Ubuntu deploy

Install rabun-git as a systemd unit on x86_64 (or aarch64) Ubuntu. Pack or fetch a release, then copy over SSH. The host never talks to GitHub. The forge sits beside rabun.service, keeps settings in its own env file, and upserts [[apps]] in /etc/rabun/rabun.toml.

serve listens on TCP 2222 and writes a loopback companion heartbeat. There is no Caddy vhost for git. Browse locally with rgit view, or run Rgit Web as a sibling.

1. Host

Ubuntu 24.04 LTS. 1 vCPU / 1 GB is enough for hosting repositories; give the box more RAM if .rabun/workflows will compile code.

• SSH keys on the host (port 22) so push.sh can copy the archive
• git at runtime (bootstrap installs it). The host does not need pkg-config or a compiler unless you run CI workflows that need them
• Firewall: clients clone on 2222, not 22

Do not curl | bash the bootstrap script from GitHub.

2. Bootstrap (once)

From a clone on this machine (gh auth login if you have not already). Pack this checkout and install in one step. SSH is publickey only (no sshd password prompt): use the account you already ssh to with a key, not root@HOST unless that key is in root’s authorized_keys.

./deploy/ubuntu/push.sh --pack --bootstrap user@HOST

--identity FILE (or RABUN_GIT_SSH_IDENTITY) selects a private key. After login, install still needs root: passwordless sudo runs with no prompt; otherwise one sudo password (not SSH).

--env is optional. If you pass it, the file is copied to /etc/rabun-git/rabun-git.env (0640). That is the correct place for RABUN_GIT_ROOT and bind overrides — not /etc/rabun/rabun.env.

First-time from a GitHub Release (latest stable if you omit the tag):

./deploy/ubuntu/push.sh --bootstrap user@HOST

--pack needs pkg-config, a C compiler, git, and Cargo (./scripts/install-linux-build-deps.sh). It names the archive with git describe --tags --always --dirty unless you pass a tag. Combine --pack with --bootstrap for a first-time host from this checkout.

After bootstrap, register the first admin from this machine (host SSH + sudo) or in an operator session on the host. Files under /var/lib/rabun-git must stay owned by rabun-git.

From this machine:

rgit remote add origin git@HOST
rgit origin key copy ada --admin --file ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub
rgit origin repo create ada/website

On the host:

rabun-git shell          # or: sudo rabun-git shell
rabun-git user add ada --admin
rabun-git key add ada --file /path/to/ada.pub
rabun-git repo create ada/website
exit

rabun-git shell runs one sudo as the rabun-git user, then an interactive bash. The prompt is (rabun-git) … $ for the whole session; exit ends it. Mutating commands (user, key, repo, …) refuse to run as your login user so the service does not lose write access.

rabun-git check and rabun-git status still work outside the session. After the first admin key is registered, this machine can create more repos without sudo: rgit origin repo create ada/website or ssh -p 2222 git@HOST repo create ada/website. key add --file on the host still needs a path there; from this machine, --file is read locally. key copy always uses host SSH (port 22), not git port 2222.

rabun-git loads /etc/rabun-git/rabun-git.env, so you do not need to pass --config when that file sets RABUN_GIT_CONFIG.

Open TCP 2222 if clients are not on the same machine. If ufw is already active, bootstrap allows 2222. To enable ufw from scratch: RABUN_GIT_ENABLE_UFW=1 ./deploy/ubuntu/push.sh --pack --bootstrap user@HOST.

3. Later deploys

After bootstrap, pack current master (or a dirty tree) and scp it:

./deploy/ubuntu/push.sh --pack user@HOST

Two-step (inspect the archive first):

./deploy/ubuntu/pack.sh
# dist/release/rabun-git-<git-describe>-<triple>.tar.gz
./deploy/ubuntu/push.sh --archive dist/release/rabun-git-<git-describe>-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz user@HOST

GitHub Release deploys: omit --pack and push.sh downloads the latest stable (non-prerelease) tarball, or a tag you pass (v0.12.1). Tags follow SemVer 2.0.0 with a v prefix and must match Cargo.toml. Pushing vX.Y.Z on GitHub runs the Release workflow, which attaches rabun-git-vX.Y.Z-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz. --pack and --archive cannot be used together.

Refresh the env file without rewriting the example:

./deploy/ubuntu/push.sh --pack --env .env user@HOST

Layout on the host

To put repos/ on a block volume without changing RABUN_GIT_ROOT, mount the disk at /var/lib/rabun-git: storage volume.

The systemd user is rabun-git. Git clients still connect as git@HOST on port 2222 (russh; not the unix user). Admin SSH on port 22 is unchanged.

Logs: journalctl -u rabun-git -f. Heartbeat: rabun-git status or curl -sS http://127.0.0.1:8792/health. If rabun-feeds already uses 8792 on the same host, set RABUN_GIT_HEALTH_BIND to another loopback port. Audit sandboxing with systemd-analyze security rabun-git. There is still no public HTTP git UI. rgit view is a local preview only.

Clone URL after DNS points at the host:

ssh://git@HOST:2222/owner/name.git

Housekeeping

Every install:

• Refreshes rabun-git.service and restarts the unit
• Upserts Rabun’s app manifest (name = "git", command = "rabun-git", args = ["serve"], health_url, status_file)
• Leaves warehouse, feeds, and other [[apps]] blocks alone
• Leaves /etc/rabun/rabun.toml alone when Rabun is not installed
• Does not overwrite an existing env file unless you pass --env

rabun list / rabun run git read that manifest after Rabun restarts. This forge still runs on its own unit; do not also rabun run git on the same host unless you stop the systemd service.