gitlab-ctl

Display the status of every service

$ sudo gitlab-ctl status

$ sudo gitlab-ctl status [nginx]

$ sudo gitlab-ctl restart

$ sudo gitlab-ctl restart [nginx]

$ sudo gitlab-ctl tail

$ sudo gitlab-ctl tail [nginx]

$ sudo gitlab-ctl kill [nginx]

$ sudo gitlab-ctl reconfigure

gitlab-ctl [options] command [arguments]

-h, --help
    Display help for gitlab-ctl or a specific subcommand

--version
    Output the gitlab-ctl version

--log-level LEVEL
    Set log verbosity (debug, info, warn, error, fatal)

reconfigure
    Reconfigure GitLab: compile config, notify services, restart as needed

reconfigure-now
    Reconfigure without saving a checkpoint

start [SERVICE]
    Start all GitLab services or a specific one (e.g., postgresql)

stop [SERVICE]
    Gracefully stop all services or a specific one

restart [SERVICE]
    Restart all services or a specific one

status
    Show run status of all GitLab services

tail [SERVICE]
    Tail logs for all services or a specific one

show-config
    Display the runtime configuration as Ruby

ps
    List processes for all services

invoke SERVICE COMMAND [ARGS]
    Run a command in the context of a service (e.g., rails console)

gitlab-ctl is the primary command-line interface for managing GitLab installations delivered via the Omnibus package on Linux systems.

It provides a unified way to control all embedded services, including the Nginx web server, PostgreSQL database, Redis cache, Sidekiq background jobs, Gitaly Git service, and more.

Key functions include starting, stopping, restarting, and monitoring service status; tailing logs; and applying configuration changes through Chef Solo recipes. The flagship reconfigure subcommand regenerates configuration files from /etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb, compiles them, and restarts affected services.

Designed for production environments, it ensures atomic updates and idempotent operations. Use it to troubleshoot issues, perform maintenance, or scale deployments. Always run with elevated privileges (sudo).

For source installations, use standard service managers like systemd instead.

Requires GitLab Omnibus package; not for source installs.
Run as root/sudo. Some subcommands like reconfigure can take 5-10 minutes.
Services must match enabled components in gitlab.rb.

Common services: gitaly, gitlab-workhorse, nginx, postgresql, redis, puma, sidekiq.
Use gitlab-ctl status to list.

Edit /etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb, then run gitlab-ctl reconfigure.

Introduced in GitLab Omnibus 8.0 (2014) using Chef for config management.
Evolved with GitLab releases; now supports containerized services in 15.0+.

systemctl(1), service(8), chef-client(8)