Using the Libravatar service with GitLab (FREE SELF)

GitLab by default supports the Gravatar avatar service.

Libravatar is another service that delivers your avatar (profile picture) to other websites. The Libravatar API is heavily based on gravatar, so you can easily switch to the Libravatar avatar service or even your own Libravatar server.

Configuration

In the gitlab.yml gravatar section, set the configuration options as follows:

For HTTP

  gravatar:
    enabled: true
    # gravatar URLs: possible placeholders: %{hash} %{size} %{email} %{username}
    plain_url: "http://cdn.libravatar.org/avatar/%{hash}?s=%{size}&d=identicon"

For HTTPS

  gravatar:
    enabled: true
    # gravatar URLs: possible placeholders: %{hash} %{size} %{email} %{username}
    ssl_url: "https://seccdn.libravatar.org/avatar/%{hash}?s=%{size}&d=identicon"

Your own Libravatar server

If you are running your own Libravatar service, the URL is different in the configuration, but you must provide the same placeholders so GitLab can parse the URL correctly.

For example, you host a service on http://libravatar.example.com and the plain_url you need to supply in gitlab.yml is

http://libravatar.example.com/avatar/%{hash}?s=%{size}&d=identicon

Omnibus GitLab example

In /etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb:

For HTTP

gitlab_rails['gravatar_enabled'] = true
gitlab_rails['gravatar_plain_url'] = "http://cdn.libravatar.org/avatar/%{hash}?s=%{size}&d=identicon"

For HTTPS

gitlab_rails['gravatar_enabled'] = true
gitlab_rails['gravatar_ssl_url'] = "https://seccdn.libravatar.org/avatar/%{hash}?s=%{size}&d=identicon"

Then run sudo gitlab-ctl reconfigure for the changes to take effect.

Default URL for missing images

Libravatar supports different sets of missing images for user email addresses that are not found on the Libravatar service.

To use a set other than identicon, replace the &d=identicon portion of the URL with another supported set. For example, you can use the retro set, in which case the URL would look like: plain_url: "http://cdn.libravatar.org/avatar/%{hash}?s=%{size}&d=retro"

Usage examples for Microsoft Office 365

If your users are Office 365 users, the GetPersonaPhoto service can be used. This service requires a login, so this use case is most useful in a corporate installation where all users have access to Office 365.

gitlab_rails['gravatar_plain_url'] = 'http://outlook.office.com/owa/service.svc/s/GetPersonaPhoto?email=%{email}&size=HR120x120'
gitlab_rails['gravatar_ssl_url'] = 'https://outlook.office.com/owa/service.svc/s/GetPersonaPhoto?email=%{email}&size=HR120x120'