retiring “Git with gitolite by Alestic” on AWS Marketplace
Back in 2011 when the AWS Marketplace launched, Amazon was interested in having some examples of open source software listed in the marketplace, so I created and published Git with gitolite by Alestic.
This was a free AWS Marketplace product that endeavored to simplify the process of launching an EC2 instance running Git for private repositories, with ssh access managed through the open source gitolite software.
Though maintaining releases of this product has not been overly burdensome, I am planning to discontinue this work and spend time on other projects that would likely be more beneficial to the community.
Current Plan
Unless I receive some strong and convincing feedback from users about why this product’s life should be extended, I currently plan to ask Amazon to sunset Git with gitolite by Alestic in the coming months.
When this happens, AWS users will not be able to subscribe and launch new instances of the product, unless they already had an active AWS Marketplace subscription for it.
Alternatives
Folks who want to use private Git repositories have a number of options:
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Amazon has released CodeCommit, “a fully-managed source control service that makes it easy for companies to host secure and highly scalable private Git repositories”.
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The AWS Marketplace has other Git related products, some of them free, in the Source Control software section.
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At the bottom of the original Alestic Git page, I have always listed a number of service that will host private Git repositories for a fee. The obvious and most popular choice is GitHub.
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The code I use to build the Git with gitolite AMI is open source, and publicly available on GitHub. You are welcome to use and adapt this to build your own updated AMI.
Existing Customers
AWS Marketplace customers who currently have a subscription to Git with gitolite by Alestic may continue running the product and should be able to start new instances of it if needed.
Note, however, that the AMIs will not be updated and the Ubuntu LTS operating systems do eventually reach end of life where they do not receive security updates.
In the 4.5 years this product has been publicly available, I think one person asked for help (a client ssh issue), but I’ll continue to be available if there are issues running the AMI itself.
Transfer of Control
If you already host software on the AWS Marketplace, and you would be willing to assume maintenance of the Git with gitolite product, please get in touch with me to discuss a possible transition.