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# Issue closing pattern **(CORE ONLY)**
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>**Note:**
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This is the administration documentation. There is a separate [user documentation ](../user/project/issues/managing_issues.md#closing-issues-automatically )
on issue closing pattern.
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When a commit or merge request resolves one or more issues, it is possible to
automatically have these issues closed when the commit or merge request lands
in the project's default branch.
## Change the issue closing pattern
In order to change the pattern you need to have access to the server that GitLab
is installed on.
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The default pattern can be located in [`gitlab.yml.example` ](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/blob/master/config/gitlab.yml.example )
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under the "Automatic issue closing" section.
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> **Tip:**
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You are advised to use < https: / / rubular . com > to test the issue closing pattern.
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Because Rubular doesn't understand `%{issue_ref}` , you can replace this by
`#\d+` when testing your patterns, which matches only local issue references like `#123` .
**For Omnibus installations**
1. Open `/etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb` with your editor.
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1. Change the value of `gitlab_rails['gitlab_issue_closing_pattern']` to a regular
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expression of your liking:
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```ruby
gitlab_rails['gitlab_issue_closing_pattern'] = "\b((?:[Cc]los(?:e[sd]|ing)|\b[Ff]ix(?:e[sd]|ing)?) +(?:(?:issues? +)?%{issue_ref}(?:(?:, *| +and +)?))+)"
```
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1. [Reconfigure ](restart_gitlab.md#omnibus-gitlab-reconfigure ) GitLab for the changes to take effect.
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**For installations from source**
1. Open `gitlab.yml` with your editor.
1. Change the value of `issue_closing_pattern` :
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```yaml
issue_closing_pattern: "\b((?:[Cc]los(?:e[sd]|ing)|\b[Ff]ix(?:e[sd]|ing)?) +(?:(?:issues? +)?%{issue_ref}(?:(?:, *| +and +)?))+)"
```
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1. [Restart ](restart_gitlab.md#installations-from-source ) GitLab for the changes to take effect.