Auto deployment PHP script using Gitolite

Question

i would like to setup auto deployment script to my testing server locally.
i'm using gitolite on ubuntu desktop 11.04. i install gitolite using apt-get install gitolite, so it is create user gitolite and group gitolite.
Now i setup my testing webserver using apache which has user and group ivan:ivan,
and do git clone under that username.
so all the files and folder have the same file owner ivan:ivan.

i setup post-receive hooks under /var/lib/gitolite/repository/testrepo/hooks/ and have this script inside:

#!/bin/bash
#CONFIG
LIVE="/home/ivan/public_html/testrepo"

read oldrev newrev refname
if [ $refname = "refs/heads/master" ]; then
  echo "===== DEPLOYING TO TEST SITE ====="
  unset GIT_DIR
  cd $LIVE
  git pull origin master:
  echo "===== DONE ====="
fi  

Since post-receive hooks is executed by gitolite user, it has permission problem to access to the test server which is using user ivan.

i already add gitolite to ivan group and make it group access write, but still it cannot run.
i know this is a permission problem, but i don't know the solution.
If you have same experience or got any tips, i would really appreciate it.

Thanks
Ivan

Answer 1

After a long google search, i frustrated to implement this auto pull feature when any push occurs. But my own way works with 3 simple steps.

1. Add a status variable /var/lib/gitolite/stat/project

   vim /var/lib/gitolite/repositories/project.git/hooks/post-receive
   #!/bin/bash
   echo '==== DO MIRROR ===='
   echo '1'>/var/lib/gitolite/stat/project
   echo '==== DONE MIRROR ===='
   

2. Prepare a script privilege by root

   vim /var/lib/gitolite/stat/autopull.sh
   #!/bin/bash
   hstat=`cat /var/lib/gitolite/stat/project
   enter code here
   if [ "$hstat" == 1 ]; then
   cd /home/suphpuser/public_html_staging/project
   git pull
   chown -R suphpuser.suphpuser /home/suphpuser/public_html_staging/project
   echo '0'>/var/lib/gitolite/stat/project
   fi
   

3. Run a script

   /var/lib/gitolite/stat/autopull.sh
   

That's all :)

Answer 2

I finally got the solution on my own, thanks for VonC for the pointers.
My solution may not beauty but yet work.

So here are the steps that work in my solution:

1. I create a bare repositories which will have the same user permission with the web application.

2. In Gitolite Repositories folder (in Ubuntu: /var/lib/gitolite/repositories), i create a post-receive hook which will mirror the the repository the bare repo that i just created. Code is:

   #!/bin/bash
echo '==== DO MIRROR ===='
git push --mirror user@host:path/to/bare.git
echo '==== DONE MIRROR ===='

3. And in my web application, i will create a remote that connect to that bare repo.

4. Then i create a post-receive hook in the mirrored bare repo, that will ask the web application to pull from it. The code:

   #!/bin/bash
WORK_DIR="/home/ivan/public_html/test/testing"
read oldrev newrev refname
if [ $refname = "refs/heads/master" ]; then
echo "===== DEPLOYING TO LIVE SITE ====="
unset GIT_DIR
cd $WORK_DIR
git pull mirror-repo master
echo "===== DONE ====="
fi

5. Don't forget to chmod +x for both post-receive.

As i said before, it may not beautiful but yet work, at least for my current situation. The reason why i'm not just pull it from the gitolite repositories is because of user file permissions. In Ubuntu (install from apt-get), gitolite hold user and group, gitolite:gitolite. and my web application is under my home folder (i'm using suPHP) which have user and group ivan:ivan. So when i pushed to the gitolite repositories, it will run the bash script under gitolite user, which cannot access the .git folder under my home folder.

So yes, for those who have better solutions, i'm eager to hear from you.
Thanks hope my solution may help others.
Ivan