Home page of a repository directory browsing does not show the files

How to Use GitLab Self-managed
1

GitLab Directory Browsing Issue

The problem is from cdn host. I removed it and now it is working.

gitlab_rails["cdn_host"] = "https://git-statics.example.domain"

Problem to Solve

I have set up a self-hosted GitLab instance using Docker with the following architecture:

GitLab Architecture
GitLab Architecture1174×808 39.2 KB

Components in this architecture:

  1. Main Postgres server
  2. VM for object storage (using MinIO)
  3. Main Redis server
  4. Dedicated VM for Sidekiq
  5. Main GitLab instance
  6. Server for GitLab-Runner

Current Status

Almost all components work correctly:

  • Project creation/deletion works
  • API functions properly
  • Git operations (pull/push) work
  • Web IDE shows files and allows modifications
  • Commits, tags, and branches display correctly

Issue

The directory browsing functionality does not work as expected - files are not displayed.

Steps to Reproduce

  1. Checked all backend requests in browser Developer Console
    • All requests return 200 status code
  2. Added intermediate nginx container
  3. Identified configuration issue with:
    external_url = "https://git.example.domain"
gitlab_rails["cdn_host"] = "https://git-statics.example.domain"
  4. Observed that:
    • Some static files are served from main GitLab server instead of CDN
    • Some objects from object storage are also served from main server

Configuration

Main GitLab Server Configuration (gitlab.rb)

gitlab_rails['object_store']['enabled'] = true
gitlab_rails['object_store']['connection'] = {
  'provider' => 'AWS',
  'region' => 'us-east-1',
  'aws_access_key_id' => 'ACCESS_KEY',
  'aws_secret_access_key' => 'SECRET_KEY',
  'endpoint' => 'https://git-cdn.example.domain',
  'path_style' => true
}

gitlab_rails['object_store']['objects']['artifacts']['bucket'] = 'artifacts'
gitlab_rails['object_store']['objects']['external_diffs']['bucket'] = 'external-diffs'
gitlab_rails['object_store']['objects']['lfs']['bucket'] = 'lfs-objects'
gitlab_rails['object_store']['objects']['uploads']['bucket'] = 'uploads'
gitlab_rails['object_store']['objects']['packages']['bucket'] = 'packages'
gitlab_rails['object_store']['objects']['dependency_proxy']['bucket'] = 'dependency-proxy'
gitlab_rails['object_store']['objects']['terraform_state']['bucket'] = 'terraform-state'
gitlab_rails['object_store']['objects']['ci_secure_files']['bucket'] = 'ci-secure-files'

gitlab_rails['gitaly_token'] = 'GITALY_TOKEN'
gitlab_rails['repositories_storages'] = {
   'default' => {
     'gitaly_address' => 'tcp://127.0.0.1:8075',
     'gitaly_token' => 'GITALY_TOKEN'
   }
 }

gitlab_rails['redis_host'] = 'REDIS_HOST'
gitlab_rails['redis_port'] = 6379
gitlab_rails['redis_password'] = 'REDIS_PASSWORD'

# External PostgreSQL
gitlab_rails['db_adapter'] = 'postgresql'
gitlab_rails['db_encoding'] = 'unicode'
gitlab_rails['db_host'] = 'POSTGRES_SERVER'
gitlab_rails['db_port'] = 5432
gitlab_rails['db_username'] = 'gitlab'
gitlab_rails['db_password'] = 'POSTGRES_PASSWORD'
gitlab_rails['db_database'] = 'gitlab'

gitlab_workhorse['enable'] = true
gitlab_workhorse['listen_network'] = "tcp"
gitlab_workhorse['listen_addr'] = "0.0.0.0:8181"

puma['enable'] = true
puma['worker_processes'] = 10
puma['min_threads'] = 4
puma['max_threads'] = 8

postgresql['enable'] = false
redis['enable'] = false
nginx['enable'] = false
gitlab_kas['enable'] = false

gitaly['configuration'] = {
   listen_addr: '0.0.0.0:8075',
   storage: [
     {
       name: 'default',
       path: '/var/opt/gitlab/git-data/repositories',
     },
   ],
 }

Sidekiq Configuration

nginx['enable'] = false
puma['enable'] = false
gitlab_workhorse['enable'] = false
gitaly['enable'] = false
postgresql['enable'] = false
redis['enable'] = false
prometheus['enable'] = false
gitlab_exporter['enable'] = false
gitlab_kas['enable'] = false

sidekiq['enable'] = true

gitlab_rails['db_adapter'] = 'postgresql'
gitlab_rails['db_encoding'] = 'unicode'
gitlab_rails['db_host'] = 'POSTGRES_SERVER'
gitlab_rails['db_port'] = 5432
gitlab_rails['db_username'] = 'gitlab'
gitlab_rails['db_password'] = 'POSTGRES_PASSWORD'
gitlab_rails['db_database'] = 'gitlab'
# Main Redis (VM3)
gitlab_rails['redis_host'] = 'REDIS_SERVER'
gitlab_rails['redis_port'] = 6379
gitlab_rails['redis_password'] = 'REDIS_PASSWORD'

# Sidekiq-specific Redis (VM4)
sidekiq['redis_host'] = 'SIDEKIQ_REDIS_SERVER'
sidekiq['redis_port'] = 6379
# Gitaly (VM1)
gitaly['gitlab_secret'] = 'GITALY_TOKEN'
gitlab_shell['secret_token'] = 'GITALY_TOKEN'
gitlab_rails['repositories_storages'] = {
   'default' => {
     'gitaly_address' => 'tcp://GITALY_HOST:8075',
     'gitaly_token' => 'GITALY_TOKEN'
   }
 }
gitlab_rails['object_store']['enabled'] = true
gitlab_rails['object_store']['connection'] = {
  'provider' => 'AWS',
  'region' => 'us-east-1',
  'aws_access_key_id' => 'ACCESS_KEY',
  'aws_secret_access_key' => 'SECRET_KEY',
  'endpoint' => '[https://git-cdn.example.domain',
  'path_style' => true
}

# gitlab_rails['object_store']['storage_options'] = {}
gitlab_rails['object_store']['proxy_download'] = false
gitlab_rails['object_store']['objects']['artifacts']['bucket'] = 'artifacts'
gitlab_rails['object_store']['objects']['external_diffs']['bucket'] = 'external-diffs'
gitlab_rails['object_store']['objects']['lfs']['bucket'] = 'lfs-objects'
gitlab_rails['object_store']['objects']['uploads']['bucket'] = 'uploads'
gitlab_rails['object_store']['objects']['packages']['bucket'] = 'packages'
gitlab_rails['object_store']['objects']['dependency_proxy']['bucket'] = 'dependency-proxy'
gitlab_rails['object_store']['objects']['terraform_state']['bucket'] = 'terraform-state'
gitlab_rails['object_store']['objects']['ci_secure_files']['bucket'] = 'ci-secure-files'

external_url 'https://git.example.domain'
gitlab_rails['cdn_host'] = 'https://git-statics.example.domain'

Versions

  • Self-managed GitLab Enterprise Edition v17.11.1-ee