How can I make my GitLab repository (which I built in Docker and is currently only visible to me using an IP-based URL) accessible to others and prevent the "Site can't be reached" error?

How to Use GitLab
1

I am fairly new to GitLab and had been asked to create a container for GitLab in Docker. The issue is that, even though my local directory that I pushed to GitLab is available to me, when I share it to others, they see are unable to view it. Please mind that, the URL of the repository is like
http://192.**:1234/root/MyGitLabRepo.

I have ensured that my Docker & GitLab container is running properly on my system (Proof). Could the port that I have chosen (1234) be one of the reasons for why I can’t share my repository? I had to change the port because port 80 was already in use.

In the ‘Proof’ linked above, my repository can also be seen working without any issue as when I use Git to push my local files to the GitLab repository, they get pushed without any problem. Please provide with a solution for how I can share my repository and if there is any detail that I missed, kindly let me know.

To fix this issue, I tried making sure my Docker & GitLab container were working fine. Though the repository is opening in my browser without any issue, when I try to open it on a different system, I get shown “this site took too long to load”. I was expecting the repository that I had pushed to GitLab to open up when the shared URL was clicked.

2

Hey there,

Just to break down some basics.
You have installed self-hosted Gitlab instance… where? On a server with IP 192…? → This looks to me like a installation in local network which means anyone outside your network (or where is this installed) cannot reach it. So, two questions:

  • Who is “others”? People from outside your network or inside your network?
  • Do you really intended to use self-hosted instance? If it’s only for your own usage, you can also use gitlab.com (in cloud), without having your own one.
3

Thanks for the response!

You are right about having GitLab installed on my local. Others are the people outside of my network that i would like to share my GitLab repository with but can’t due to it being on a local network.

I did intend to install GitLab in a container using docker but I was not expecting not being able to share the repository.

If there is anyway I can make this repository in my container available for others, please let me know.

4

I believe there are ways, but it’s completely out of scope of GitLab and this forum and goes more into general system administration / networking topic. Your instance needs a public static IP address. Normally you would not install this on a local computer, but a server.

Again comes the question - why do you want a self-hosted GitLab instance?

I’m really not sure what is your intention with this and use case, but if you just need a repo that others can access, I highly recommend you using gitlab.com → it’s free (with some limitations) and you don’t need to have your own GitLab installation to manage. You just need to create a free account and then you can make your project and others will have no problem accessing it (if it’s public, if it’s private - then your collegues also need a GitLab account, and you will add them to the project).

Unless you’re a company with valid reasons to have a self hosted instance, I wouldn’t recommend to have it, as it just adds more work. But if you really want to have your own, just for fun anyways, then I’d recommend you to buy a VM somewhere in cloud and install it there (in order for others to see it).