gitolite/doc/setup.mkd

# setting up gitolite

Installing the software gets you ready to use it, but the first "use" of it is
always the "setup" command.

The first time you run it, you need to have a public key file ready.  If the
main gitolite admin's username is "alice", this file should be named
"alice.pub".  Then run

    gitolite setup -pk alice.pub

If that command completes without any warnings, you should be done.  If it had
a warning, you probably supplied a key which already has shell access to the
server.  That won't work.

>   ----

>   Normally, gitolite is hosted on a user that no one accesses directly --
>   you log on to the server using some other userid, and then `su - git`.  In
>   this scenario, there *is* no key being used for shell access, so there is
>   no conflict.

>   An alternative method is to use two different keys, and a [host
>   alias][ssh-ha] to distinguish the two.

>   [common errors][ce] has some links to background information on this
>   issue.

>   ----

The 'setup' command has other uses, so you will be running it at other times
after the install as well:

  * To setup the update hook when you move [existing][] repos to gitolite.
    This also applies if someone has been fiddling with the hooks on some
    repos and you want to put them all right quickly.

  * To replace a [lost admin key][lost-key].

  * To setup gitolite for http mode (run 'gitolite setup -h' for more info).

When in doubt, run 'gitolite setup' anyway; it doesn't do any harm, though it
may take a minute or so if you have more than a few thousand repos!