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---
stage: Enablement
group: Geo
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/#designated-technical-writers
type: howto
---
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# Geo for multiple nodes **(PREMIUM ONLY)**
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This document describes a minimal reference architecture for running Geo
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in a multi-node configuration. If your multi-node setup differs from the one
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described, it is possible to adapt these instructions to your needs.
## Architecture overview
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![Geo multi-node diagram ](../../high_availability/img/geo-ha-diagram.png )
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_[diagram source - GitLab employees only](https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1z0VlizKiLNXVVVaERFwgsIOuEgjcUqDTWPdQYsE7Z4c/edit)_
The topology above assumes that the **primary** and **secondary** Geo clusters
are located in two separate locations, on their own virtual network
with private IP addresses. The network is configured such that all machines within
one geographic location can communicate with each other using their private IP addresses.
The IP addresses given are examples and may be different depending on the
network topology of your deployment.
The only external way to access the two Geo deployments is by HTTPS at
`gitlab.us.example.com` and `gitlab.eu.example.com` in the example above.
NOTE: **Note:**
The **primary** and **secondary** Geo deployments must be able to communicate to each other over HTTPS.
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## Redis and PostgreSQL for multiple nodes
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Geo supports:
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- Redis and PostgreSQL on the **primary** node configured for multiple nodes.
- Redis on **secondary** nodes configured for multiple nodes.
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NOTE: **Note:**
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Support for PostgreSQL on **secondary** nodes in multi-node configuration
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[is planned ](https://gitlab.com/groups/gitlab-org/-/epics/2536 ).
Because of the additional complexity involved in setting up this configuration
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for PostgreSQL and Redis, it is not covered by this Geo multi-node documentation.
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For more information about setting up a multi-node PostgreSQL cluster and Redis cluster using the omnibus package see the multi-node documentation for
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[PostgreSQL ](../../postgresql/replication_and_failover.md ) and
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[Redis ](../../redis/replication_and_failover.md ), respectively.
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NOTE: **Note:**
It is possible to use cloud hosted services for PostgreSQL and Redis, but this is beyond the scope of this document.
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## Prerequisites: Two working GitLab multi-node clusters
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One cluster will serve as the **primary** node. Use the
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[GitLab multi-node documentation ](../../reference_architectures/index.md ) to set this up. If
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you already have a working GitLab instance that is in-use, it can be used as a
**primary**.
The second cluster will serve as the **secondary** node. Again, use the
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[GitLab multi-node documentation ](../../reference_architectures/index.md ) to set this up.
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It's a good idea to log in and test it, however, note that its data will be
wiped out as part of the process of replicating from the **primary** .
## Configure the GitLab cluster to be the **primary** node
The following steps enable a GitLab cluster to serve as the **primary** node.
### Step 1: Configure the **primary** frontend servers
1. Edit `/etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb` and add the following:
```ruby
##
## Enable the Geo primary role
##
roles ['geo_primary_role']
##
## The unique identifier for the Geo node.
##
gitlab_rails['geo_node_name'] = '< node_name_here > '
##
## Disable automatic migrations
##
gitlab_rails['auto_migrate'] = false
```
After making these changes, [reconfigure GitLab ](../../restart_gitlab.md#omnibus-gitlab-reconfigure ) so the changes take effect.
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NOTE: **Note:**
PostgreSQL and Redis should have already been disabled on the
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application servers, and connections from the application servers to those
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services on the backend servers configured, during normal GitLab multi-node set up. See
multi-node configuration documentation for
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[PostgreSQL ](../../postgresql/replication_and_failover.md#configuring-the-application-nodes )
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and [Redis ](../../redis/replication_and_failover.md#example-configuration-for-the-gitlab-application ).
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### Step 2: Configure the **primary** database
1. Edit `/etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb` and add the following:
```ruby
##
## Configure the Geo primary role and the PostgreSQL role
##
roles ['geo_primary_role', 'postgres_role']
```
## Configure a **secondary** node
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A **secondary** cluster is similar to any other GitLab multi-node cluster, with two
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major differences:
- The main PostgreSQL database is a read-only replica of the **primary** node's
PostgreSQL database.
- There is also a single PostgreSQL database for the **secondary** cluster,
called the "tracking database", which tracks the synchronization state of
various resources.
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Therefore, we will set up the multi-node components one-by-one, and include deviations
from the normal multi-node setup. However, we highly recommend first configuring a
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brand-new cluster as if it were not part of a Geo setup so that it can be
tested and verified as a working cluster. And only then should it be modified
for use as a Geo **secondary** . This helps to separate problems that are related
and are not related to Geo setup.
### Step 1: Configure the Redis and Gitaly services on the **secondary** node
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Configure the following services, again using the non-Geo multi-node
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documentation:
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- [Configuring Redis for GitLab ](../../redis/replication_and_failover.md#example-configuration-for-the-gitlab-application ) for multiple nodes.
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- [Gitaly ](../../high_availability/gitaly.md ), which will store data that is
synchronized from the **primary** node.
NOTE: **Note:**
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[NFS ](../../nfs.md ) can be used in place of Gitaly but is not
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recommended.
### Step 2: Configure the main read-only replica PostgreSQL database on the **secondary** node
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NOTE: **Note:**
The following documentation assumes the database will be run on
a single node only. Multi-node PostgreSQL on **secondary** nodes is
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[not currently supported ](https://gitlab.com/groups/gitlab-org/-/epics/2536 ).
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Configure the [**secondary** database ](../setup/database.md ) as a read-only replica of
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the **primary** database. Use the following as a guide.
1. Generate an MD5 hash of the desired password for the database user that the
GitLab application will use to access the read-replica database:
Note that the username (`gitlab` by default) is incorporated into the hash.
```shell
gitlab-ctl pg-password-md5 gitlab
# Enter password: < your_password_here >
# Confirm password: < your_password_here >
# fca0b89a972d69f00eb3ec98a5838484
```
Use this hash to fill in `<md5_hash_of_your_password>` in the next step.
1. Edit `/etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb` in the replica database machine, and add the
following:
```ruby
##
## Configure the Geo secondary role and the PostgreSQL role
##
roles ['geo_secondary_role', 'postgres_role']
##
## Secondary address
## - replace '< secondary_node_ip > ' with the public or VPC address of your Geo secondary node
## - replace '< tracking_database_ip > ' with the public or VPC address of your Geo tracking database node
##
postgresql['listen_address'] = '< secondary_node_ip > '
postgresql['md5_auth_cidr_addresses'] = ['< secondary_node_ip > /32', '< tracking_database_ip > /32']
##
## Database credentials password (defined previously in primary node)
## - replicate same values here as defined in primary node
##
postgresql['sql_user_password'] = '< md5_hash_of_your_password > '
gitlab_rails['db_password'] = '< your_password_here > '
##
## When running the Geo tracking database on a separate machine, disable it
## here and allow connections from the tracking database host. And ensure
## the tracking database IP is in postgresql['md5_auth_cidr_addresses'] above.
##
geo_postgresql['enable'] = false
##
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## Disable all other services that aren't needed. Note that we had to enable
## geo_secondary_role to cause some configuration changes to postgresql, but
## the role enables single-node services by default.
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##
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alertmanager['enable'] = false
consul['enable'] = false
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geo_logcursor['enable'] = false
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gitaly['enable'] = false
gitlab_exporter['enable'] = false
gitlab_workhorse['enable'] = false
nginx['enable'] = false
node_exporter['enable'] = false
pgbouncer_exporter['enable'] = false
prometheus['enable'] = false
redis['enable'] = false
redis_exporter['enable'] = false
repmgr['enable'] = false
sidekiq['enable'] = false
sidekiq_cluster['enable'] = false
puma['enable'] = false
unicorn['enable'] = false
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```
After making these changes, [reconfigure GitLab ](../../restart_gitlab.md#omnibus-gitlab-reconfigure ) so the changes take effect.
If using an external PostgreSQL instance, refer also to
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[Geo with external PostgreSQL instances ](../setup/external_database.md ).
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### Step 3: Configure the tracking database on the **secondary** node
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NOTE: **Note:**
This documentation assumes the tracking database will be run on
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only a single machine, rather than as a PostgreSQL cluster.
Configure the tracking database.
1. Generate an MD5 hash of the desired password for the database user that the
GitLab application will use to access the tracking database:
Note that the username (`gitlab_geo` by default) is incorporated into the
hash.
```shell
gitlab-ctl pg-password-md5 gitlab_geo
# Enter password: < your_password_here >
# Confirm password: < your_password_here >
# fca0b89a972d69f00eb3ec98a5838484
```
Use this hash to fill in `<tracking_database_password_md5_hash>` in the next
step.
1. Edit `/etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb` in the tracking database machine, and add the
following:
```ruby
##
## Enable the Geo secondary tracking database
##
geo_postgresql['enable'] = true
geo_postgresql['listen_address'] = '< ip_address_of_this_host > '
geo_postgresql['sql_user_password'] = '< tracking_database_password_md5_hash > '
##
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## Configure PostgreSQL connection to the replica database
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##
geo_postgresql['md5_auth_cidr_addresses'] = ['< replica_database_ip > /32']
gitlab_rails['db_host'] = '< replica_database_ip > '
# Prevent reconfigure from attempting to run migrations on the replica DB
gitlab_rails['auto_migrate'] = false
##
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## Ensure unnecessary services are disabled
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##
alertmanager['enable'] = false
consul['enable'] = false
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geo_logcursor['enable'] = false
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gitaly['enable'] = false
gitlab_exporter['enable'] = false
gitlab_workhorse['enable'] = false
nginx['enable'] = false
node_exporter['enable'] = false
pgbouncer_exporter['enable'] = false
postgresql['enable'] = false
prometheus['enable'] = false
redis['enable'] = false
redis_exporter['enable'] = false
repmgr['enable'] = false
sidekiq['enable'] = false
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sidekiq_cluster['enable'] = false
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puma['enable'] = false
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unicorn['enable'] = false
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```
After making these changes, [reconfigure GitLab ](../../restart_gitlab.md#omnibus-gitlab-reconfigure ) so the changes take effect.
If using an external PostgreSQL instance, refer also to
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[Geo with external PostgreSQL instances ](../setup/external_database.md ).
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### Step 4: Configure the frontend application servers on the **secondary** node
In the architecture overview, there are two machines running the GitLab
application services. These services are enabled selectively in the
configuration.
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Configure the GitLab Rails application servers following the relevant steps
outlined in the [reference architectures ](../../reference_architectures/index.md ),
then make the following modifications:
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1. Edit `/etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb` on each application server in the **secondary**
cluster, and add the following:
```ruby
##
## Enable the Geo secondary role
##
roles ['geo_secondary_role', 'application_role']
##
## The unique identifier for the Geo node.
##
gitlab_rails['geo_node_name'] = '< node_name_here > '
##
## Disable automatic migrations
##
gitlab_rails['auto_migrate'] = false
##
## Configure the connection to the tracking DB. And disable application
## servers from running tracking databases.
##
geo_secondary['db_host'] = '< geo_tracking_db_host > '
geo_secondary['db_password'] = '< geo_tracking_db_password > '
geo_postgresql['enable'] = false
##
## Configure connection to the streaming replica database, if you haven't
## already
##
gitlab_rails['db_host'] = '< replica_database_host > '
gitlab_rails['db_password'] = '< replica_database_password > '
##
## Configure connection to Redis, if you haven't already
##
gitlab_rails['redis_host'] = '< redis_host > '
gitlab_rails['redis_password'] = '< redis_password > '
##
## If you are using custom users not managed by Omnibus, you need to specify
## UIDs and GIDs like below, and ensure they match between servers in a
## cluster to avoid permissions issues
##
user['uid'] = 9000
user['gid'] = 9000
web_server['uid'] = 9001
web_server['gid'] = 9001
registry['uid'] = 9002
registry['gid'] = 9002
```
NOTE: **Note:**
If you had set up PostgreSQL cluster using the omnibus package and you had set
up `postgresql['sql_user_password'] = 'md5 digest of secret'` setting, keep in
mind that `gitlab_rails['db_password']` and `geo_secondary['db_password']`
mentioned above contains the plaintext passwords. This is used to let the Rails
servers connect to the databases.
NOTE: **Note:**
Make sure that current node IP is listed in `postgresql['md5_auth_cidr_addresses']` setting of your remote database.
After making these changes [Reconfigure GitLab ](../../restart_gitlab.md#omnibus-gitlab-reconfigure ) so the changes take effect.
On the secondary the following GitLab frontend services will be enabled:
- `geo-logcursor`
- `gitlab-pages`
- `gitlab-workhorse`
- `logrotate`
- `nginx`
- `registry`
- `remote-syslog`
- `sidekiq`
- `puma`
Verify these services by running `sudo gitlab-ctl status` on the frontend
application servers.
### Step 5: Set up the LoadBalancer for the **secondary** node
In this topology, a load balancer is required at each geographic location to
route traffic to the application servers.
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See [Load Balancer for GitLab with multiple nodes ](../../load_balancer.md ) for
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more information.
### Step 6: Configure the backend application servers on the **secondary** node
The minimal reference architecture diagram above shows all application services
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running together on the same machines. However, for multiple nodes we
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[strongly recommend running all services separately ](../../reference_architectures/index.md ).
For example, a Sidekiq server could be configured similarly to the frontend
application servers above, with some changes to run only the `sidekiq` service:
1. Edit `/etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb` on each Sidekiq server in the **secondary**
cluster, and add the following:
```ruby
##
## Enable the Geo secondary role
##
roles ['geo_secondary_role']
##
## Enable the Sidekiq service
##
sidekiq['enable'] = true
##
## Ensure unnecessary services are disabled
##
alertmanager['enable'] = false
consul['enable'] = false
geo_logcursor['enable'] = false
gitaly['enable'] = false
gitlab_exporter['enable'] = false
gitlab_workhorse['enable'] = false
nginx['enable'] = false
node_exporter['enable'] = false
pgbouncer_exporter['enable'] = false
postgresql['enable'] = false
prometheus['enable'] = false
redis['enable'] = false
redis_exporter['enable'] = false
repmgr['enable'] = false
puma['enable'] = false
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unicorn['enable'] = false
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##
## The unique identifier for the Geo node.
##
gitlab_rails['geo_node_name'] = '< node_name_here > '
##
## Disable automatic migrations
##
gitlab_rails['auto_migrate'] = false
##
## Configure the connection to the tracking DB. And disable application
## servers from running tracking databases.
##
geo_secondary['db_host'] = '< geo_tracking_db_host > '
geo_secondary['db_password'] = '< geo_tracking_db_password > '
geo_postgresql['enable'] = false
##
## Configure connection to the streaming replica database, if you haven't
## already
##
gitlab_rails['db_host'] = '< replica_database_host > '
gitlab_rails['db_password'] = '< replica_database_password > '
##
## Configure connection to Redis, if you haven't already
##
gitlab_rails['redis_host'] = '< redis_host > '
gitlab_rails['redis_password'] = '< redis_password > '
##
## If you are using custom users not managed by Omnibus, you need to specify
## UIDs and GIDs like below, and ensure they match between servers in a
## cluster to avoid permissions issues
##
user['uid'] = 9000
user['gid'] = 9000
web_server['uid'] = 9001
web_server['gid'] = 9001
registry['uid'] = 9002
registry['gid'] = 9002
```
You can similarly configure a server to run only the `geo-logcursor` service
with `geo_logcursor['enable'] = true` and disabling Sidekiq with
`sidekiq['enable'] = false` .
These servers do not need to be attached to the load balancer.