home/user1/repos

Save and close the file.

Step 5 - Configure Apache for Gitlist

To configure Apache for Gitlist, create a new Apache configuration file using the following command:

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/gitlist.conf

Copy and paste the following content to the file and update ServerName with your domain or IP address, then save the file:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName your-domain-or-ip-address
    DocumentRoot /var/www/gitlist/public
    <Directory />
        AllowOverride None
        Require all granted
    </Directory>
    <Directory /var/www/gitlist/public>
        AllowOverride None
        Require all granted
        Options FollowSymLinks
        DirectoryIndex index.php
    </Directory>
    <FilesMatch \.php$>
        SetHandler application/x-httpd-php
    </FilesMatch>

    # Gitlist URL rewriting rules
    RewriteEngine on
    RewriteRule ^/([\w\.\-]+)/([\w\.\-]+)/blob/(.*?)/(.*)$ /$1/$2/blob/$3/$4 [L,NC,R=301]
    RewriteRule ^/([\w\.\-]+)/([\w\.\-]+)/tree/(.*?)/?$ /index.php?repo=$1/$2&branch=$3 [L,QSA]
    RewriteRule ^/([\w\.\-]+)/([\w\.\-]+)/?$ /index.php?repo=$1/$2 [L,QSA]

    # Apache logs
    ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/gitlist-error.log
    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/gitlist-access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

Next, enable the new virtual host and Apache modules by running:

sudo a2ensite gitlist.conf
sudo a2enmod rewrite

Finally, restart the Apache service to apply the changes:

sudo systemctl restart apache2

Step 6 - Access Gitlist

You can now access Gitlist by visiting your domain name or IP address in a web browser:

http://your-domain-or-ip-address/

You should see the Gitlist homepage. Click on the repository name to browse its contents.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, you have learned how to install Gitlist on POP! OS Latest. Gitlist is a handy tool that makes it easy to browse repositories and their contents. The installation process is straightforward, and you should now be able to view your Git repositories in a user-friendly interface.

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