# GitLab Shell

## GitLab Shell handles git SSH sessions for GitLab

GitLab Shell handles git SSH sessions for GitLab and modifies the list of authorized keys.
GitLab Shell is not a Unix shell nor a replacement for Bash or Zsh.

When you access the GitLab server over SSH then GitLab Shell will:

1. Limits you to predefined git commands (git push, git pull).
1. Call the GitLab Rails API to check if you are authorized, and what Gitaly server your repository is on
1. Copy data back and forth between the SSH client and the Gitaly server

If you access a GitLab server over HTTP(S) you end up in [gitlab-workhorse](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-workhorse).

An overview of the four cases described above:

1. git pull over SSH -> gitlab-shell -> API call to gitlab-rails (Authorization) -> accept or decline -> establish Gitaly session
1. git push over SSH -> gitlab-shell (git command is not executed yet) -> establish Gitaly session -> (in Gitaly) gitlab-shell pre-receive hook -> API call to gitlab-rails (authorization) -> accept or decline push

## Default branch

GitLab Shell is transitioning its default branch from `master` to `main`. For now,
both branches are valid. All changes go to the `main` branch and are synced manually
to `master` by the maintainers. We plan to remove the `master` branch as soon as
possible. The current status is being tracked in [issue 489](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-shell/-/issues/489).

## Code status

[![pipeline status](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-shell/badges/main/pipeline.svg)](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-shell/-/pipelines?ref=main)
[![coverage report](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-shell/badges/main/coverage.svg)](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-shell/-/pipelines?ref=main)
[![Code Climate](https://codeclimate.com/github/gitlabhq/gitlab-shell.svg)](https://codeclimate.com/github/gitlabhq/gitlab-shell)

## Requirements

GitLab Shell is written in Go, and needs a Go compiler to build. It still requires
Ruby to build and test, but not to run.

Download and install the current version of Go from https://golang.org/dl/

## Setup

    make setup

## Check

Checks if GitLab API access and redis via internal API can be reached:

    make check

## Testing

Run tests:

    bundle install
    make test

Run gofmt:

    make verify

Run both test and verify (the default Makefile target):

    bundle install
    make validate

## Git LFS remark

Starting with GitLab 8.12, GitLab supports Git LFS authentication through SSH.

## Releasing a new version

GitLab Shell is versioned by git tags, and the version used by the Rails
application is stored in
[`GITLAB_SHELL_VERSION`](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/blob/master/GITLAB_SHELL_VERSION).

For each version, there is a raw version and a tag version:

- The **raw version** is the version number. For instance, `15.2.8`.
- The **tag version** is the raw version prefixed with `v`. For instance, `v15.2.8`.

To release a new version of GitLab Shell and have that version available to the
Rails application:

1. Create a merge request to update the [`CHANGELOG`](CHANGELOG) with the
   **tag version** and the [`VERSION`](VERSION) file with the **raw version**.
2. Ask a maintainer to review and merge the merge request. If you're already a
   maintainer, second maintainer review is not required.
3. Add a new git tag with the **tag version**.
4. Update `GITLAB_SHELL_VERSION` in the Rails application to the **raw
   version**. (Note: this can be done as a separate MR to that, or in and MR
   that will make use of the latest GitLab Shell changes.)

## Contributing

See [CONTRIBUTING.md](./CONTRIBUTING.md).

## License

See [LICENSE](./LICENSE).