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en_infos.md 9.39 KiB 
layout: page
title: Information
permalink: /information/
ref: infos
lang: en

Content

What is JLU GitLab? {#what_is_jlugitlab}

JLU GitLab is a GitLab web service{:target="_blank"}. GitLab is a versatile tool for the management of projects that involve file editing. At the core of each GitLab project is a Git repository{:target="_blank"} that keeps versions of the edited files. For each project, GitLab also provides a wiki, an issue-tracker, and much more.

JLU GitLab is accessible at https://gitlab.test.uni-giessen.de{:target="_blank"} and is hosted in the IT service centre of the Justus Liebig University (JLU) Giessen{:target="_blank"}. The deployed GitLab Community Edition is licensed as free software, so JLU GitLab is technically and legally independent from GitLab.com{:target="_blank"}. JLU GitLab is maintained by a team of voluntary employees, see below.

Use cases {#use_cases}

No storage of research data {#research_data}

JLU GitLab is currently not suited to store research data. Such use is explicitly advised against.

For storage of research data, the JLU provides the JLUbox{:target="_blank"} as well as network drives{:target="_blank"}. For questions regarding management of research data, you find further help at this FAQ{:target="_blank"} or write an E-Mail to forschungsdaten@uni-giessen.de.

Who may use JLU GitLab? {#potential_users}

Currently nobody; first, the terms of service must be written.

Once this is done, any student or employee with a valid s- oder g-Login may open a user account, as long as they accept the terms of service. This means that internal visibility of projects or groups is applied to all of these people.

Please note that GitLab is currently only accessible within the university network. This means that public visibility of projects or [groups]groups applies to anyone with access to the university network. Members of the university can access from outside the university network through the university VPN{:target="_blank"}.

How can I use JLU GitLab? {#how_to_use}

You can find information on the practical use of JLU GitLab at help on use.

Account termination {#account_deletion}

Accounts may be terminated in multiple ways:

See below what data will be deleted along with your account.

What happens when I leave JLU? {#leaving_JLU}

Once you leave the university (e.g. end of contract, exmatriculation), your g- or s-account will become invalid (within a few weeks), unless you contact the IT service centre{:target="_blank"} to keep it active.

What happens if my g- or s-account becomes invalid? {#deletion_from_ldap}

If your g- or s-account becomes invalid, your account on JLU GitLab will become blocked automatically within 24 hours. After your account has been blocked for 6 months, your account on JLU GitLab will be deleted.

What happens to my data when my JLU GitLab account is deleted? {#deletion_userdata}

What data will be deleted depends on how you used JLU GitLab before your account was deleted. Briefly speaking, your account and profile will be deleted, along with all your own projects. However, data that you contributed to projects of other people or groups will not be deleted, but anonymized as much as possible.

To be more precise, the following explanation relies on some [necessary terms of Git and GitLab](({{%20'/help/#necessary_terms'%20|%20relative_url%20}})).

Once your account gets deleted, any personal data from your user profile will be deleted, along with all projects in your own namespace. Note that projects in your own namespace will be deleted regardless of whether project members exist - so you may consider to take some last steps to avoid disruptions of your work.

Most data that you contributed to projects in other namespaces (of other users or groups) will not be deleted, but anonymized. This is to prevent the disruption of work from other people. For example, your comments in issue trackers of other projects will still be visible, but without your account attached any more. Instead, the comment will appear to come from a Ghost user, which is only a virtual account to hold the data of all deleted accounts.

An important exception are your Git commits to projects in other namespaces: All information during the creation of the commit will remain as they were, and they cannot be altered or deleted without destroying work of others. Note that your commit data are likely not only saved on JLU GitLab but also on device(s) of the project member(s), because the Git commands push and pull allow to keep the full history of all commits across devices. Importantly, commits may include your real name and email address, depending on the settings in GitLab and your computer. Read here about settings regarding your private information.

Who is maintaining JLU GitLab? {#maintainers}

We are a team of JLU employees who volunteer to provide this service. We work in consultation with the JLU-internal IKM-AG{:target="_blank"}, and for the service operations we exclusively use infrastructure provided by the IT service centre. We are always looking for more volunteers who want to join our efforts.

You can contact us in various ways, see the contact information.

The goals of JLU GitLab {#our_goals}

JLU GitLab first serves to assess demands across the JLU and for evaluation of its features in a research context. We believe that currently, Git and GitLab provide the best tools to manage and document the software for our research. Only a locally installed, freely licensed tool like GitLab can match the requirement to ensure long-term control over its implementation and administration.

Future outlook {#future_plans}

Once JLU GitLab is usable within the university, we have further plans to make it even more useful. We would like to...

  • ...make JLU GitLab accessible directly from the Internet, without VPN
  • ...provide a procedure to allow accounts for people from outside the JLU
  • ...investigate the possibility to publish content with GitLab Pages{:target="_blank"}
  • ...evaluate the use of Git Large File Storage (LFS){:target="_blank"}

Contact information {#contact}

For questions regarding help and support, please write an email to our support mailing list, gitlab-help@lists.uni-giessen.de.

We organize und document our work in GitLab projects. If you are interested about our way of working and decision process and want to know more, you can contact us at gitlab-admin@lists.uni-giessen.de.