docker.recipes

Drone CI with Gitea

advanced

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

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

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

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

Usage Notes

  1. 1Gitea at http://localhost:3000
  2. 2Drone at http://localhost:8080
  3. 3Create OAuth2 app in Gitea first
  4. 4Add .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...
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 Recipes

Ad Space