Install and configure Gerrit on a Google Axion C4A virtual machine

Install Gerrit

Install and configure Gerrit Server on your Ubuntu 24.04 LTS virtual machine (VM) on Google Cloud Platform (GCP).

To ensure a successful setup, follow each step in order and check the output after each command. By doing this, you catch issues early and confirm that Gerrit is installed and running correctly.

Set up your environment

Before installing Gerrit, update the system and install the required tools:

    

        
        
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install -y wget default-jdk git net-tools

    

Download the Gerrit server package

Download the Gerrit server package for arm64:

    

        
        
mkdir -p ${HOME}/gerrit
wget -O gerrit.war https://gerrit-releases.storage.googleapis.com/gerrit-3.14.0.war
java -jar gerrit.war init -d ${HOME}/gerrit --dev --batch --install-all-plugins

    

Verify service status

Verify the status of the service:

    

        
        
ps -ef | grep Gerrit

    

The output is similar to:

    

        
        doug_an+   11807       1 18 21:01 ?        00:00:14 GerritCodeReview -Dflogger.backend_factory=com.google.common.flogger.backend.log4j.Log4jBackendFactory#getInstance -Dflogger.logging_context=com.google.gerrit.server.logging.LoggingContext#getInstance -jar /home/doug_anson_arm_com/gerrit/bin/gerrit.war daemon -d /home/doug_anson_arm_com/gerrit --run-id=1781730091.11737

        
    

Check whether necessary ports are open

To confirm Gerrit is ready to accept connections, check that the necessary ports are open and listening. If you see LISTEN next to these ports, Gerrit is running and network services are available.

Gerrit uses port 8080 for its web console function.

Run the following command to verify the ports are active:

    

        
        
netstat -a | grep http | grep LISTEN

    

The output is similar to:

    

        
        tcp6       0      0 [::]:http-alt           [::]:*                  LISTEN   

        
    

If you see LISTEN for the http-alt port, Gerrit is ready for baseline testing and further configuration. This confirms that the core Gerrit services are running and accessible on your Arm-based GCP VM.

Confirm that the Gerrit dashboard is accessible

Navigate to the following URL in a browser of your choice, replacing my_vm_public_ip with the public IP address of your VM instance:

    

        
        http://my_vm_public_ip_address:8080

        
    

You’ll see the following dashboard:

Gerrit dashboard

What you’ve accomplished and what’s next

You’ve now installed and configured Gerrit on your Arm-based GCP C4A VM, and verified that Gerrit can accept connections.

Next, you’ll benchmark Gerrit performance on the VM.