When working with Gitosis, repositories are typically stored in the /home/git/repositories/ directory on your server. Unlike standard Git, Gitosis adds an administrative layer where repositories are managed through configuration files rather than direct filesystem operations.

To safely remove a repository while maintaining Gitosis integrity:

# Step 1: Edit the Gitosis configuration
git clone git@yourserver.com:gitosis-admin.git
cd gitosis-admin
vim gitosis.conf

# Remove the repository section (example below)
[repo old-project]
description = Deprecated project
owner = john@example.com

After updating the config, you'll need to manually remove the repository files:

ssh git@yourserver.com
cd /home/git/repositories/
rm -rf old-project.git

Ensure the deletion was successful by attempting to clone the removed repository:

git clone git@yourserver.com:old-project.git
# Should return "fatal: 'old-project.git' does not appear to be a git repository"

Watch out for these frequent issues:

• Forgetting to push config changes back to gitosis-admin
• Permission errors when deleting repository files
• Dangling references in other projects' remotes

For scripted deletion, you can modify the config programmatically:

#!/bin/bash
REPO_NAME="obsolete-repo"

# Remove from config
sed -i "/\[repo $REPO_NAME\]/,/^$/d" gitosis.conf

# Push changes
git commit -am "Removed $REPO_NAME repository"
git push origin master

# Optional: Cleanup hook scripts
ssh git@yourserver.com "rm -f /home/git/repositories/$REPO_NAME.git/hooks/*"

When working with Gitosis, repositories are typically stored in the /home/git/repositories directory on your server. The administration happens through a special Git repository that contains configuration files. To delete a repository properly, you need to modify both the configuration and the physical repository files.

First, clone the gitosis-admin repository to your local machine:

git clone git@your-server:gitosis-admin.git
cd gitosis-admin

Open gitosis.conf in your favorite editor and remove the repository section. For example, if you want to delete a repository named "test-project", remove these lines:

[repo test-project]
description = Test Project
owner = your-email@example.com

After editing the configuration file:

git commit -am "Removed test-project repository"
git push origin master

SSH into your server and navigate to the repositories directory:

ssh your-server
cd /home/git/repositories

Remove the repository (including the .git directory):

rm -rf test-project.git

If you have gitosis-tools installed, you can use the gitosis-delrepo command:

gitosis-delrepo test-project

• Always backup important repositories before deletion
• Ensure no active users are working with the repository
• Update any CI/CD pipelines that might reference the deleted repository

If you encounter permission errors when trying to delete the repository:

sudo chown -R git:git /home/git/repositories
sudo chmod -R 770 /home/git/repositories

For cases where the repository appears to be deleted but still shows in listings, try rebuilding the gitosis configuration:

sudo -u git gitosis-init < /home/git/.ssh/authorized_keys