GitLab Auth Module

Last modified: 17 February 2020

The GitLab authentication module is a pre-configured OAuth 2.0 auth module that lets users log in to Hub and any connected services with their GitLab credentials.

Enable GitLab Authentication

To allow users with existing accounts in GitLab to log in to Hub, enable the authentication module.

This procedure takes place in three steps:

  1. Generate a Redirect URI in Hub. When you create an authentication module, Hub generates a redirect URI to use with the authorization service. This URI identifies the source of each login request.

  2. Generate a Client ID and Secret in GitLab. Every login request sent from Hub includes a unique identifier. The ID and secret you store in the authentication module tell the GitLab authorization service that each login request is authorized.

  3. Enable the Auth Module in Hub. When you have generated the information Hub uses to authenticate with the GitLab authorization service, copy the values into Hub and enable the module.

Generate a Redirect URI in Hub

First, create the GitLab authentication module. When you perform this action, Hub generates a redirect URI to use with the authorization service.

To generate a redirect URI in Hub:

tip

Requires permissions: Low-level Admin Write

  1. In the Access Management section of the Administration menu, select Auth Modules.

  2. From the New Module drop-down list, select GitLab.

    • The Auth Modules page displays the settings for a new GitLab authentication module.

    • Hub generates a redirect URI for you to use in the authorization service.

    Gitlab auth redirect uri

  3. If the feature is supported by your browser, use the Copy button to copy the redirect URI to your clipboard.

Make sure to update the Redirect URI in the authorization service when you change the base URL of your Hub instance. For example, after migrating data to another Hub service or changing proxy settings.

Generate a Client ID and Secret

The next step is to register the authorized redirect URI for Hub in GitLab.

  1. Log in to your GitLab instance and access the Applications administrative section.

  2. In the Add new application form, enter a name for the Hub service, and copy the generated redirect URL to the Redirect URI field.

  3. In the Scopes options, select api and read_user.

  4. Click the Save application button.

    • GitLab generates the values that you use as the Client ID and Client secret in Hub.

      Gitlab auth registration

Enable the Auth Module in Hub

To complete the setup, store the client ID and secret from the authorization service in the GitLab auth module.

  1. Copy the Application ID from GitLab and paste it into the Client ID input field in Hub.

  2. Copy the Secret from GitLab and paste it into the Client secret input field in Hub.

  3. Configure the optional settings for the authentication module. For more information, see Additional Settings.

  4. Click the Save button to apply the settings.

  5. Click the Enable module button.

    • The GitLab authentication module is enabled.

    • The icon stored in the Button image setting is added to the login dialog window. Users can click this icon to log in to Hub with their credentials in GitLab.

Settings

The first section of the settings page displays the general settings for the authentication module. Here, you also find the redirect URI that you use to register Hub in the authorization service and the input fields that store the Client ID and Client Secret that are generated in the authorization service.

Setting

Description

Type

Displays the type of authorization service that is enabled for third-party authentication in Hub.

Name

Stores the name of the authentication module. Use this setting to distinguish this module from other authentication modules in the Auth Modules list.

Button image

Displays the image used for the button that a user clicks to log in to Hub with a their account in the connected authorization service. You can upload a JPG, GIF or PNG file. The image is resized to 48 x 48 pixels automatically.

Redirect URI

Displays the authorized redirect URI that is used to register the connection to Hub in the authorization service.

Client ID

Stores the identifier that the authorization service uses to validate a login request. You generate this value in the authorization service when you configure the authorization settings for a web application and enter an authorized redirect URI.

Client Secret

Stores the secret or password used to validate the client ID. You generate this value in the authorization service together with the client ID.

Authorization Service Endpoints

The settings in this section of the page store the OAuth 2.0 endpoints used by GitLab.

For pre-configured OAuth 2.0 modules, the values that are used by the selected authorization service are set automatically.

Setting

Description

Authorization

Stores the endpoint that Hub uses to obtain authorization from the resource owner via user-agent redirection.

Token

Stores the endpoint that Hub uses to exchange an authorization grant for an access token.

User data

Stores the endpoint used to locate profile data for the authenticated user.

Email

The endpoint used to locate the email address of the authenticated user Use only when the email address is not stored in the user profile

Default email verification state

Determines which state should be set for an email address in Hub, when the authentication service does not return the verification status for an email address.

Field Mapping

When a user profile response object is returned by GitLab, values from the specified field paths are copied to the user profile in Hub. Use the following settings to define the endpoint that locates profile data for the authenticated user and map fields that are stored in the authorization service to user accounts in Hub.

For the GitLab module, the values are set automatically.

Use a sequence of path segments separated by slashes (/) to specify a path to a field inside a nested object.

Additional settings let you define the request scope, and choose how to authenticate with the service.

Field

Description

User ID

Maps to the field that stores the value to copy to the User ID property in Hub.

Email

Maps to the field that stores the value to copy to the Email field in the Hub profile.

Verified email

Maps to the field that stores the value to copy to the verified email property in Hub.

Full name

Maps to the field that stores the value to copy to the Full name field in the Hub profile.

Avatar

Maps to the field that stores the image to use as the Avatar in the Hub profile.

Image URL pattern

Generates an image URL for avatars that are referenced by an ID. Use the <picture-id> placeholder to reference the field that stores the avatar.

Scope

Sets the scope for the access request. Enter a list of scopes, separated by spaces.

Authentication

Determines how credentials are passed to the authorization service.

Additional Settings

The following options are located at the bottom of the page. Use these settings to manage Hub account creation and group membership, and to reduce the loss of processing resources consumed by idle connections.

Option

Description

User creation

Enables creation of Hub accounts for unregistered users who log in with an account that is stored in the connected authorization service. Hub uses the email address to determine whether the user has an existing account.

Auto-join groups

Adds users to a group when they log in with an account that is stored in the connected authorization service. You can select one or more groups. New users that auto-join a group inherit all of the permissions assigned to this group.
We recommend that you add users to at least one group. Otherwise, a new user is only granted the permissions that are currently assigned to the All Users group.

Connection timeout

Sets the period of time to wait to establish a connection to the authorization service. The default setting is 5000 milliseconds (5 seconds).

Read timeout

Sets the period of time to wait to read and retrieve user profile data from the authorization service. The default setting is 5000 milliseconds (5 seconds).

Audit

Links to the Audit Events page in Hub. There, you can view a list of changes that were applied to this authentication module.