This article outlines a workaround for a product issue with the automatic configuration of the Nginx load balancer when it is added to an existing GitLab Server deployment from the Marketplace.
Although the installation wizard offers to deploy all required components - including the Let's Encrypt Certificates and Custom Domains Add-on -
there are cases when users opt to implement an external load balancer as part of their environment topology and prefer to manage these add-ons at that layer instead.
In such cases, a redirect error occurs due to a misconfiguration between the load balancer and the GitLab Server. This product issue is already tracked under internal ID JE-74739 and will be resolved in a future update.
A workaround was prepared to address this issue and restore proper Load Balancer functionality. It requires updating specific Nginx configuration files.
On the Load Balancer node, open the relevant configuration files and make the changes outlined below:
- Add port 4848 to backend UPs in /etc/nginx/nginx-jelastic.conf
- change proxy_pas from http to https in /etc/nginx/conf.d/ssl.conf
- and the same in /etc/nginx/conf.d/ssl.upstreams.inc
After-all, restart the nginx node
Once the configuration changes are applied, the Load Balancer should function correctly and route traffic to the application layer. After that users can install the Let's Encrypt Addon without any issues.