Importing GitLab Project Export is very slow

Summary

While working on gitlab-org/quality/performance#40 (closed) we've been exploring a way to import a large dataset as efficiently as possible. Currently we import the gitlabhq project from GitHub but this can take an hour or more depending on the environment. We wanted to explore importing the same project but as a gitlab export tarball instead as it was assumed this would be quicker.

Surprisingly this has turned out to be significantly slower, around 4 hours. We're still investigating why this is the case but raising this issue to track.

Steps to reproduce

  1. In a clean GitLab install (e.g. docker) proceed to import the gitlabhq tarball project (can be downloaded here)
  2. Notice that the import will take a long time, multiple hours.

What is the current bug behavior?

Import does progress but it takes a very long time - around 4 hours.

What is the expected correct behavior?

Import should certainly finish asap. Preferably more minutes than hours.

Relevant logs and/or screenshots

Results of GitLab environment info

Expand for output related to GitLab environment info 
System information
System:
Current User:	git
Using RVM:	no
Ruby Version:	2.6.3p62
Gem Version:	2.7.9
Bundler Version:1.17.3
Rake Version:	12.3.2
Redis Version:	3.2.12
Git Version:	2.21.0
Sidekiq Version:5.2.7
Go Version:	unknown

GitLab information
Version:	12.0.3
Revision:	08a51a9db93
Directory:	/opt/gitlab/embedded/service/gitlab-rails
DB Adapter:	PostgreSQL
DB Version:	10.7
URL:		http://26cb4a90f1e9
HTTP Clone URL:	http://26cb4a90f1e9/some-group/some-project.git
SSH Clone URL:	git@26cb4a90f1e9:some-group/some-project.git
Using LDAP:	no
Using Omniauth:	yes
Omniauth Providers:


GitLab Shell
Version:	9.3.0
Repository storage paths:
  • default: /var/opt/gitlab/git-data/repositories GitLab Shell path: /opt/gitlab/embedded/service/gitlab-shell Git: /opt/gitlab/embedded/bin/git

Results of GitLab application Check

Expand for output related to the GitLab application check 
Checking GitLab subtasks ...

Checking GitLab Shell ...


GitLab Shell: ... GitLab Shell version >= 9.3.0 ? ... OK (9.3.0)
Running /opt/gitlab/embedded/service/gitlab-shell/bin/check
Check GitLab API access: OK
Redis available via internal API: OK


Access to /var/opt/gitlab/.ssh/authorized_keys: OK
gitlab-shell self-check successful


Checking GitLab Shell ... Finished


Checking Gitaly ...


Gitaly: ... default ... OK


Checking Gitaly ... Finished


Checking Sidekiq ...


Sidekiq: ... Running? ... yes
Number of Sidekiq processes ... 1


Checking Sidekiq ... Finished


Checking Incoming Email ...


Incoming Email: ... Reply by email is disabled in config/gitlab.yml


Checking Incoming Email ... Finished


Checking LDAP ...


LDAP: ... LDAP is disabled in config/gitlab.yml


Checking LDAP ... Finished


Checking GitLab App ...


Git configured correctly? ... yes
Database config exists? ... yes
All migrations up? ... yes
Database contains orphaned GroupMembers? ... no
GitLab config exists? ... yes
GitLab config up to date? ... yes
Log directory writable? ... yes
Tmp directory writable? ... yes
Uploads directory exists? ... yes
Uploads directory has correct permissions? ... yes
Uploads directory tmp has correct permissions? ... skipped (no tmp uploads folder yet)
Init script exists? ... skipped (omnibus-gitlab has no init script)
Init script up-to-date? ... skipped (omnibus-gitlab has no init script)
Projects have namespace: ...
2/1 ... yes
3/2 ... yes
Redis version >= 2.8.0? ... yes
Ruby version >= 2.5.3 ? ... yes (2.6.3)
Git version >= 2.21.0 ? ... yes (2.21.0)
Git user has default SSH configuration? ... yes
Active users: ... 1


Checking GitLab App ... Finished


Checking GitLab subtasks ... Finished
Edited by Grant Young