info: To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with this page, see https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/ux/technical-writing/#assignments
comments: false
description: Read through the GitLab installation methods.
type: index
---
# Installation **(FREE SELF)**
GitLab can be installed in most GNU/Linux distributions and with several
cloud providers. To get the best experience from GitLab, you must balance
performance, reliability, ease of administration (backups, upgrades, and
troubleshooting), and the cost of hosting.
Depending on your platform, select from the following available methods to
The [GitLab Environment Toolkit](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/quality/gitlab-environment-toolkit) (GET) provides a set of automation tools to easily deploy a [reference architecture](../administration/reference_architectures/index.md) on most major cloud providers.
[**> Install a GitLab reference architecture using the GitLab Environment Toolkit.**](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/quality/gitlab-environment-toolkit#documentation)
## Installing GitLab on Kubernetes via the GitLab Helm charts
When installing GitLab on Kubernetes, there are some trade-offs that you
need to be aware of:
- Administration and troubleshooting requires Kubernetes knowledge.
- It can be more expensive for smaller installations. The default installation
requires more resources than a single node Omnibus deployment, as most services
are deployed in a redundant fashion.
- There are some feature [limitations to be aware of](https://docs.gitlab.com/charts/#limitations).
Due to these trade-offs, having Kubernetes experience is a requirement for
using this method. We recommend being familiar with Kubernetes before using it
to deploy GitLab in production. The methods for management, observability, and
some concepts are different than traditional deployments.
[**> Install GitLab on Kubernetes using the GitLab Helm charts.**](https://docs.gitlab.com/charts/)
## Installing GitLab with Docker
GitLab maintains a set of official Docker images based on the Omnibus GitLab
package.
[**> Install GitLab using the official GitLab Docker images.**](docker.md)
## Installing GitLab from source
If the Omnibus GitLab package isn't available for your distribution, you can
install GitLab from source. This can be useful with unsupported systems, like
\*BSD. For an overview of the directory structure, see the
[**> Install GitLab from source.**](installation.md)
## Installing GitLab on cloud providers
GitLab can be installed on a variety of cloud providers by using any of
the above methods, provided the cloud provider supports it.
- [Install on AWS](aws/index.md): Install Omnibus GitLab on AWS using the community AMIs that GitLab provides.
- [Install GitLab on Google Cloud Platform](google_cloud_platform/index.md): Install Omnibus GitLab on a VM in GCP.
- [Install GitLab on Azure](azure/index.md): Install Omnibus GitLab from Azure Marketplace.
- [Install GitLab on OpenShift](https://docs.gitlab.com/charts/installation/cloud/openshift.html): Install GitLab on OpenShift by using the GitLab Helm charts.
- [Install GitLab on DigitalOcean](https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-install-and-configure-gitlab-on-ubuntu-18-04): Install Omnibus GitLab on DigitalOcean.
- _Testing only!_ [DigitalOcean and Docker Machine](digitaloceandocker.md):
Quickly test any version of GitLab on DigitalOcean using Docker Machine.
## Next steps
Here are a few resources you might want to check out after completing the
installation:
- [Upload a license](../user/admin_area/license.md) or [start a free trial](https://about.gitlab.com/free-trial/):
Activate all GitLab Enterprise Edition functionality with a license.
- [Set up runners](https://docs.gitlab.com/runner/): Set up one or more GitLab
Runners, the agents that are responsible for all of the GitLab CI/CD features.
- [GitLab Pages](../administration/pages/index.md): Configure GitLab Pages to
allow hosting of static sites.
- [GitLab Registry](../administration/packages/container_registry.md): With the
GitLab Container Registry, every project can have its own space to store Docker