Drone CI with Gitea

advanced

Container-native CI/CD with Drone, Gitea integration, Docker runner, and secrets management.

[i]Overview

Drone is a container-native continuous integration platform built on Docker that transforms Git commits into automated testing and deployment pipelines. Originally created by Brad Rydzewski in 2014, Drone has evolved into a powerful CI/CD system that executes pipeline steps inside ephemeral Docker containers, providing true isolation and reproducibility. Unlike traditional CI systems that require agents with pre-installed tools, Drone's container-first approach means every build runs in a clean environment with exactly the dependencies specified in your pipeline configuration. This stack combines Drone with Gitea, a lightweight self-hosted Git service that provides GitHub-like functionality without the resource overhead of GitLab or enterprise solutions. Together, they create a complete DevOps platform where code repositories, issue tracking, and automated pipelines operate within your own infrastructure. The integration between Gitea and Drone enables automatic webhook-triggered builds, pull request validation, and deployment automation while maintaining complete control over your source code and build artifacts. This combination is particularly valuable for organizations requiring air-gapped development environments, teams with strict data sovereignty requirements, or developers who want enterprise-grade CI/CD capabilities without recurring SaaS costs.

[*]Key Features

[+]Container-native pipeline execution with Docker-in-Docker support for isolated build environments
[+]Native Gitea integration with OAuth2 authentication and automatic webhook configuration
[+]YAML-based pipeline definitions with multi-stage builds, parallel execution, and conditional steps
[+]Docker registry integration for automated image building, tagging, and deployment
[+]Encrypted secrets management with per-repository and organization-level secret storage
[+]Real-time build logs with terminal output streaming and downloadable artifacts
[+]Pull request automation with status checks, approval workflows, and merge conflict detection
[+]Multi-architecture build support for ARM, AMD64, and custom runner configurations

[#]Common Use Cases

[1]Self-hosted development teams requiring private Git hosting with integrated CI/CD pipelines
[2]Organizations with compliance requirements needing air-gapped CI/CD infrastructure
[3]Microservices architectures requiring automated Docker image builds and registry management
[4]Open source projects needing cost-effective CI/CD without GitHub Actions minute limitations
[5]Development teams practicing GitOps with automated testing and deployment to Kubernetes clusters
[6]Startups and small companies wanting GitHub Enterprise features at zero recurring cost
[7]Educational institutions teaching DevOps practices with self-contained development environments

[!]Prerequisites

[!]Minimum 2GB RAM recommended (512MB for Gitea, 1GB+ for PostgreSQL instances, plus runner overhead)
[!]Docker Engine with BuildKit support and docker.sock access for the Drone runner
[!]Available ports 3000 (Gitea web), 222 (Gitea SSH), and 8080 (Drone web interface)
[!]Domain names or static IPs for DRONE_SERVER_HOST configuration and webhook callbacks
[!]Understanding of YAML pipeline syntax and Docker container concepts for build configuration
[!]SSL certificates for production deployments to enable secure webhook delivery

[!]

WARNING: For development & testing. Review security settings, change default credentials, and test thoroughly before production use. See Terms

[$]docker-compose.yml

[docker-compose.yml]

1services: 
2  gitea: 
3    image: gitea/gitea:latest
4    environment: 
5      USER_UID: 1000
6      USER_GID: 1000
7      GITEA__database__DB_TYPE: postgres
8      GITEA__database__HOST: gitea-db:5432
9      GITEA__database__NAME: gitea
10      GITEA__database__USER: ${POSTGRES_USER}
11      GITEA__database__PASSWD: ${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}
12    ports: 
13      - "3000:3000"
14      - "222:22"
15    volumes: 
16      - gitea_data:/data
17    depends_on: 
18      gitea-db: 
19        condition: service_healthy
20    networks: 
21      - drone-net
22    restart: unless-stopped
23
24  gitea-db: 
25    image: postgres:15-alpine
26    environment: 
27      POSTGRES_USER: ${POSTGRES_USER}
28      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}
29      POSTGRES_DB: gitea
30    volumes: 
31      - gitea_postgres:/var/lib/postgresql/data
32    healthcheck: 
33      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U ${POSTGRES_USER}"]
34      interval: 10s
35      timeout: 5s
36      retries: 5
37    networks: 
38      - drone-net
39    restart: unless-stopped
40
41  drone: 
42    image: drone/drone:latest
43    environment: 
44      DRONE_GITEA_SERVER: http://gitea:3000
45      DRONE_GITEA_CLIENT_ID: ${DRONE_GITEA_CLIENT_ID}
46      DRONE_GITEA_CLIENT_SECRET: ${DRONE_GITEA_CLIENT_SECRET}
47      DRONE_RPC_SECRET: ${DRONE_RPC_SECRET}
48      DRONE_SERVER_HOST: ${DRONE_SERVER_HOST}
49      DRONE_SERVER_PROTO: http
50      DRONE_DATABASE_DRIVER: postgres
51      DRONE_DATABASE_DATASOURCE: postgres://${POSTGRES_USER}:${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}@drone-db:5432/drone?sslmode=disable
52    ports: 
53      - "8080:80"
54    volumes: 
55      - drone_data:/data
56    depends_on: 
57      drone-db: 
58        condition: service_healthy
59      gitea: 
60        condition: service_started
61    networks: 
62      - drone-net
63    restart: unless-stopped
64
65  drone-db: 
66    image: postgres:15-alpine
67    environment: 
68      POSTGRES_USER: ${POSTGRES_USER}
69      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}
70      POSTGRES_DB: drone
71    volumes: 
72      - drone_postgres:/var/lib/postgresql/data
73    healthcheck: 
74      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U ${POSTGRES_USER}"]
75      interval: 10s
76      timeout: 5s
77      retries: 5
78    networks: 
79      - drone-net
80    restart: unless-stopped
81
82  drone-runner: 
83    image: drone/drone-runner-docker:latest
84    environment: 
85      DRONE_RPC_PROTO: http
86      DRONE_RPC_HOST: drone
87      DRONE_RPC_SECRET: ${DRONE_RPC_SECRET}
88      DRONE_RUNNER_CAPACITY: 2
89      DRONE_RUNNER_NAME: docker-runner
90    volumes: 
91      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock
92    depends_on: 
93      - drone
94    networks: 
95      - drone-net
96    restart: unless-stopped
97
98volumes: 
99  gitea_data: 
100  gitea_postgres: 
101  drone_data: 
102  drone_postgres: 
103
104networks: 
105  drone-net: 
106    driver: bridge

[$].env Template

[.env]

1# PostgreSQL (shared)
2POSTGRES_USER=drone
3POSTGRES_PASSWORD=secure_postgres_password
4
5# Drone Server
6DRONE_SERVER_HOST=localhost:8080
7DRONE_RPC_SECRET=your_rpc_secret_here
8
9# Gitea OAuth2 (create in Gitea Settings > Applications)
10DRONE_GITEA_CLIENT_ID=your_client_id
11DRONE_GITEA_CLIENT_SECRET=your_client_secret

[i]Usage Notes

[1]Gitea at http://localhost:3000
[2]Drone at http://localhost:8080
[3]Create OAuth2 app in Gitea first
[4]Add .drone.yml to repos for pipelines

Individual Services(5 services)

Copy individual services to mix and match with your existing compose files.

gitea

gitea:
  image: gitea/gitea:latest
  environment:
    USER_UID: 1000
    USER_GID: 1000
    GITEA__database__DB_TYPE: postgres
    GITEA__database__HOST: gitea-db:5432
    GITEA__database__NAME: gitea
    GITEA__database__USER: ${POSTGRES_USER}
    GITEA__database__PASSWD: ${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}
  ports:
    - "3000:3000"
    - "222:22"
  volumes:
    - gitea_data:/data
  depends_on:
    gitea-db:
      condition: service_healthy
  networks:
    - drone-net
  restart: unless-stopped

gitea-db

gitea-db:
  image: postgres:15-alpine
  environment:
    POSTGRES_USER: ${POSTGRES_USER}
    POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}
    POSTGRES_DB: gitea
  volumes:
    - gitea_postgres:/var/lib/postgresql/data
  healthcheck:
    test:
      - CMD-SHELL
      - pg_isready -U ${POSTGRES_USER}
    interval: 10s
    timeout: 5s
    retries: 5
  networks:
    - drone-net
  restart: unless-stopped

drone

drone:
  image: drone/drone:latest
  environment:
    DRONE_GITEA_SERVER: http://gitea:3000
    DRONE_GITEA_CLIENT_ID: ${DRONE_GITEA_CLIENT_ID}
    DRONE_GITEA_CLIENT_SECRET: ${DRONE_GITEA_CLIENT_SECRET}
    DRONE_RPC_SECRET: ${DRONE_RPC_SECRET}
    DRONE_SERVER_HOST: ${DRONE_SERVER_HOST}
    DRONE_SERVER_PROTO: http
    DRONE_DATABASE_DRIVER: postgres
    DRONE_DATABASE_DATASOURCE: postgres://${POSTGRES_USER}:${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}@drone-db:5432/drone?sslmode=disable
  ports:
    - "8080:80"
  volumes:
    - drone_data:/data
  depends_on:
    drone-db:
      condition: service_healthy
    gitea:
      condition: service_started
  networks:
    - drone-net
  restart: unless-stopped

drone-db

drone-db:
  image: postgres:15-alpine
  environment:
    POSTGRES_USER: ${POSTGRES_USER}
    POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}
    POSTGRES_DB: drone
  volumes:
    - drone_postgres:/var/lib/postgresql/data
  healthcheck:
    test:
      - CMD-SHELL
      - pg_isready -U ${POSTGRES_USER}
    interval: 10s
    timeout: 5s
    retries: 5
  networks:
    - drone-net
  restart: unless-stopped

drone-runner

drone-runner:
  image: drone/drone-runner-docker:latest
  environment:
    DRONE_RPC_PROTO: http
    DRONE_RPC_HOST: drone
    DRONE_RPC_SECRET: ${DRONE_RPC_SECRET}
    DRONE_RUNNER_CAPACITY: 2
    DRONE_RUNNER_NAME: docker-runner
  volumes:
    - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock
  depends_on:
    - drone
  networks:
    - drone-net
  restart: unless-stopped

[>]Quick Start

[terminal]

1# 1. Create the compose file
2cat > docker-compose.yml << 'EOF'
3services:
4  gitea:
5    image: gitea/gitea:latest
6    environment:
7      USER_UID: 1000
8      USER_GID: 1000
9      GITEA__database__DB_TYPE: postgres
10      GITEA__database__HOST: gitea-db:5432
11      GITEA__database__NAME: gitea
12      GITEA__database__USER: ${POSTGRES_USER}
13      GITEA__database__PASSWD: ${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}
14    ports:
15      - "3000:3000"
16      - "222:22"
17    volumes:
18      - gitea_data:/data
19    depends_on:
20      gitea-db:
21        condition: service_healthy
22    networks:
23      - drone-net
24    restart: unless-stopped
25
26  gitea-db:
27    image: postgres:15-alpine
28    environment:
29      POSTGRES_USER: ${POSTGRES_USER}
30      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}
31      POSTGRES_DB: gitea
32    volumes:
33      - gitea_postgres:/var/lib/postgresql/data
34    healthcheck:
35      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U ${POSTGRES_USER}"]
36      interval: 10s
37      timeout: 5s
38      retries: 5
39    networks:
40      - drone-net
41    restart: unless-stopped
42
43  drone:
44    image: drone/drone:latest
45    environment:
46      DRONE_GITEA_SERVER: http://gitea:3000
47      DRONE_GITEA_CLIENT_ID: ${DRONE_GITEA_CLIENT_ID}
48      DRONE_GITEA_CLIENT_SECRET: ${DRONE_GITEA_CLIENT_SECRET}
49      DRONE_RPC_SECRET: ${DRONE_RPC_SECRET}
50      DRONE_SERVER_HOST: ${DRONE_SERVER_HOST}
51      DRONE_SERVER_PROTO: http
52      DRONE_DATABASE_DRIVER: postgres
53      DRONE_DATABASE_DATASOURCE: postgres://${POSTGRES_USER}:${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}@drone-db:5432/drone?sslmode=disable
54    ports:
55      - "8080:80"
56    volumes:
57      - drone_data:/data
58    depends_on:
59      drone-db:
60        condition: service_healthy
61      gitea:
62        condition: service_started
63    networks:
64      - drone-net
65    restart: unless-stopped
66
67  drone-db:
68    image: postgres:15-alpine
69    environment:
70      POSTGRES_USER: ${POSTGRES_USER}
71      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}
72      POSTGRES_DB: drone
73    volumes:
74      - drone_postgres:/var/lib/postgresql/data
75    healthcheck:
76      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U ${POSTGRES_USER}"]
77      interval: 10s
78      timeout: 5s
79      retries: 5
80    networks:
81      - drone-net
82    restart: unless-stopped
83
84  drone-runner:
85    image: drone/drone-runner-docker:latest
86    environment:
87      DRONE_RPC_PROTO: http
88      DRONE_RPC_HOST: drone
89      DRONE_RPC_SECRET: ${DRONE_RPC_SECRET}
90      DRONE_RUNNER_CAPACITY: 2
91      DRONE_RUNNER_NAME: docker-runner
92    volumes:
93      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock
94    depends_on:
95      - drone
96    networks:
97      - drone-net
98    restart: unless-stopped
99
100volumes:
101  gitea_data:
102  gitea_postgres:
103  drone_data:
104  drone_postgres:
105
106networks:
107  drone-net:
108    driver: bridge
109EOF
110
111# 2. Create the .env file
112cat > .env << 'EOF'
113# PostgreSQL (shared)
114POSTGRES_USER=drone
115POSTGRES_PASSWORD=secure_postgres_password
116
117# Drone Server
118DRONE_SERVER_HOST=localhost:8080
119DRONE_RPC_SECRET=your_rpc_secret_here
120
121# Gitea OAuth2 (create in Gitea Settings > Applications)
122DRONE_GITEA_CLIENT_ID=your_client_id
123DRONE_GITEA_CLIENT_SECRET=your_client_secret
124EOF
125
126# 3. Start the services
127docker compose up -d
128
129# 4. View logs
130docker compose logs -f

[>]One-Liner

Run this command to download and set up the recipe in one step:

[terminal]

1curl -fsSL https://docker.recipes/api/recipes/drone-ci-stack/run | bash

[?]Troubleshooting

[!]OAuth2 application not found error: Create OAuth2 application in Gitea admin panel with correct redirect URI http://your-drone-host/login
[!]Pipeline fails with 'Cannot connect to Docker daemon': Ensure drone-runner container has access to /var/run/docker.sock and Docker socket permissions
[!]Gitea webhooks failing with connection refused: Verify DRONE_SERVER_HOST matches accessible hostname from Gitea container perspective
[!]Database connection errors on startup: Check PostgreSQL containers are healthy and POSTGRES_USER/POSTGRES_PASSWORD environment variables match across services
[!]Build secrets not accessible in pipeline: Verify secrets are added in Drone web UI at repository level and referenced correctly in .drone.yml with from_secret syntax
[!]Runner capacity exceeded errors: Increase DRONE_RUNNER_CAPACITY value or deploy additional drone-runner instances with unique DRONE_RUNNER_NAME values

Community Notes

Loading notes...

## Download Recipe Kit

Get all files in a ready-to-deploy package

Includes docker-compose.yml, .env template, README, and license

## Components

drone-serverdrone-runnergiteapostgresql

## Tags

#drone#ci-cd#gitea#docker#pipelines

## Category

DevOps & CI/CD

## Related

Shortcuts: C CopyF FavoriteD Download