Run as service

Running Gogs as a system service ensures it starts automatically on boot and restarts if it crashes. Choose the init system or service manager that matches your operating system.

Linux

Systemd
init.d (Debian/Ubuntu)
init.d (CentOS/RHEL)
OpenRC (Gentoo)

Systemd is the default init system on most modern Linux distributions (Ubuntu 16.04+, Debian 8+, CentOS 7+, Fedora, Arch Linux, etc.).Gogs ships with a systemd service template at scripts/systemd/gogs.service in the installation directory.

1. Customize the service file

Copy the template and edit it to match your installation:

sudo cp /home/git/gogs/scripts/systemd/gogs.service /etc/systemd/system/gogs.service
sudo vim /etc/systemd/system/gogs.service

Here is the default service file for reference:

[Unit]
Description=Gogs
After=network.target
After=mariadb.service mysql.service mysqld.service postgresql.service memcached.service redis.service

[Service]
# Uncomment the following if you have repos with lots of files
# and get an HTTP 500 error because of that
#LimitMEMLOCK=infinity
#LimitNOFILE=65535
Type=simple
User=git
Group=git
WorkingDirectory=/home/git/gogs
ExecStart=/home/git/gogs/gogs web
Restart=always
RestartSec=2s
Environment=USER=git HOME=/home/git

# Hardening directives (comment out if not supported by your systemd version)
ProtectSystem=full
PrivateDevices=yes
PrivateTmp=yes
NoNewPrivileges=true

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Update the following values to match your environment:

User and Group — the system user running Gogs
WorkingDirectory — the Gogs installation directory
ExecStart — the full path to the Gogs binary
Environment — ensure USER and HOME match the Gogs user

If you use MySQL/MariaDB, PostgreSQL, Redis, or Memcached, the After= lines ensure Gogs starts after those services. Uncomment or add lines as needed for your database.

2. Enable and start the service

sudo systemctl enable gogs
sudo systemctl start gogs

3. Verify the service

# Check status
sudo systemctl status gogs -l

# View logs
sudo journalctl -b -u gogs

If you have repositories with a large number of files and encounter HTTP 500 errors, uncomment the LimitMEMLOCK=infinity and LimitNOFILE=65535 directives in the service file.

For Debian-based systems that do not use systemd, Gogs provides an init.d script at scripts/init/debian/gogs.

1. Copy and customize the script

sudo cp /home/git/gogs/scripts/init/debian/gogs /etc/init.d/gogs
sudo chmod +x /etc/init.d/gogs
sudo vim /etc/init.d/gogs

Verify or update the following variables in the script:

WORKINGDIR=/home/git/gogs
DAEMON=$WORKINGDIR/$NAME
DAEMON_ARGS="web"
USER=git

If you run Gogs alongside Nginx and PostgreSQL, update the init dependencies at the top of the script:

# Required-Start:    $syslog $network $local_fs nginx postgresql
# Required-Stop:     $syslog $local_fs

2. Register and start the service

sudo update-rc.d gogs defaults 30 70
sudo service gogs start

3. Verify

Visit your Gogs URL in a browser to confirm it is running. You can also check:

sudo service gogs status

For CentOS/RHEL systems, Gogs provides an init.d script at scripts/init/centos/gogs.

1. Copy and customize the script

sudo cp /home/git/gogs/scripts/init/centos/gogs /etc/rc.d/init.d/gogs
sudo chmod +x /etc/rc.d/init.d/gogs
sudo vim /etc/rc.d/init.d/gogs

Verify or update the following variables:

NAME=gogs
GOGS_HOME=/home/git/gogs
GOGS_PATH=${GOGS_HOME}/$NAME
GOGS_USER=git
LOGPATH=${GOGS_HOME}/log

You can override these defaults by creating /etc/sysconfig/gogs with your custom values.

2. Register and start the service

sudo chkconfig gogs on
sudo service gogs start

3. Verify

sudo service gogs status

For Gentoo and other distributions using OpenRC, create a service script at /etc/init.d/gogs:

#!/sbin/openrc-run

description="Gogs - A painless self-hosted Git service"
command="/home/git/gogs/gogs"
command_args="web"
command_user="git"
command_background=true
pidfile="/var/run/gogs.pid"
directory="/home/git/gogs"

depend() {
    need net
    after mysql postgresql
}

Make it executable and enable it:

sudo chmod +x /etc/init.d/gogs
sudo rc-update add gogs default
sudo rc-service gogs start

Windows

On Windows, Gogs can run as a native Windows service using either the builtin minwinsvc support or the third-party NSSM tool.

Builtin (sc.exe)
NSSM

Gogs binaries built with the minwinsvc tag (release archive name that contains mws) support running as a native Windows service.

1. Configure Gogs for Windows

Edit C:\gogs\custom\conf\app.ini:

RUN_USER = COMPUTERNAME$

Replace COMPUTERNAME with the output of echo %COMPUTERNAME% in a command prompt. For example, if the computer name is USER-PC, set RUN_USER = USER-PC$.Configure the server section:

[server]
DOMAIN           = gogs
PROTOCOL         = http
HTTP_ADDR        = 127.0.1.1
HTTP_PORT        = 80
OFFLINE_MODE     = true
EXTERNAL_URL     = http://gogs/

Using an address in the 127.x.x.x range (other than 127.0.0.1) prevents port conflicts with other local services while keeping traffic local. Any address from 127.0.0.2 to 127.254.254.254 works.

2. Add a hosts entry

Open Notepad as Administrator and edit C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts:

# Gogs local HTTPd
127.0.1.1        gogs

3. Create and start the service

Open a command prompt as Administrator:

sc create gogs start= auto binPath= "\"C:\gogs\gogs.exe\" web --config \"C:\gogs\custom\conf\app.ini\""

There must be a space after each = in the sc create command. This is a Windows sc.exe syntax requirement.

Start the service:

net start gogs

You should see:

The gogs service is starting.
The gogs service was started successfully.

Windows services run from %WINDIR%\System32 by default. Always use absolute paths in app.ini for data directories and database files:

[server]
APP_DATA_PATH = c:/gogs/data

[database]
PATH = c:/gogs/data/gogs.db

Use forward slashes (/) in paths to avoid escape character issues.

NSSM (Non-Sucking Service Manager) provides more control over service configuration and automatic restart behavior.

1. Install NSSM

Download nssm.exe for your architecture (32-bit or 64-bit) and place it in a directory on your PATH.

2. Install the Gogs service

Open a command prompt as Administrator:

nssm install gogs

The NSSM service installer GUI will appear. Configure the following tabs:Application tab:

Path: C:\gogs\gogs.exe
Startup directory: C:\gogs
Arguments: web

Details tab:

Display name: Gogs
Description: Gogs is a painless self-hosted Git service.
Startup type: Automatic (Delayed Start)

Delayed start means the service will begin approximately two minutes after non-delayed services, reducing impact on boot time.

I/O tab:

Output (stdout): C:\gogs\log\gogs-nssm.txt
Error (stderr): C:\gogs\log\gogs-nssm.txt

File rotation tab:

Check Rotate files
Restrict rotation to files bigger than: 1000000 bytes

Environment tab:

Environment variables: PATH=%PATH%;C:\gogs;C:\Program Files (x86)\Git\bin

The environment variable ensures both gogs.exe and git.exe are available on the service’s PATH at runtime.

Click Install service to complete the setup.

3. Start and manage the service

nssm start gogs

You should see:

gogs: START: The operation completed successfully.

Verify by checking C:\gogs\log\gogs-nssm.txt for Gogs startup output, ending with lines like:

[I] Run Mode: Production
[I] Listen: http://127.0.1.1:80

To restart after configuration changes:

nssm restart gogs

NSSM will automatically attempt to restart Gogs if it crashes.

Getting started

Fine-tuning

Advancing

Asking

Linux

1. Customize the service file

2. Enable and start the service

3. Verify the service

1. Copy and customize the script

2. Register and start the service

3. Verify

1. Copy and customize the script

2. Register and start the service

3. Verify

Windows

1. Configure Gogs for Windows

2. Add a hosts entry

3. Create and start the service

1. Install NSSM

2. Install the Gogs service

3. Start and manage the service

Getting started

Fine-tuning

Advancing

Asking

Documentation Index

​Linux

​1. Customize the service file

​2. Enable and start the service

​3. Verify the service

​1. Copy and customize the script

​2. Register and start the service

​3. Verify

​1. Copy and customize the script

​2. Register and start the service

​3. Verify

​Windows

​1. Configure Gogs for Windows

​2. Add a hosts entry

​3. Create and start the service

​1. Install NSSM

​2. Install the Gogs service

​3. Start and manage the service

Linux

1. Customize the service file

2. Enable and start the service

3. Verify the service

1. Copy and customize the script

2. Register and start the service

3. Verify

1. Copy and customize the script

2. Register and start the service

3. Verify

Windows

1. Configure Gogs for Windows

2. Add a hosts entry

3. Create and start the service

1. Install NSSM

2. Install the Gogs service

3. Start and manage the service