Upgrade from Gitea

If you already operate the open-source Gitea project and want to experience the Enterprise feature set, the transition only requires replacing the binaries or container images. This guide walks through the upgrade process and highlights compatibility details.

Confirm your baseline​

• Review the currently running Gitea version (Site Administration -> System Status or gitea --version).
• Pick the matching Gitea Enterprise release. A community release v1.X.Y aligns with Enterprise vX.Y.*. You can safely choose a higher Enterprise minor version when needed (for example, v1.24.6 -> v24.6.0 or any v25.*).

Replace the binary​

If you installed from the community binary:

1. Download the Enterprise binary from commitgo/gitea-ee releases.
2. Stop your running service.
3. Replace the executable and ensure the permissions match your original deployment.
4. Start the service again.

sudo systemctl stop gitea
curl -L -o /usr/local/bin/gitea "https://gitea.com/commitgo/gitea-ee/releases/download/v24.6.0/gitea-ee-24.6.0-linux-amd64"
sudo chmod 755 /usr/local/bin/gitea
sudo systemctl start gitea

All existing configuration (app.ini) and data directories are compatible.

Replace the container image​

If you run the community Docker image, update your deployment manifests:

 services:
   gitea:
-    image: gitea/gitea:1.24.6
+    image: commitgo/gitea-ee:24.6.0

• Pull the new image (docker compose pull or helm upgrade).
• Restart the container or roll the deployment so the new image boots with the existing /data volume.

Enterprise ships the same entrypoint as the community image, so no migration steps are required.

Activation​

After the service restarts:

1. Sign in as an administrator.
2. Follow License Activation to upload or renew the Enterprise license.
3. Confirm the Enterprise features are enabled.

You can switch back to the community edition at any time by reversing the replacement steps, as long as the target version is equal to or newer than the Enterprise version you were running.