How to Set Up Gitea on Windows Server 2012 R2

May 16, 2026
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How to Set Up Gitea on Windows Server 2012 R2

Gitea is a lightweight, self-hosted Git service written in Go that provides a GitHub-like web interface for managing repositories, issues, pull requests, and CI/CD pipelines. It is an excellent choice for organizations that need an on-premises Git server without the complexity and licensing cost of GitLab or the resource requirements of Gogs. On Windows Server 2012 R2, Gitea runs as a native Windows service with minimal resource overhead — a typical installation uses under 100 MB of RAM at idle — making it suitable even for smaller servers. This guide covers downloading and installing Gitea, configuring it as a Windows service, setting up the database backend, and performing initial repository setup.

Prerequisites

Windows Server 2012 R2 with administrator access
PowerShell 4.0
At least 512 MB RAM available for Gitea (more for active teams)
Git for Windows installed (for repository operations)
A database backend: SQLite (built in, suitable for small teams), MySQL, PostgreSQL, or MSSQL
An inbound firewall rule allowing TCP port 3000 (or your chosen HTTP port)

Step 1: Create a Dedicated Service Account

Gitea should run as a dedicated local user account rather than SYSTEM or Administrator:

net user gitea_svc "Gitea$Svc#2024!" /add /comment:"Gitea Service Account" /passwordchg:no /expires:never
net localgroup Users gitea_svc /add

Step 2: Create Directory Structure

New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path "C:Giteabin"      -Force
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path "C:Giteadata"     -Force
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path "C:Gitearepos"    -Force
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path "C:Gitealog"      -Force
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path "C:Giteacustomconf" -Force

# Grant the service account full control over the Gitea directory
$acl = Get-Acl "C:Gitea"
$rule = New-Object System.Security.AccessControl.FileSystemAccessRule("gitea_svc","FullControl","ContainerInherit,ObjectInherit","None","Allow")
$acl.SetAccessRule($rule)
Set-Acl "C:Gitea" $acl

Step 3: Download Gitea Binary

Gitea is a single executable with no installer. Download the latest Windows AMD64 binary:

$GiteaVersion = "1.22.1"
$GiteaUrl = "https://github.com/go-gitea/gitea/releases/download/v${GiteaVersion}/gitea-${GiteaVersion}-windows-4.0-amd64.exe"

Invoke-WebRequest -Uri $GiteaUrl -OutFile "C:Giteabingitea.exe"

Verify the binary is executable:

C:Giteabingitea.exe --version

Step 4: Create the Gitea Configuration File

Create the initial configuration file at C:Giteacustomconfapp.ini. This file controls all aspects of Gitea’s behavior:

$AppIni = @"
APP_NAME = Our Internal Gitea
RUN_USER = gitea_svc
RUN_MODE = prod
WORK_PATH = C:/Gitea/data

[server]
PROTOCOL         = http
HTTP_ADDR        = 0.0.0.0
HTTP_PORT        = 3000
ROOT_URL         = http://gitserver.domain.local:3000/
DOMAIN           = gitserver.domain.local
APP_DATA_PATH    = C:/Gitea/data
SSH_DOMAIN       = gitserver.domain.local
SSH_PORT         = 22
START_SSH_SERVER = false
DISABLE_SSH      = false

[database]
DB_TYPE  = sqlite3
PATH     = C:/Gitea/data/gitea.db

[repository]
ROOT = C:/Gitea/repos

[log]
ROOT_PATH = C:/Gitea/log
MODE      = file
LEVEL     = Info

[security]
INSTALL_LOCK       = false
SECRET_KEY         = $(New-Guid)$(New-Guid) -replace '-',''
INTERNAL_TOKEN     =
PASSWORD_HASH_ALGO = pbkdf2

[service]
REGISTER_EMAIL_CONFIRM            = false
ENABLE_NOTIFY_MAIL                = false
DISABLE_REGISTRATION              = false
ALLOW_ONLY_EXTERNAL_REGISTRATION  = false
ENABLE_CAPTCHA                    = false
REQUIRE_SIGNIN_VIEW               = false
DEFAULT_KEEP_EMAIL_PRIVATE        = false
DEFAULT_ALLOW_CREATE_ORGANIZATION = true
DEFAULT_ENABLE_TIMETRACKING       = true
NO_REPLY_ADDRESS                  = [email protected]

[mailer]
ENABLED = false
"@

Set-Content -Path "C:Giteacustomconfapp.ini" -Value $AppIni -Encoding UTF8
Write-Host "app.ini created"

Step 5: Install Gitea as a Windows Service

Download NSSM (Non-Sucking Service Manager) to wrap the Gitea executable as a Windows service, which provides proper service lifecycle management including automatic restart on failure:

Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://nssm.cc/release/nssm-2.24.zip" -OutFile "C:Tempnssm.zip"
[System.IO.Compression.ZipFile]::ExtractToDirectory("C:Tempnssm.zip","C:Tempnssm")
Copy-Item "C:Tempnssmnssm-2.24win64nssm.exe" "C:WindowsSystem32nssm.exe"

Install the Gitea service:

nssm install Gitea "C:Giteabingitea.exe"
nssm set Gitea AppParameters "web --config C:Giteacustomconfapp.ini"
nssm set Gitea AppDirectory "C:Gitea"
nssm set Gitea DisplayName "Gitea Git Service"
nssm set Gitea Description "Self-hosted Git service"
nssm set Gitea Start SERVICE_AUTO_START
nssm set Gitea ObjectName ".gitea_svc" "Gitea$Svc#2024!"
nssm set Gitea AppStdout "C:Gitealoggitea-stdout.log"
nssm set Gitea AppStderr "C:Gitealoggitea-stderr.log"
nssm set Gitea AppRotateFiles 1
nssm set Gitea AppRotateSeconds 86400

Step 6: Open Firewall Port

New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "Gitea HTTP" -Direction Inbound -Protocol TCP -LocalPort 3000 -Action Allow

Step 7: Start Gitea and Complete Web Setup

nssm start Gitea
Start-Sleep -Seconds 5
Get-Service Gitea | Select-Object Name, Status

Open a browser and navigate to http://localhost:3000. Gitea will display the installation wizard. Most settings are pre-populated from app.ini. On the web form:

Confirm the database path and type (SQLite3 for small deployments)
Set the site title and base URL
Create the admin account with a strong password
Click Install Gitea

After the wizard completes, Gitea updates app.ini with INSTALL_LOCK = true to prevent the setup wizard from running again.

Step 8: Create Your First Repository

Log into the Gitea web interface with the admin account. Click the + icon in the top right and select New Repository. Fill in the repository name, description, and initialization options (add a README, .gitignore, and license).

Clone the repository from the Windows server itself:

git clone http://admin:YourPassword@localhost:3000/admin/myrepo.git "C:Reposmyrepo"
Set-Location "C:Reposmyrepo"
git status

Step 9: Configure Automated Backups

Back up the Gitea data directory and database on a schedule:

$backupScript = @'
$BackupRoot = "\backupservergitea"
$Date = Get-Date -Format "yyyyMMdd_HHmm"
$BackupDir = "$BackupRoot$Date"
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $BackupDir -Force

# Stop Gitea for consistent backup
Stop-Service Gitea
Start-Sleep -Seconds 3

# Backup data and repos
robocopy "C:Giteadata" "$BackupDirdata" /MIR /NFL /NDL
robocopy "C:Gitearepos" "$BackupDirrepos" /MIR /NFL /NDL
robocopy "C:Giteacustom" "$BackupDircustom" /MIR /NFL /NDL

# Start Gitea
Start-Service Gitea

# Remove backups older than 14 days
Get-ChildItem $BackupRoot -Directory | Where-Object { $_.CreationTime -lt (Get-Date).AddDays(-14) } | Remove-Item -Recurse -Force
'@

$action = New-ScheduledTaskAction -Execute "powershell.exe" -Argument "-NonInteractive -Command `"$backupScript`""
$trigger = New-ScheduledTaskTrigger -Daily -At "03:30AM"
Register-ScheduledTask -TaskName "GiteaBackup" -Action $action -Trigger $trigger -RunLevel Highest

Summary

Gitea is now running as a Windows service on Windows Server 2012 R2, providing a full-featured self-hosted Git platform with web interface, repository management, user authentication, and SSH/HTTPS access. The installation uses SQLite for simplicity (upgradeable to MySQL or PostgreSQL for larger teams), NSSM for robust service management with log rotation, and a scheduled backup that ensures repository data is protected. Gitea’s low resource footprint makes it ideal for on-premises environments where dedicated Git infrastructure is needed without the overhead of enterprise solutions.

How to Set Up Gitea on Windows Server 2012 R2