Infinite-expiry access tokens on self-hosted GitLab

The ability to create personal access tokens without expiry was deprecated in GitLab 15.4 and removed in GitLab 16.0. For security reasons, expiring tokens makes sense. However, in many cases I'd much rather set them infinite so I can easily put them in version control and not worry about them expiring. If an attacker can access the token, I've already got bigger problems.

This requires connecting to the database. Exactly how to do that will vary based on your deployment (it's probably gitlab-psql).

1. Find the token:¶

gitlabhq_production=> select * from personal_access_tokens order by created_at desc limit 1;

Assuming you just made the token, it should be the latest. If it's not, you'll need to tweak the query.

2. Find the id, and confirm it's the right one:¶

gitlabhq_production=> select * from personal_access_tokens where id=<id>;

You don't want to change the wrong one!

3. Increase the date¶

update personal_access_tokens set expires_at=expires_at + interval '100 years' where id=<id>;

In 100 years, it's someone else's problem.