Document EE License Auto Import During Install

- Document how to properly configure `GITLAB_LICENSE_FILE` environment
  variable in source and omnibus installations.

Resolves: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ee/issues/10808

Signed-off-by: Robert Marshall <rmarshall@gitlab.com>

4 files changed, 40 insertions, 3 deletions

diff --git a/changelogs/unreleased/10808-allow-license-import-during-install.yml b/changelogs/unreleased/10808-allow-license-import-during-install.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..f93edf03d51
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/unreleased/10808-allow-license-import-during-install.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+title: Document EE License Auto Import During Install
+merge_request: 28106
+author:
+type: other
diff --git a/doc/administration/index.md b/doc/administration/index.md
index 02e88dbd2a6..797a7242bd0 100644
--- a/doc/administration/index.md
+++ b/doc/administration/index.md
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ Learn how to install, configure, update, and maintain your GitLab instance.
 - [Geo](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/administration/geo/replication/index.html): Replicate your GitLab instance to other geographic locations as a read-only fully operational version. **[PREMIUM ONLY]**
 - [Disaster Recovery](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/administration/geo/disaster_recovery/index.html): Quickly fail-over to a different site with minimal effort in a disaster situation. **[PREMIUM ONLY]**
 - [Pivotal Tile](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/install/pivotal/index.html): Deploy GitLab as a pre-configured appliance using Ops Manager (BOSH) for Pivotal Cloud Foundry. **[PREMIUM ONLY]**
+- [Add License](../user/admin_area/license.md): Upload a license at install time to unlock features that are in paid tiers of GitLab. **[STARTER ONLY]**
 
 ### Configuring GitLab
 
diff --git a/doc/install/installation.md b/doc/install/installation.md
index 6c1ba7fee95..c694f0ed691 100644
--- a/doc/install/installation.md
+++ b/doc/install/installation.md
@@ -579,10 +579,10 @@ sudo -u git -H bundle exec rake gitlab:setup RAILS_ENV=production force=yes
 ```
 
 NOTE: **Note:**
-You can set the Administrator/root password and e-mail by supplying them in environmental variables, `GITLAB_ROOT_PASSWORD` and `GITLAB_ROOT_EMAIL` respectively, as seen below. If you don't set the password (and it is set to the default one), wait to expose GitLab to the public internet until the installation is done and you've logged into the server the first time. During the first login, you'll be forced to change the default password.
+You can set the Administrator/root password and e-mail by supplying them in environmental variables, `GITLAB_ROOT_PASSWORD` and `GITLAB_ROOT_EMAIL` respectively, as seen below. If you don't set the password (and it is set to the default one), wait to expose GitLab to the public internet until the installation is done and you've logged into the server the first time. During the first login, you'll be forced to change the default password. An Enterprise Edition license may also be installed at this time by supplying a full path in the `GITLAB_LICENSE_FILE` environment variable.
 
 ```sh
-sudo -u git -H bundle exec rake gitlab:setup RAILS_ENV=production GITLAB_ROOT_PASSWORD=yourpassword GITLAB_ROOT_EMAIL=youremail
+sudo -u git -H bundle exec rake gitlab:setup RAILS_ENV=production GITLAB_ROOT_PASSWORD=yourpassword GITLAB_ROOT_EMAIL=youremail GITLAB_LICENSE_FILE="/path/to/license"
 ```
 
 ### Secure secrets.yml
diff --git a/doc/user/admin_area/license.md b/doc/user/admin_area/license.md
index 45f986d480f..49959a9daef 100644
--- a/doc/user/admin_area/license.md
+++ b/doc/user/admin_area/license.md
@@ -2,7 +2,8 @@
 
 To activate all GitLab Enterprise Edition (EE) functionality, you need to upload
 a license. Once you've received your license from GitLab Inc., you can upload it
-by **signing into your GitLab instance as an admin**.
+by **signing into your GitLab instance as an admin** or add it at
+installation time.
 
 The license has the form of a base64 encoded ASCII text with a `.gitlab-license`
 extension and can be obtained when you [purchase one][pricing] or when you sign
@@ -42,6 +43,36 @@ Otherwise, you can:
     "Enter license key" option, copy the license, paste it into the "License key"
     field and click **Upload license**.
 
+## Add your license at install time
+
+The license may be automatically injected during installation using one of
+two methods.
+
+The first requires a license file named `Gitlab.gitlab-release`.
+
+Place it in the `config/` directory if installing from source or in the
+`/etc/gitlab/` directory if installing Omnibus.
+
+The second allows the administrator to configure the location and
+filename of the license.
+
+Source installations should set the `GITLAB_LICENSE_FILE` environment
+variable with the path to a valid GitLab Enterprise Edition license.
+
+```sh
+export GITLAB_LICENSE_FILE="/path/to/license/file"
+```
+
+Omnibus installations should add this entry to `gitlab.rb`:
+
+```ruby
+gitlab_rails['license_file'] = "/path/to/license/file"
+```
+
+CAUTION:: **Caution:**
+These methods will only add a license at the time of installation. Use the
+admin area in the web ui to renew or upgrade licenses.
+
 ---
 
 Once the license is uploaded, all GitLab Enterprise Edition functionality