GitLab

GitLab is a web-based software development and CI/CD platform. It enables teams to collaborate on code, host and manage Git repositories, track issues, and automate the software development lifecycle.

GitLab supports both cloud-hosted and self-managed deployments. Combined with its free plan, this makes it a popular choice for teams managing their own infrastructure.

Configuring GitLab SMTP settings

Edit your /etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb file as shown below, and then run gitlab-ctl reconfigure to apply the changes. After reconfiguring GitLab, you can test email delivery by triggering a password reset or using the Rails console to send a test email.

/etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb

gitlab_rails['smtp_enable'] = true
gitlab_rails['smtp_address'] = "in.smtp.sendamatic.net"
gitlab_rails['smtp_port'] = 587
gitlab_rails['smtp_user_name'] = "<your-mail-credential-username>" # https://docs.sendamatic.net/mail-credentials/
gitlab_rails['smtp_password'] = "<your-mail-credential-password>"
gitlab_rails['smtp_domain'] = "<your-mail-identity-domain>"    # https://docs.sendamatic.net/mail-identities/
gitlab_rails['smtp_authentication'] = "login"
gitlab_rails['smtp_enable_starttls_auto'] = true
gitlab_rails['gitlab_email_from'] = "example@<your-mail-identity-domain>"
gitlab_rails['gitlab_email_reply_to'] = "example@<your-mail-identity-domain>"

Sending a test email from GitLab

To verify your SMTP configuration, you can send a test email using the GitLab Rails console:

sudo gitlab-rails console

Once inside the console, run the following Ruby code:

Notify.test_email('[email protected]', 'Test Email from GitLab', 'This is a test email.').deliver_now

Replace [email protected] with the recipient address you'd like to test. If the configuration is correct, GitLab will attempt to send the email using your SMTP settings.

To exit the console, type:

exit

Troubleshooting

If your test email fails to send, here are a few things to check:

Check GitLab logs

Run the following command to view logs related to email delivery:

sudo gitlab-ctl tail

Look for errors related to SMTP authentication, connection timeouts, or DNS resolution.

Verify credentials and domain

Ensure your SMTP username and password are correct.
Confirm that smtp_domain matches the domain associated with your mail identity.
Make sure gitlab_email_from and gitlab_email_reply_to use a verified domain.

Firewall and network access

Ensure your GitLab server can reach the SMTP server on the specified port (e.g., 587). You can test this with:

telnet in.smtp.sendamatic.net 587

If telnet is not installed, try:

nc -zv in.smtp.sendamatic.net 587