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Gitweb: Installation and configuration of a web interface for git

Introduction

Gitweb is a web interface that allows you to view all commits, comments, etc. for git.

Installation

On Debian, it’s easy:

  apt-get install gitweb

Configuration

Personally, I use lighttpd, but I’ll try to provide correct configuration for Apache as well.

Web Server

Lighttpd

If you’re using Lighttpd, make sure the following server modules are loaded:

mod_cgi
mod_redirect

Then, create a file for your lighttpd configuration:

  # Gitweb

url.redirect += (
    "^/gitweb$" => "http://www.deimos.fr/gitweb/",
)
alias.url += (
    "/gitweb/" => "/usr/lib/cgi-bin/gitweb.cgi",
    "/gitweb.css" => "/usr/share/gitweb/gitweb.css",
    "/git-favicon.png" => "/usr/share/gitweb/git-favicon.png",
    "/git-logo.avif" => "/usr/share/gitweb/git-logo.avif",
)

$HTTP["url"] =~ "^/gitweb/" {
    setenv.add-environment = (
        "GITWEB_CONFIG" => "/etc/gitweb.conf",
    )
    cgi.assign = ( "" => "" )
}

$HTTP["host"] =~ "^(git|gitweb)\.(.*)" { url.redirect = ( "^/(.*)" => "http://www.%2/gitweb/" )}

Then enable it:

  cd /etc/lighttpd/conf-enabled/
ln -s /etc/lighttpd/conf-available/50-gitweb.conf .

Restart or reload your lighttpd server afterward.

Apache

And here’s the configuration for Apache, for those who use it:

  <VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName git.example.org
    DocumentRoot /pub/git
    SetEnv  GITWEB_CONFIG   /etc/gitweb.conf
    RewriteEngine on
    # make the front page an internal rewrite to the gitweb script
    RewriteRule ^/$  /cgi-bin/gitweb.cgi
    # make access for "dumb clients" work
    RewriteRule ^/(.*\.git/(?!/?(HEAD|info|objects|refs)).*)?$ /cgi-bin/gitweb.cgi%{REQUEST_URI}  [L,PT]
</VirtualHost>

Or, in the Debian Squeeze version, you can find this:

  Alias /gitweb /usr/share/gitweb

<Directory /usr/share/gitweb>
  Options FollowSymLinks +ExecCGI
  AddHandler cgi-script .cgi
</Directory>

Restart or reload your Apache server afterward.

Nginx

With Nginx, you’ll need to authorize certain extensions in php-fpm:

  # In /etc/php5/fpm/pool.d/www.conf
[...]
security.limit_extensions = .php .php3 .php4 .php5 .cgi
[...]

And here’s a configuration example to adapt to your needs:

  server {
    listen 80;
    listen 443 ssl;

    ssl_certificate /etc/nginx/ssl/deimos.fr/server-unified.crt;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/nginx/ssl/deimos.fr/server.key;
    ssl_session_timeout 5m;

    server_name git.deimos.fr;
    root /usr/share/gitweb/;

    access_log /var/log/nginx/git.deimos.fr_access.log;
    error_log /var/log/nginx/git.deimos.fr_error.log;

    index gitweb.cgi;

    location /gitweb.cgi {
        fastcgi_cache mycache;
        fastcgi_cache_key $request_method$host$request_uri;
        fastcgi_cache_valid any 1h;
        include fastcgi_params;
        fastcgi_pass  unix:/run/fcgiwrap.socket;
    }
}

Then we’ll need a cgi wrapper:

  aptitude install fcgiwrap

Create the link, then reload the configuration:

  cd /etc/nginx/sites-enabled
ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/git.deimos.fr .
/etc/init.d/nginx reload
/etc/init.d/fcgiwrap restart
/etc/init.d/php5-fpm reload

Gitweb

Adapt this file according to your needs:

  # path to git projects (<project>.git)
$projectroot = "/var/lib/git";

# directory to use for temp files
$git_temp = "/tmp";

# target of the home link on top of all pages
#$home_link = $my_uri || "/";

# html text to include at home page
$home_text = "indextext.html";

# file with project list; by default, simply scan the projectroot dir.
$projects_list = $projectroot;

# stylesheet to use
$stylesheet = "/gitweb.css";

# logo to use
$logo = "/git-logo.avif";

# the 'favicon'
$favicon = "/git-favicon.png";

# change default git logo url
$logo_url = "http://www.deimos.fr/gitweb";
$logo_label = "Deimos.fr Git Repository";

# This prevents gitweb to show hidden repositories
$export_ok = "git-daemon-export-ok";
$strict_export = 1;

# This lets it make the URLs you see in the header
@git_base_url_list = ( 'git://www.deimos.fr/git' );

Restrict access

It’s possible to disable access to certain repositories. To do this, enable this in your gitweb configuration:

  $export_ok = "gitweb-export-ok";

Then create this file in each repository that you want to display:

  touch /var/cache/git/git_deimosfr.git/gitweb-export-ok

Only repositories with this file will be displayed.

Change the header

If you want to change the header of your gitweb, create an indextext.html file at the location of the cgi and insert HTML code:

  <h2>Deimos Git</h2>

Welcome on my Gitweb. I store here my configurations that I usually use every
days.<br /><br />

Other links:<br />
- My blog: <a href="http://www.deimos.fr/blog">http://www.deimos.fr/blog</a
><br />
- My wiki:
<a href="http://www.deimos.fr/blocnotesinfo"
  >http://www.deimos.fr/blocnotesinfo</a
><br />

Web interface

Your server is now accessible via the following web interface: http://server/gitweb

More attractive theme

There is a more attractive theme than the default gitweb theme. Download the archive here and run these commands:

  tar -xzvf kogakure-gitweb-theme.tar.gz
cd kogakure-gitweb-theme
mv /usr/share/gitweb/gitweb.css /usr/share/gitweb/gitweb-old.css
cp gitweb.css /usr/share/gitweb/
cp -Rf img /usr/share/gitweb/
chown -Rf www-data. /usr/share/gitweb/

And there you go, your new theme is in place.

Piwik integration

If you want integration with Piwik, it’s quite simple. I’ve made a patch - you’ll need to modify the JavaScript code to display in your page in this patch:

  *** gitweb.old	2011-04-05 14:05:06.120951481 +0200
--- gitweb.cgi	2011-04-05 14:04:41.913944817 +0200
***************
*** 3612,3617 ****
--- 3612,3633 ----
  		      qq!</script>\n!;
  	}

+
+ 	print <<PIWIK;
+ <!-- Piwik -->
+ <script type="text/javascript">
+ var pkBaseURL = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://www.deimos.fr/piwik/" : "http://www.deimos.fr/piwik/");
+ document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + pkBaseURL + "piwik.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
+ </script><script type="text/javascript">
+ try {
+ var piwikTracker = Piwik.getTracker(pkBaseURL + "piwik.php", 10);
+ piwikTracker.trackPageView();
+ piwikTracker.enableLinkTracking();
+ } catch( err ) {}
+ </script><noscript><p><img src="http://www.deimos.fr/piwik/piwik.php?idsite=10" style="border:0" alt="" /></p></noscript>
+ <!-- End Piwik Tracking Code -->
+ PIWIK
+
  	print "\n</body>\n" .
  	      "</html>";
  }
***************
*** 7033,7038 ****
--- 7049,7066 ----
  	}
  	print <<XML;
  </outline>
+ <!-- Piwik -->
+ <script type="text/javascript">
+ var pkBaseURL = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://www.deimos.fr/piwik/" : "http://www.deimos.fr/piwik/");
+ document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + pkBaseURL + "piwik.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
+ </script><script type="text/javascript">
+ try {
+ var piwikTracker = Piwik.getTracker(pkBaseURL + "piwik.php", 10);
+ piwikTracker.trackPageView();
+ piwikTracker.enableLinkTracking();
+ } catch( err ) {}
+ </script><noscript><p><img src="http://www.deimos.fr/piwik/piwik.php?idsite=10" style="border:0" alt="" /></p></noscript>
+ <!-- End Piwik Tracking Code -->
  </body>
  </opml>
  XML

FAQ

Unnamed repository; edit this file to name it for gitweb.

I have this displayed at the beginning of my web interface, how do I change it?

It’s quite simple. In your git repository, you have a ‘description’ file. Edit it and put whatever you want in it.

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Last updated 17 Feb 2014, 21:59 +0200. history

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Gitweb: Installation and configuration of a web interface for git

Introduction link

Installation link

Configuration link

Web Server link

Lighttpd link

Apache link

Nginx link

Gitweb link

Restrict access link

Change the header link

Web interface link

More attractive theme link

Piwik integration link

FAQ link

Unnamed repository; edit this file to name it for gitweb. link