Self-Host Gitea on a VPS — Your Own Lightweight Git Server

What You Need

• A VPS with 1 GB RAM (Gitea sips resources)
• Ubuntu 22.04 or 24.04 with SSH
• A domain or subdomain pointed at the server

Step 1: Install Docker

curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh

Step 2: Compose with Caddy HTTPS

Save as docker-compose.yml. This runs Gitea with SQLite (fine for a personal or small-team instance) and Caddy for automatic certificates:

services:
  gitea:
    image: gitea/gitea:latest
    restart: always
    environment:
      - GITEA__server__DOMAIN=git.example.com
      - GITEA__server__ROOT_URL=https://git.example.com/
      - GITEA__server__SSH_DOMAIN=git.example.com
    volumes:
      - gitea:/data
    ports:
      - "2222:22"

  caddy:
    image: caddy:2-alpine
    restart: always
    ports:
      - "80:80"
      - "443:443"
    volumes:
      - ./Caddyfile:/etc/caddy/Caddyfile
      - caddy_data:/data
    depends_on:
      - gitea

volumes:
  gitea:
  caddy_data:

Note Gitea's SSH is mapped to host port 2222 so it does not collide with your own SSH on port 22.

Step 3: The Caddyfile

git.example.com {
  reverse_proxy gitea:3000
}

Bring it up:

docker compose up -d

Step 4: First-Run Setup

Open https://git.example.com and complete the install screen. The database is SQLite (already configured), so just set your admin account. Then — and this matters — go to Site Administration and disable open registration unless you want the public signing up:

Set "Disable Self-Registration" and require admin approval for new users.

Step 5: Clone Over SSH

Add your public key in Gitea under Settings → SSH Keys, then clone using the mapped port:

git clone ssh://[email protected]:2222/youruser/yourrepo.git

What It Costs

Gitea is one of the lightest useful things you can self-host, so the Micro plan (1 vCPU, 1 GB) runs a personal or small-team instance comfortably. On NoctHost that is a couple of dollars a month, billed hourly from a prepaid balance you top up with crypto — no card and no KYC, which suits keeping private repositories genuinely private.