• Add user as a developer to all projects
• Add all users to all projects
• Add user as a developer to all groups
• Add all users to all groups
• Control the number of active users
• Disable two-factor authentication for all users
• Rotate two-factor authentication encryption key

User management

GitLab provides Rake tasks for user management.

Add user as a developer to all projects

To add a user as a developer to all projects, run:

# omnibus-gitlab
sudo gitlab-rake gitlab:import:user_to_projects[username@domain.tld]

# installation from source
bundle exec rake gitlab:import:user_to_projects[username@domain.tld] RAILS_ENV=production

Add all users to all projects

To add all users to all projects, run:

# omnibus-gitlab
sudo gitlab-rake gitlab:import:all_users_to_all_projects

# installation from source
bundle exec rake gitlab:import:all_users_to_all_projects RAILS_ENV=production

Add user as a developer to all groups

To add a user as a developer to all groups, run:

# omnibus-gitlab
sudo gitlab-rake gitlab:import:user_to_groups[username@domain.tld]

# installation from source
bundle exec rake gitlab:import:user_to_groups[username@domain.tld] RAILS_ENV=production

Add all users to all groups

To add all users to all groups, run:

# omnibus-gitlab
sudo gitlab-rake gitlab:import:all_users_to_all_groups

# installation from source
bundle exec rake gitlab:import:all_users_to_all_groups RAILS_ENV=production

Control the number of active users

Enable this setting to keep new users blocked until they have been cleared by the administrator. Defaults to false:

block_auto_created_users: false

Disable two-factor authentication for all users

This task disables two-factor authentication (2FA) for all users that have it enabled. This can be useful if GitLab’s config/secrets.yml file has been lost and users are unable to log in, for example.

To disable two-factor authentication for all users, run:

# omnibus-gitlab
sudo gitlab-rake gitlab:two_factor:disable_for_all_users

# installation from source
bundle exec rake gitlab:two_factor:disable_for_all_users RAILS_ENV=production

Rotate two-factor authentication encryption key

GitLab stores the secret data required for two-factor authentication (2FA) in an encrypted database column. The encryption key for this data is known as otp_key_base, and is stored in config/secrets.yml.

If that file is leaked, but the individual 2FA secrets have not, it’s possible to re-encrypt those secrets with a new encryption key. This allows you to change the leaked key without forcing all users to change their 2FA details.

To rotate the two-factor authentication encryption key:

1. Look up the old key. This is in the config/secrets.yml file, but make sure you’re working with the production section. The line you’re interested in will look like this:

   production:
     otp_key_base: ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff
   

2. Generate a new secret:

   # omnibus-gitlab
   sudo gitlab-rake secret
   
   # installation from source
   bundle exec rake secret RAILS_ENV=production
   

3. Stop the GitLab server, back up the existing secrets file, and update the database:

   # omnibus-gitlab
   sudo gitlab-ctl stop
   sudo cp config/secrets.yml config/secrets.yml.bak
   sudo gitlab-rake gitlab:two_factor:rotate_key:apply filename=backup.csv old_key=<old key> new_key=<new key>
   
   # installation from source
   sudo /etc/init.d/gitlab stop
   cp config/secrets.yml config/secrets.yml.bak
   bundle exec rake gitlab:two_factor:rotate_key:apply filename=backup.csv old_key=<old key> new_key=<new key> RAILS_ENV=production
   

   The <old key> value can be read from config/secrets.yml (<new key> was generated earlier). The encrypted values for the user 2FA secrets will be written to the specified filename. You can use this to rollback in case of error.

4. Change config/secrets.yml to set otp_key_base to <new key> and restart. Again, make sure you’re operating in the production section.

   # omnibus-gitlab
   sudo gitlab-ctl start
   
   # installation from source
   sudo /etc/init.d/gitlab start
   

If there are any problems (perhaps using the wrong value for old_key), you can restore your backup of config/secrets.yml and rollback the changes:

# omnibus-gitlab
sudo gitlab-ctl stop
sudo gitlab-rake gitlab:two_factor:rotate_key:rollback filename=backup.csv
sudo cp config/secrets.yml.bak config/secrets.yml
sudo gitlab-ctl start

# installation from source
sudo /etc/init.d/gitlab start
bundle exec rake gitlab:two_factor:rotate_key:rollback filename=backup.csv RAILS_ENV=production
cp config/secrets.yml.bak config/secrets.yml
sudo /etc/init.d/gitlab start