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+---
+disqus_identifier: 'https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/workflow/git_annex.html'
+---
+
+# Git annex
+
+> **Warning:** GitLab has [completely
+removed][deprecate-annex-issue] in GitLab 9.0 (2017/03/22).
+Read through the [migration guide from git-annex to Git LFS][guide].
+
+The biggest limitation of Git, compared to some older centralized version
+control systems, has been the maximum size of the repositories.
+
+The general recommendation is to not have Git repositories larger than 1GB to
+preserve performance. Although GitLab has no limit (some repositories in GitLab
+are over 50GB!), we subscribe to the advice to keep repositories as small as
+you can.
+
+Not being able to version control large binaries is a big problem for many
+larger organizations.
+Videos, photos, audio, compiled binaries and many other types of files are too
+large. As a workaround, people keep artwork-in-progress in a Dropbox folder and
+only check in the final result. This results in using outdated files, not
+having a complete history and increases the risk of losing work.
+
+This problem is solved in GitLab Enterprise Edition by integrating the
+[git-annex] application.
+
+`git-annex` allows managing large binaries with Git without checking the
+contents into Git.
+You check-in only a symlink that contains the SHA-1 of the large binary. If you
+need the large binary, you can sync it from the GitLab server over `rsync`, a
+very fast file copying tool.
+
+## GitLab git-annex Configuration
+
+`git-annex` is disabled by default in GitLab. Below you will find the
+configuration options required to enable it.
+
+### Requirements
+
+`git-annex` needs to be installed both on the server and the client side.
+
+For Debian-like systems (e.g., Debian, Ubuntu) this can be achieved by running:
+
+```
+sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install git-annex
+```
+
+For RedHat-like systems (e.g., CentOS, RHEL) this can be achieved by running:
+
+```
+sudo yum install epel-release && sudo yum install git-annex
+```
+
+### Configuration for Omnibus packages
+
+For Omnibus GitLab packages, only one configuration setting is needed.
+The Omnibus package will internally set the correct options in all locations.
+
+1. In `/etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb` add the following line:
+
+   ```ruby
+   gitlab_shell['git_annex_enabled'] = true
+   ```
+
+1. Save the file and [reconfigure GitLab][] for the changes to take effect.
+
+### Configuration for installations from source
+
+There are 2 settings to enable git-annex on your GitLab server.
+
+One is located in `config/gitlab.yml` of the GitLab repository and the other
+one is located in `config.yml` of GitLab Shell.
+
+1. In `config/gitlab.yml` add or edit the following lines:
+
+   ```yaml
+   gitlab_shell:
+     git_annex_enabled: true
+   ```
+
+1. In `config.yml` of GitLab Shell add or edit the following lines:
+
+   ```yaml
+   git_annex_enabled: true
+   ```
+
+1. Save the files and [restart GitLab][] for the changes to take effect.
+
+## Using GitLab git-annex
+
+> **Note:**
+> Your Git remotes must be using the SSH protocol, not HTTP(S).
+
+Here is an example workflow of uploading a very large file and then checking it
+into your Git repository:
+
+```bash
+git clone git@example.com:group/project.git
+
+git annex init 'My Laptop'       # initialize the annex project and give an optional description
+cp ~/tmp/debian.iso ./           # copy a large file into the current directory
+git annex add debian.iso         # add the large file to git annex
+git commit -am "Add Debian iso"  # commit the file metadata
+git annex sync --content         # sync the Git repo and large file to the GitLab server
+```
+
+The output should look like this:
+
+```
+commit
+On branch master
+Your branch is ahead of 'origin/master' by 1 commit.
+  (use "git push" to publish your local commits)
+nothing to commit, working tree clean
+ok
+pull origin
+remote: Counting objects: 5, done.
+remote: Compressing objects: 100% (4/4), done.
+remote: Total 5 (delta 2), reused 0 (delta 0)
+Unpacking objects: 100% (5/5), done.
+From example.com:group/project
+   497842b..5162f80  git-annex  -> origin/git-annex
+ok
+(merging origin/git-annex into git-annex...)
+(recording state in git...)
+copy debian.iso (checking origin...) (to origin...)
+SHA256E-s26214400--8092b3d482fb1b7a5cf28c43bc1425c8f2d380e86869c0686c49aa7b0f086ab2.iso
+     26,214,400 100%  638.88kB/s    0:00:40 (xfr#1, to-chk=0/1)
+ok
+pull origin
+ok
+(recording state in git...)
+push origin
+Counting objects: 15, done.
+Delta compression using up to 4 threads.
+Compressing objects: 100% (13/13), done.
+Writing objects: 100% (15/15), 1.64 KiB | 0 bytes/s, done.
+Total 15 (delta 1), reused 0 (delta 0)
+To example.com:group/project.git
+ * [new branch]      git-annex -> synced/git-annex
+ * [new branch]      master -> synced/master
+ok
+```
+
+Your files can be found in the `master` branch, but you'll notice that there
+are more branches created by the `annex sync` command.
+
+Git Annex will also create a new directory at `.git/annex/` and will record the
+tracked files in the `.git/config` file. The files you assign to be tracked
+with `git-annex` will not affect the existing `.git/config` records. The files
+are turned into symbolic links that point to data in `.git/annex/objects/`.
+
+The `debian.iso` file in the example will contain the symbolic link:
+
+```
+.git/annex/objects/ZW/1k/SHA256E-s82701--6384039733b5035b559efd5a2e25a493ab6e09aabfd5162cc03f6f0ec238429d.png/SHA256E-s82701--6384039733b5035b559efd5a2e25a493ab6e09aabfd5162cc03f6f0ec238429d.iso
+```
+
+Use `git annex info` to retrieve the information about the local copy of your
+repository.
+
+---
+
+Downloading a single large file is also very simple:
+
+```bash
+git clone git@gitlab.example.com:group/project.git
+
+git annex sync             # sync Git branches but not the large file
+git annex get debian.iso   # download the large file
+```
+
+To download all files:
+
+```bash
+git clone git@gitlab.example.com:group/project.git
+
+git annex sync --content  # sync Git branches and download all the large files
+```
+
+By using `git-annex` without GitLab, anyone that can access the server can also
+access the files of all projects, but GitLab Annex ensures that you can only
+access files of projects you have access to (developer, maintainer, or owner role).
+
+## How it works
+
+Internally GitLab uses [GitLab Shell] to handle SSH access and this was a great
+integration point for `git-annex`.
+There is a setting in GitLab Shell so you can disable GitLab Annex support
+if you want to.
+
+## Troubleshooting tips
+
+Differences in version of `git-annex` on the GitLab server and on local machines
+can cause `git-annex` to raise unpredicted warnings and errors.
+
+Consult the [Annex upgrade page][annex-upgrade] for more information about
+the differences between versions. You can find out which version is installed
+on your server by navigating to <https://pkgs.org/download/git-annex> and
+searching for your distribution.
+
+Although there is no general guide for `git-annex` errors, there are a few tips
+on how to go around the warnings.
+
+### `git-annex-shell: Not a git-annex or gcrypt repository`
+
+This warning can appear on the initial `git annex sync --content` and is caused
+by differences in `git-annex-shell`. You can read more about it
+[in this git-annex issue][issue].
+
+One important thing to note is that despite the warning, the `sync` succeeds
+and the files are pushed to the GitLab repository.
+
+If you get hit by this, you can run the following command inside the repository
+that the warning was raised:
+
+```
+git config remote.origin.annex-ignore false
+```
+
+Consecutive runs of `git annex sync --content` **should not** produce this
+warning and the output should look like this:
+
+```
+commit  ok
+pull origin
+ok
+pull origin
+ok
+push origin
+```
+
+[annex-upgrade]: https://git-annex.branchable.com/upgrades/
+[deprecate-annex-issue]: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/issues/1648
+[git-annex]: https://git-annex.branchable.com/ "git-annex website"
+[gitlab shell]: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-shell "GitLab Shell repository"
+[guide]: lfs/migrate_from_git_annex_to_git_lfs.html
+[issue]: https://git-annex.branchable.com/forum/Error_from_git-annex-shell_on_creation_of_gcrypt_special_remote/ "git-annex issue"
+[reconfigure GitLab]: restart_gitlab.md#omnibus-gitlab-reconfigure
+[restart GitLab]: restart_gitlab.md#installations-from-source