Files
werkator/docs/migration-from-legacy.md
T
mhoennigandClaude 129f38143d Warn that a statusContext rename mid-build strands a pending Gitea status
Renaming gitea.statusContext while a build runs splits that build over two
contexts: the abandoned one keeps its 'build running' entry, and Gitea reports
the commit as pending forever. Gitea cannot delete a commit status, so document
the manual closing POST as the only way out.

Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-08-11 11:17:24 +02:00

6.3 KiB

Migration from the Legacy Script

The bash script legacy/gitTally is deprecated and replaced by this application. This document maps the legacy environment-variable configuration to the YAML configuration and lists the manual migration steps. See configuration.md for the full configuration reference and deployment.md for the new service setup.

Configuration Mapping

Legacy configuration came from environment variables (gitTally --env template, sourced env files). The new configuration lives in two YAML files: .gittally.yml (committed) and .git/gittally/.gittally.yml (machine-specific, secrets).

Branch-level keys below live under branches.<name>; use branches.default for what used to be the global value.

Legacy environment variable New YAML key
GITTALLY_BUILD_COMMAND branches.<name>.buildCommand
GITTALLY_BUILD_CLEAN_COMMAND branches.<name>.cleanCommand
GITTALLY_BUILD_ARTEFACT_DIRS branches.<name>.artifactDirs — YAML list instead of ;-separated
GITTALLY_BUILD_STDOUT_LOG branches.<name>.stdoutLog
GITTALLY_BUILD_STDERR_LOG branches.<name>.stderrLog
GITTALLY_NEW_BRANCH_COMMIT_MAX_AGE watcher.newBranchMaxAge
GITTALLY_BUILD_DOCKER_IMAGE branches.<name>.docker.image — also set docker.enabled: true (replaces the --docker flag)
GITTALLY_BUILD_DOCKERFILE branches.<name>.docker.dockerfile
GITTALLY_BUILD_DOCKER_CONTEXT branches.<name>.docker.context
GITTALLY_BUILD_DOCKER_NETWORK branches.<name>.docker.network — default is now Docker's default network, not host
GITTALLY_BUILD_DOCKER_ENV branches.<name>.docker.env — YAML map instead of space-separated assignments
GITTALLY_ARTIFACT_SERVER_PORT server.port
GITTALLY_ARTIFACT_SERVER_BIND_ADDRESS server.bindAddress
GITTALLY_ARTIFACT_PUBLIC_BASE_URL server.publicBaseUrl
GITTALLY_ARTIFACT_BUILD_RETENTION_PER_BRANCH artifacts.retentionPerBranch for a count, artifacts.retentionMaxAge for a legacy age value (h/d suffix); unlike legacy, both limits can be combined
GITTALLY_IMPRESSUM_URL server.impressumUrl
GITTALLY_AUTO_BUILD_BRANCHES branches.<name>.autoBuild.enabled: true per branch instead of a branch list
GITTALLY_AUTO_BUILD_TIMES branches.<name>.autoBuild.times — YAML list, per branch
GITTALLY_GITEA_BASE_URL gitea.baseUrl
GITTALLY_GITEA_OWNER gitea.owner
GITTALLY_GITEA_REPO gitea.repo
GITTALLY_GITEA_STATUS_CONTEXT gitea.statusContext
GITTALLY_GITEA_GIT_USERNAME git.account — in .git/gittally/.gittally.yml
GITTALLY_GITEA_TOKEN git.token — in .git/gittally/.gittally.yml, never committed
GITTALLY_ARTIFACT_NGINX_SERVER_NAME server.nginx.serverName — also set server.nginx.enabled: true (replaces the --nginx flag)
GITTALLY_ARTIFACT_NGINX_HTTP_PORT server.nginx.httpPort
GITTALLY_ARTIFACT_NGINX_HTTPS_PORT server.nginx.httpsPort
GITTALLY_ARTIFACT_NGINX_UPSTREAM_HOST server.nginx.upstreamHost
GITTALLY_ARTIFACT_NGINX_CONTAINER_NAME server.nginx.containerName
GITTALLY_ARTIFACT_NGINX_STATE_DIR server.nginx.stateDir
GITTALLY_ARTIFACT_LETSENCRYPT_EMAIL server.nginx.letsencryptEmail

New keys without a legacy counterpart: builds.maxConcurrent, artifacts.rootDir, and watcher.pollInterval.

Intentionally Not Ported

  • Self-install and self-update (--install, --pull, GITTALLY_INSTALL_DIR) — replaced by jar deployment plus init --systemd.
  • GITTALLY_BUILD_DOCKER_PREFLIGHT_COMMAND and GITTALLY_BUILD_DOCKER_JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS — hsadmin-ng-specific; use branches.<name>.docker.env if needed.
  • HSADMIN_NG_* environment-variable fallbacks.
  • Env-file configuration itself — the systemd EnvironmentFile now only tunes the JVM (JAVA_OPTS).
  • GITTALLY_GITEA_DELETED_STATUS_DESCRIPTION, GITTALLY_BIN_FORWARD, GITTALLY_CONFIG_* — internal legacy mechanics without a counterpart.

Build History

Legacy build history (.git/git-watch-origin-and-test/build-results.tsv) is not imported; history starts fresh. The formats differ substantially (TSV vs. JSON with commit metadata and artifact keys), and retention would prune imported rows quickly anyway. Old artifacts under the legacy artifact root remain readable on disk until you delete them.

Manual Migration Steps

When migrating to a different host, the legacy instance can keep running in parallel until the new one is verified — then skip step 1 here and stop the legacy service on the old host last. During parallel operation, give the new instance a distinct gitea.statusContext, so the two instances do not overwrite each other's commit statuses in Gitea.

Rename the context back to the canonical one while no build is running. The Gitea client reads the config per call, so a rename between a build's running and its final status splits that build over two contexts: the old one keeps the pending "build running" entry forever, and Gitea's combined status of that commit stays pending although the build succeeded. Gitea has no API to delete a commit status; the only way out is to post a closing status for the abandoned context by hand:

curl -X POST -H "Authorization: token $TOKEN" -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"state":"success","context":"<old context>","description":"superseded by <new context>"}' \
  "$GITEA/api/v1/repos/<owner>/<repo>/statuses/<commit-sha>"
  1. Stop and remove the legacy service:

    systemctl --user disable --now gitTally.service
    rm -f ~/.config/systemd/user/gitTally.service
    systemctl --user daemon-reload
    
  2. Build and place the jar as described in deployment.md.

  3. In the repository, run java -jar ~/bin/gittally.jar init.

  4. Transfer your settings from the legacy env file into .gittally.yml using the table above.

  5. Put git.account and git.token into .git/gittally/.gittally.yml.

  6. Verify the effective configuration: java -jar ~/bin/gittally.jar config:print --full.

  7. Install and start the new service: init --systemd plus the printed commands, see deployment.md.

  8. Optionally clean up legacy state: .git/git-watch-origin-and-test/ and the legacy artifact root.