diff --git a/app/helpers/application_settings_helper.rb b/app/helpers/application_settings_helper.rb
index 4b025669f699c43472257f68becd5cf37969ec2b..ca326dd0627f022d55a98a41597041ad4b9901ea 100644
--- a/app/helpers/application_settings_helper.rb
+++ b/app/helpers/application_settings_helper.rb
@@ -81,8 +81,8 @@ module ApplicationSettingsHelper
   end
 
   def repository_storages_options_for_select
-    options = Gitlab.config.repositories.storages.map do |name, path|
-      ["#{name} - #{path}", name]
+    options = Gitlab.config.repositories.storages.map do |name, storage|
+      ["#{name} - #{storage['path']}", name]
     end
 
     options_for_select(options, @application_setting.repository_storages)
diff --git a/app/models/project.rb b/app/models/project.rb
index 7d211784c3c92898869b077f30c1a434053cb6e2..90e40c6fa8d470bdf4354f0b82a8d3cb661dcb2d 100644
--- a/app/models/project.rb
+++ b/app/models/project.rb
@@ -392,7 +392,7 @@ class Project < ActiveRecord::Base
   end
 
   def repository_storage_path
-    Gitlab.config.repositories.storages[repository_storage]
+    Gitlab.config.repositories.storages[repository_storage]['path']
   end
 
   def team
diff --git a/app/models/repository.rb b/app/models/repository.rb
index e7cc8d6e0830da618612892995f64903962827b0..2a12b36a84ddd8ce2f8de1c5c837838770300a0c 100644
--- a/app/models/repository.rb
+++ b/app/models/repository.rb
@@ -50,10 +50,6 @@ class Repository
     end
   end
 
-  def self.storages
-    Gitlab.config.repositories.storages
-  end
-
   def initialize(path_with_namespace, project)
     @path_with_namespace = path_with_namespace
     @project = project
diff --git a/app/workers/post_receive.rb b/app/workers/post_receive.rb
index 2fff6b0105d1949c868517da72dbc6b8656545ea..2cd87895c5597b37137db549b88456694679ff10 100644
--- a/app/workers/post_receive.rb
+++ b/app/workers/post_receive.rb
@@ -3,8 +3,8 @@ class PostReceive
   include DedicatedSidekiqQueue
 
   def perform(repo_path, identifier, changes)
-    if path = Gitlab.config.repositories.storages.find { |p| repo_path.start_with?(p[1].to_s) }
-      repo_path.gsub!(path[1].to_s, "")
+    if repository_storage = Gitlab.config.repositories.storages.find { |p| repo_path.start_with?(p[1]['path'].to_s) }
+      repo_path.gsub!(repository_storage[1]['path'].to_s, "")
     else
       log("Check gitlab.yml config for correct repositories.storages values. No repository storage path matches \"#{repo_path}\"")
     end
diff --git a/changelogs/unreleased/28447-hybrid-repository-storages.yml b/changelogs/unreleased/28447-hybrid-repository-storages.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..00dfc5781b9b851f3a0e0371122fa7db293d6783
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/unreleased/28447-hybrid-repository-storages.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+---
+title: Update storage settings to allow extra values per repository storage
+merge_request: 9597
+author:
diff --git a/config/gitlab.yml.example b/config/gitlab.yml.example
index be34a4000fafabb0837aed9d371b0f57296a1bae..720df0cac2db2fab37313504b3ed53da51f0c335 100644
--- a/config/gitlab.yml.example
+++ b/config/gitlab.yml.example
@@ -461,7 +461,8 @@ production: &base
     # gitlab-shell invokes Dir.pwd inside the repository path and that results
     # real path not the symlink.
     storages: # You must have at least a `default` storage path.
-      default: /home/git/repositories/
+      default:
+        path: /home/git/repositories/
 
   ## Backup settings
   backup:
@@ -574,7 +575,8 @@ test:
     path: tmp/tests/gitlab-satellites/
   repositories:
     storages:
-      default: tmp/tests/repositories/
+      default:
+        path: tmp/tests/repositories/
   backup:
     path: tmp/tests/backups
   gitlab_shell:
diff --git a/config/initializers/1_settings.rb b/config/initializers/1_settings.rb
index 91d01423e6c0f75ad07a75e826f88fbacf1a4b2f..b45d0e23080f4787c33a9c50d363f6587118678c 100644
--- a/config/initializers/1_settings.rb
+++ b/config/initializers/1_settings.rb
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ class Settings < Settingslogic
 
     def base_url(config)
       custom_port = on_standard_port?(config) ? nil : ":#{config.port}"
-      
+
       [
         config.protocol,
         "://",
@@ -366,8 +366,13 @@ Settings.gitlab_shell['ssh_path_prefix'] ||= Settings.send(:build_gitlab_shell_s
 #
 Settings['repositories'] ||= Settingslogic.new({})
 Settings.repositories['storages'] ||= {}
-# Setting gitlab_shell.repos_path is DEPRECATED and WILL BE REMOVED in version 9.0
-Settings.repositories.storages['default'] ||= Settings.gitlab_shell['repos_path'] || Settings.gitlab['user_home'] + '/repositories/'
+unless Settings.repositories.storages['default']
+  Settings.repositories.storages['default'] ||= {}
+  # We set the path only if the default storage doesn't exist, in case it exists
+  # but follows the pre-9.0 configuration structure. `6_validations.rb` initializer
+  # will validate all storages and throw a relevant error to the user if necessary.
+  Settings.repositories.storages['default']['path'] ||= Settings.gitlab['user_home'] + '/repositories/'
+end
 
 #
 # The repository_downloads_path is used to remove outdated repository
@@ -376,11 +381,11 @@ Settings.repositories.storages['default'] ||= Settings.gitlab_shell['repos_path'
 # data-integrity issue. In this case, we sets it to the default
 # repository_downloads_path value.
 #
-repositories_storages_path     = Settings.repositories.storages.values
+repositories_storages          = Settings.repositories.storages.values
 repository_downloads_path      = Settings.gitlab['repository_downloads_path'].to_s.gsub(/\/$/, '')
 repository_downloads_full_path = File.expand_path(repository_downloads_path, Settings.gitlab['user_home'])
 
-if repository_downloads_path.blank? || repositories_storages_path.any? { |path| [repository_downloads_path, repository_downloads_full_path].include?(path.gsub(/\/$/, '')) }
+if repository_downloads_path.blank? || repositories_storages.any? { |rs| [repository_downloads_path, repository_downloads_full_path].include?(rs['path'].gsub(/\/$/, '')) }
   Settings.gitlab['repository_downloads_path'] = File.join(Settings.shared['path'], 'cache/archive')
 end
 
diff --git a/config/initializers/6_validations.rb b/config/initializers/6_validations.rb
index d92f64e164710d65e0a7574a90ed48a556c0caa3..abe570f430cd7d1fe5a0459070c95dfdc6fe20f8 100644
--- a/config/initializers/6_validations.rb
+++ b/config/initializers/6_validations.rb
@@ -4,8 +4,8 @@ end
 
 def find_parent_path(name, path)
   parent = Pathname.new(path).realpath.parent
-  Gitlab.config.repositories.storages.detect do |n, p|
-    name != n && Pathname.new(p).realpath == parent
+  Gitlab.config.repositories.storages.detect do |n, rs|
+    name != n && Pathname.new(rs['path']).realpath == parent
   end
 end
 
@@ -16,10 +16,22 @@ end
 def validate_storages
   storage_validation_error('No repository storage path defined') if Gitlab.config.repositories.storages.empty?
 
-  Gitlab.config.repositories.storages.each do |name, path|
+  Gitlab.config.repositories.storages.each do |name, repository_storage|
     storage_validation_error("\"#{name}\" is not a valid storage name") unless storage_name_valid?(name)
 
-    parent_name, _parent_path = find_parent_path(name, path)
+    if repository_storage.is_a?(String)
+      error = "#{name} is not a valid storage, because it has no `path` key. " \
+        "It may be configured as:\n\n#{name}:\n  path: #{repository_storage}\n\n" \
+        "Refer to gitlab.yml.example for an updated example"
+
+      storage_validation_error(error)
+    end
+
+    if !repository_storage.is_a?(Hash) || repository_storage['path'].nil?
+      storage_validation_error("#{name} is not a valid storage, because it has no `path` key. Refer to gitlab.yml.example for an updated example")
+    end
+
+    parent_name, _parent_path = find_parent_path(name, repository_storage['path'])
     if parent_name
       storage_validation_error("#{name} is a nested path of #{parent_name}. Nested paths are not supported for repository storages")
     end
diff --git a/db/migrate/20140502125220_migrate_repo_size.rb b/db/migrate/20140502125220_migrate_repo_size.rb
index e8de7ccf3db39dce3575d533a7fc1cf600510ae4..66203486d532099dfbd10d2d81243e012e42060d 100644
--- a/db/migrate/20140502125220_migrate_repo_size.rb
+++ b/db/migrate/20140502125220_migrate_repo_size.rb
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ class MigrateRepoSize < ActiveRecord::Migration
     project_data.each do |project|
       id = project['id']
       namespace_path = project['namespace_path'] || ''
-      repos_path = Gitlab.config.gitlab_shell['repos_path'] || Gitlab.config.repositories.storages.default
+      repos_path = Gitlab.config.gitlab_shell['repos_path'] || Gitlab.config.repositories.storages.default['path']
       path = File.join(repos_path, namespace_path, project['project_path'] + '.git')
 
       begin
diff --git a/db/migrate/20161124141322_migrate_process_commit_worker_jobs.rb b/db/migrate/20161124141322_migrate_process_commit_worker_jobs.rb
index 3e1f6b1627d91f05e69c49827bc9c028009ad6d2..e5292cfba079cba9f6279b1879dc625da867860d 100644
--- a/db/migrate/20161124141322_migrate_process_commit_worker_jobs.rb
+++ b/db/migrate/20161124141322_migrate_process_commit_worker_jobs.rb
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ class MigrateProcessCommitWorkerJobs < ActiveRecord::Migration
     end
 
     def repository_storage_path
-      Gitlab.config.repositories.storages[repository_storage]
+      Gitlab.config.repositories.storages[repository_storage]['path']
     end
 
     def repository_path
diff --git a/db/migrate/20161220141214_remove_dot_git_from_group_names.rb b/db/migrate/20161220141214_remove_dot_git_from_group_names.rb
index 241afc6b097a415fd1efea879920b8fd7d392723..8fb1f9d5e737e0230ade8412fb49553731d072ce 100644
--- a/db/migrate/20161220141214_remove_dot_git_from_group_names.rb
+++ b/db/migrate/20161220141214_remove_dot_git_from_group_names.rb
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ class RemoveDotGitFromGroupNames < ActiveRecord::Migration
 
   def move_namespace(group_id, path_was, path)
     repository_storage_paths = select_all("SELECT distinct(repository_storage) FROM projects WHERE namespace_id = #{group_id}").map do |row|
-      Gitlab.config.repositories.storages[row['repository_storage']]
+      Gitlab.config.repositories.storages[row['repository_storage']]['path']
     end.compact
 
     # Move the namespace directory in all storages paths used by member projects
diff --git a/db/migrate/20161226122833_remove_dot_git_from_usernames.rb b/db/migrate/20161226122833_remove_dot_git_from_usernames.rb
index a0ce927161f1e192c2d67e51b8030fa3b597439f..61dcc8c54f5844bda2b52163091ed10cfd367ec9 100644
--- a/db/migrate/20161226122833_remove_dot_git_from_usernames.rb
+++ b/db/migrate/20161226122833_remove_dot_git_from_usernames.rb
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ class RemoveDotGitFromUsernames < ActiveRecord::Migration
     route_exists = route_exists?(path)
 
     Gitlab.config.repositories.storages.each_value do |storage|
-      if route_exists || path_exists?(path, storage)
+      if route_exists || path_exists?(path, storage['path'])
         counter += 1
         path = "#{base}#{counter}"
 
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ class RemoveDotGitFromUsernames < ActiveRecord::Migration
 
   def move_namespace(namespace_id, path_was, path)
     repository_storage_paths = select_all("SELECT distinct(repository_storage) FROM projects WHERE namespace_id = #{namespace_id}").map do |row|
-      Gitlab.config.repositories.storages[row['repository_storage']]
+      Gitlab.config.repositories.storages[row['repository_storage']]['path']
     end.compact
 
     # Move the namespace directory in all storages paths used by member projects
diff --git a/doc/administration/repository_storage_paths.md b/doc/administration/repository_storage_paths.md
index d6aa610102627497e70787098be5974274968f17..55a451195250d5e112e856669262cfce72d0ccdd 100644
--- a/doc/administration/repository_storage_paths.md
+++ b/doc/administration/repository_storage_paths.md
@@ -52,9 +52,12 @@ respectively.
       # Paths where repositories can be stored. Give the canonicalized absolute pathname.
       # NOTE: REPOS PATHS MUST NOT CONTAIN ANY SYMLINK!!!
       storages: # You must have at least a 'default' storage path.
-        default: /home/git/repositories
-        nfs: /mnt/nfs/repositories
-        cephfs: /mnt/cephfs/repositories
+        default:
+          path: /home/git/repositories
+        nfs:
+          path: /mnt/nfs/repositories
+        cephfs:
+          path: /mnt/cephfs/repositories
     ```
 
 1. [Restart GitLab] for the changes to take effect.
@@ -75,9 +78,9 @@ working, you can remove the `repos_path` line.
 
     ```ruby
     git_data_dirs({
-      "default" => "/var/opt/gitlab/git-data",
-      "nfs" => "/mnt/nfs/git-data",
-      "cephfs" => "/mnt/cephfs/git-data"
+      "default" => { "path" => "/var/opt/gitlab/git-data" },
+      "nfs" => { "path" => "/mnt/nfs/git-data" },
+      "cephfs" => { "path" => "/mnt/cephfs/git-data" }
     })
     ```
 
diff --git a/doc/update/8.17-to-9.0.md b/doc/update/8.17-to-9.0.md
index 7b934ecd87a99c722f69737d234625c18f61412c..4cc8be752c42d6d027e067a9d388bda16a3a0736 100644
--- a/doc/update/8.17-to-9.0.md
+++ b/doc/update/8.17-to-9.0.md
@@ -1,3 +1,66 @@
+#### Configuration changes for repository storages
+
+This version introduces a new configuration structure for repository storages.
+Update your current configuration as follows, replacing with your storages names and paths:
+
+**For installations from source**
+
+1. Update your `gitlab.yml`, from
+
+  ```yaml
+  repositories:
+    storages: # You must have at least a 'default' storage path.
+      default: /home/git/repositories
+      nfs: /mnt/nfs/repositories
+      cephfs: /mnt/cephfs/repositories
+  ```
+
+  to
+
+  ```yaml
+  repositories:
+    storages: # You must have at least a 'default' storage path.
+      default:
+        path: /home/git/repositories
+      nfs:
+        path: /mnt/nfs/repositories
+      cephfs:
+        path: /mnt/cephfs/repositories
+  ```
+
+**For Omnibus installations**
+
+1. Upate your `/etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb`, from
+
+  ```ruby
+  git_data_dirs({
+    "default" => "/var/opt/gitlab/git-data",
+    "nfs" => "/mnt/nfs/git-data",
+    "cephfs" => "/mnt/cephfs/git-data"
+  })
+  ```
+
+  to
+
+  ```ruby
+  git_data_dirs({
+    "default" => { "path" => "/var/opt/gitlab/git-data" },
+    "nfs" => { "path" => "/mnt/nfs/git-data" },
+    "cephfs" => { "path" => "/mnt/cephfs/git-data" }
+  })
+  ```
+
+#### Git configuration
+
+Configure Git to generate packfile bitmaps (introduced in Git 2.0) on
+the GitLab server during `git gc`.
+
+```sh
+cd /home/git/gitlab
+
+sudo -u git -H git config --global repack.writeBitmaps true
+```
+
 #### Nginx configuration
 
 Ensure you're still up-to-date with the latest NGINX configuration changes:
@@ -12,7 +75,7 @@ git diff origin/8-17-stable:lib/support/nginx/gitlab-ssl origin/9-0-stable:lib/s
 git diff origin/8-17-stable:lib/support/nginx/gitlab origin/9-0-stable:lib/support/nginx/gitlab
 ```
 
-If you are using Strict-Transport-Security in your installation to continue using it you must enable it in your Nginx 
+If you are using Strict-Transport-Security in your installation to continue using it you must enable it in your Nginx
 configuration as GitLab application no longer handles setting it.
 
 If you are using Apache instead of NGINX please see the updated [Apache templates].
diff --git a/lib/api/helpers/internal_helpers.rb b/lib/api/helpers/internal_helpers.rb
index 080a627495700de2cba6a68d92433061f728e85d..2135a787b11a97136c11e76e9e155b3d023e75c2 100644
--- a/lib/api/helpers/internal_helpers.rb
+++ b/lib/api/helpers/internal_helpers.rb
@@ -9,11 +9,11 @@ module API
       # In addition, they may have a '.git' extension and multiple namespaces
       #
       # Transform all these cases to 'namespace/project'
-      def clean_project_path(project_path, storage_paths = Repository.storages.values)
+      def clean_project_path(project_path, storages = Gitlab.config.repositories.storages.values)
         project_path = project_path.sub(/\.git\z/, '')
 
-        storage_paths.each do |storage_path|
-          storage_path = File.expand_path(storage_path)
+        storages.each do |storage|
+          storage_path = File.expand_path(storage['path'])
 
           if project_path.start_with?(storage_path)
             project_path = project_path.sub(storage_path, '')
diff --git a/lib/backup/repository.rb b/lib/backup/repository.rb
index 3c4ba5d50e6e92dda4b495f751efde0c0ef53254..cd745d35e7cfd0ed5f78e4be9d89ef40ab617fde 100644
--- a/lib/backup/repository.rb
+++ b/lib/backup/repository.rb
@@ -68,7 +68,8 @@ module Backup
     end
 
     def restore
-      Gitlab.config.repositories.storages.each do |name, path|
+      Gitlab.config.repositories.storages.each do |name, repository_storage|
+        path = repository_storage['path']
         next unless File.exist?(path)
 
         # Move repos dir to 'repositories.old' dir
@@ -199,7 +200,7 @@ module Backup
     private
 
     def repository_storage_paths_args
-      Gitlab.config.repositories.storages.values
+      Gitlab.config.repositories.storages.values.map { |rs| rs['path'] }
     end
   end
 end
diff --git a/lib/tasks/gitlab/check.rake b/lib/tasks/gitlab/check.rake
index 38edd49b6ed803149b36f31ad4d0010c924f23d4..a6f8c4ced5d9cda532172f3c1e8787ce8ba9b402 100644
--- a/lib/tasks/gitlab/check.rake
+++ b/lib/tasks/gitlab/check.rake
@@ -354,7 +354,8 @@ namespace :gitlab do
     def check_repo_base_exists
       puts "Repo base directory exists?"
 
-      Gitlab.config.repositories.storages.each do |name, repo_base_path|
+      Gitlab.config.repositories.storages.each do |name, repository_storage|
+        repo_base_path = repository_storage['path']
         print "#{name}... "
 
         if File.exist?(repo_base_path)
@@ -378,7 +379,8 @@ namespace :gitlab do
     def check_repo_base_is_not_symlink
       puts "Repo storage directories are symlinks?"
 
-      Gitlab.config.repositories.storages.each do |name, repo_base_path|
+      Gitlab.config.repositories.storages.each do |name, repository_storage|
+        repo_base_path = repository_storage['path']
         print "#{name}... "
 
         unless File.exist?(repo_base_path)
@@ -401,7 +403,8 @@ namespace :gitlab do
     def check_repo_base_permissions
       puts "Repo paths access is drwxrws---?"
 
-      Gitlab.config.repositories.storages.each do |name, repo_base_path|
+      Gitlab.config.repositories.storages.each do |name, repository_storage|
+        repo_base_path = repository_storage['path']
         print "#{name}... "
 
         unless File.exist?(repo_base_path)
@@ -431,7 +434,8 @@ namespace :gitlab do
       gitlab_shell_owner_group = Gitlab.config.gitlab_shell.owner_group
       puts "Repo paths owned by #{gitlab_shell_ssh_user}:#{gitlab_shell_owner_group}?"
 
-      Gitlab.config.repositories.storages.each do |name, repo_base_path|
+      Gitlab.config.repositories.storages.each do |name, repository_storage|
+        repo_base_path = repository_storage['path']
         print "#{name}... "
 
         unless File.exist?(repo_base_path)
@@ -810,8 +814,8 @@ namespace :gitlab do
   namespace :repo do
     desc "GitLab | Check the integrity of the repositories managed by GitLab"
     task check: :environment do
-      Gitlab.config.repositories.storages.each do |name, path|
-        namespace_dirs = Dir.glob(File.join(path, '*'))
+      Gitlab.config.repositories.storages.each do |name, repository_storage|
+        namespace_dirs = Dir.glob(File.join(repository_storage['path'], '*'))
 
         namespace_dirs.each do |namespace_dir|
           repo_dirs = Dir.glob(File.join(namespace_dir, '*'))
diff --git a/lib/tasks/gitlab/cleanup.rake b/lib/tasks/gitlab/cleanup.rake
index daf7382dd02a15375ed5eb83b5003f3a013db759..f76bef5f4bfc85b5c45301c23f3a2c495eb3e4f7 100644
--- a/lib/tasks/gitlab/cleanup.rake
+++ b/lib/tasks/gitlab/cleanup.rake
@@ -6,7 +6,8 @@ namespace :gitlab do
       remove_flag = ENV['REMOVE']
 
       namespaces = Namespace.pluck(:path)
-      Gitlab.config.repositories.storages.each do |name, git_base_path|
+      Gitlab.config.repositories.storages.each do |name, repository_storage|
+        git_base_path = repository_storage['path']
         all_dirs = Dir.glob(git_base_path + '/*')
 
         puts git_base_path.color(:yellow)
@@ -47,7 +48,8 @@ namespace :gitlab do
       warn_user_is_not_gitlab
 
       move_suffix = "+orphaned+#{Time.now.to_i}"
-      Gitlab.config.repositories.storages.each do |name, repo_root|
+      Gitlab.config.repositories.storages.each do |name, repository_storage|
+        repo_root = repository_storage['path']
         # Look for global repos (legacy, depth 1) and normal repos (depth 2)
         IO.popen(%W(find #{repo_root} -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 2 -name *.git)) do |find|
           find.each_line do |path|
diff --git a/lib/tasks/gitlab/import.rake b/lib/tasks/gitlab/import.rake
index 66e7b7685f7e8899b2f80ff3c493260d156aed58..48bd9139ce87f60248f2843ae4e0ab719af94edf 100644
--- a/lib/tasks/gitlab/import.rake
+++ b/lib/tasks/gitlab/import.rake
@@ -11,7 +11,8 @@ namespace :gitlab do
     #
     desc "GitLab | Import bare repositories from repositories -> storages into GitLab project instance"
     task repos: :environment do
-      Gitlab.config.repositories.storages.each do |name, git_base_path|
+      Gitlab.config.repositories.storages.each_value do |repository_storage|
+        git_base_path = repository_storage['path']
         repos_to_import = Dir.glob(git_base_path + '/**/*.git')
 
         repos_to_import.each do |repo_path|
diff --git a/lib/tasks/gitlab/info.rake b/lib/tasks/gitlab/info.rake
index b8dd654b9a99c94f19150b1e931ad9e853229dbe..a2a2db487b71da2bb62073b497fcbf0414ecc743 100644
--- a/lib/tasks/gitlab/info.rake
+++ b/lib/tasks/gitlab/info.rake
@@ -65,8 +65,8 @@ namespace :gitlab do
       puts "GitLab Shell".color(:yellow)
       puts "Version:\t#{gitlab_shell_version || "unknown".color(:red)}"
       puts "Repository storage paths:"
-      Gitlab.config.repositories.storages.each do |name, path|
-        puts "- #{name}: \t#{path}"
+      Gitlab.config.repositories.storages.each do |name, repository_storage|
+        puts "- #{name}: \t#{repository_storage['path']}"
       end
       puts "Hooks:\t\t#{Gitlab.config.gitlab_shell.hooks_path}"
       puts "Git:\t\t#{Gitlab.config.git.bin_path}"
diff --git a/lib/tasks/gitlab/task_helpers.rb b/lib/tasks/gitlab/task_helpers.rb
index 2a999ad69599fc8feb73bc5e04f17555aa7b21d9..bb755ae689b98a76141f3db73b5eb4345ac00bc4 100644
--- a/lib/tasks/gitlab/task_helpers.rb
+++ b/lib/tasks/gitlab/task_helpers.rb
@@ -130,8 +130,8 @@ module Gitlab
     end
 
     def all_repos
-      Gitlab.config.repositories.storages.each do |name, path|
-        IO.popen(%W(find #{path} -mindepth 2 -maxdepth 2 -type d -name *.git)) do |find|
+      Gitlab.config.repositories.storages.each_value do |repository_storage|
+        IO.popen(%W(find #{repository_storage['path']} -mindepth 2 -maxdepth 2 -type d -name *.git)) do |find|
           find.each_line do |path|
             yield path.chomp
           end
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ module Gitlab
     end
 
     def repository_storage_paths_args
-      Gitlab.config.repositories.storages.values
+      Gitlab.config.repositories.storages.values.map { |rs| rs['path'] }
     end
 
     def user_home
diff --git a/spec/initializers/6_validations_spec.rb b/spec/initializers/6_validations_spec.rb
index baab30f482f6554efed482fd6cca8b4f598adc60..cf182e6d22197e9b01280d7e1334682950df0989 100644
--- a/spec/initializers/6_validations_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/initializers/6_validations_spec.rb
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ describe '6_validations', lib: true do
 
   context 'with correct settings' do
     before do
-      mock_storages('foo' => 'tmp/tests/paths/a/b/c', 'bar' => 'tmp/tests/paths/a/b/d')
+      mock_storages('foo' => { 'path' => 'tmp/tests/paths/a/b/c' }, 'bar' => { 'path' => 'tmp/tests/paths/a/b/d' })
     end
 
     it 'passes through' do
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ describe '6_validations', lib: true do
 
   context 'with invalid storage names' do
     before do
-      mock_storages('name with spaces' => 'tmp/tests/paths/a/b/c')
+      mock_storages('name with spaces' => { 'path' => 'tmp/tests/paths/a/b/c' })
     end
 
     it 'throws an error' do
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ describe '6_validations', lib: true do
 
   context 'with nested storage paths' do
     before do
-      mock_storages('foo' => 'tmp/tests/paths/a/b/c', 'bar' => 'tmp/tests/paths/a/b/c/d')
+      mock_storages('foo' => { 'path' => 'tmp/tests/paths/a/b/c' }, 'bar' => { 'path' => 'tmp/tests/paths/a/b/c/d' })
     end
 
     it 'throws an error' do
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ describe '6_validations', lib: true do
 
   context 'with similar but un-nested storage paths' do
     before do
-      mock_storages('foo' => 'tmp/tests/paths/a/b/c', 'bar' => 'tmp/tests/paths/a/b/c2')
+      mock_storages('foo' => { 'path' => 'tmp/tests/paths/a/b/c' }, 'bar' => { 'path' => 'tmp/tests/paths/a/b/c2' })
     end
 
     it 'passes through' do
@@ -52,6 +52,26 @@ describe '6_validations', lib: true do
     end
   end
 
+  context 'with incomplete settings' do
+    before do
+      mock_storages('foo' => {})
+    end
+
+    it 'throws an error suggesting the user to update its settings' do
+      expect { validate_storages }.to raise_error('foo is not a valid storage, because it has no `path` key. Refer to gitlab.yml.example for an updated example. Please fix this in your gitlab.yml before starting GitLab.')
+    end
+  end
+
+  context 'with deprecated settings structure' do
+    before do
+      mock_storages('foo' => 'tmp/tests/paths/a/b/c')
+    end
+
+    it 'throws an error suggesting the user to update its settings' do
+      expect { validate_storages }.to raise_error("foo is not a valid storage, because it has no `path` key. It may be configured as:\n\nfoo:\n  path: tmp/tests/paths/a/b/c\n\nRefer to gitlab.yml.example for an updated example. Please fix this in your gitlab.yml before starting GitLab.")
+    end
+  end
+
   def mock_storages(storages)
     allow(Gitlab.config.repositories).to receive(:storages).and_return(storages)
   end
diff --git a/spec/models/namespace_spec.rb b/spec/models/namespace_spec.rb
index 7525a1b79ee74ba135480aa7b92be325dbe64f1d..757f3921450110da969bab1f7e7a0aa386d84707 100644
--- a/spec/models/namespace_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/namespace_spec.rb
@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ describe Namespace, models: true do
 
   describe :rm_dir do
     let!(:project) { create(:empty_project, namespace: namespace) }
-    let!(:path) { File.join(Gitlab.config.repositories.storages.default, namespace.full_path) }
+    let!(:path) { File.join(Gitlab.config.repositories.storages.default['path'], namespace.full_path) }
 
     it "removes its dirs when deleted" do
       namespace.destroy
diff --git a/spec/models/project_spec.rb b/spec/models/project_spec.rb
index 84bdcbe8e597c0d2ccc62a7731d762f04d5ed8d6..e120e21af0650217f88f8af1e02f471cead7e71d 100644
--- a/spec/models/project_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/project_spec.rb
@@ -179,7 +179,7 @@ describe Project, models: true do
       let(:project2) { build(:empty_project, repository_storage: 'missing') }
 
       before do
-        storages = { 'custom' => 'tmp/tests/custom_repositories' }
+        storages = { 'custom' => { 'path' => 'tmp/tests/custom_repositories' } }
         allow(Gitlab.config.repositories).to receive(:storages).and_return(storages)
       end
 
@@ -381,7 +381,7 @@ describe Project, models: true do
 
     before do
       FileUtils.mkdir('tmp/tests/custom_repositories')
-      storages = { 'custom' => 'tmp/tests/custom_repositories' }
+      storages = { 'custom' => { 'path' => 'tmp/tests/custom_repositories' } }
       allow(Gitlab.config.repositories).to receive(:storages).and_return(storages)
     end
 
@@ -947,8 +947,8 @@ describe Project, models: true do
 
     before do
       storages = {
-        'default' => 'tmp/tests/repositories',
-        'picked'  => 'tmp/tests/repositories',
+        'default' => { 'path' => 'tmp/tests/repositories' },
+        'picked'  => { 'path' => 'tmp/tests/repositories' },
       }
       allow(Gitlab.config.repositories).to receive(:storages).and_return(storages)
     end
diff --git a/spec/requests/api/api_internal_helpers_spec.rb b/spec/requests/api/api_internal_helpers_spec.rb
index be4bc39ada20cbb7a9617f0baef1093ffc1a4c4c..f5265ea60ff4aee2d4f167df49d093100360d665 100644
--- a/spec/requests/api/api_internal_helpers_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/requests/api/api_internal_helpers_spec.rb
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ describe ::API::Helpers::InternalHelpers do
         # Relative and absolute storage paths, with and without trailing /
         ['.', './', Dir.pwd, Dir.pwd + '/'].each do |storage_path|
           context "storage path is #{storage_path}" do
-            subject { clean_project_path(project_path, [storage_path]) }
+            subject { clean_project_path(project_path, [{ 'path' => storage_path }]) }
 
             it { is_expected.to eq(expected) }
           end
diff --git a/spec/support/test_env.rb b/spec/support/test_env.rb
index c3aa3ef44c2d74cdb9bdd4f61d5b03e5c3bf9d81..f1d226b6ae31384418970feec7daf99d70d527c8 100644
--- a/spec/support/test_env.rb
+++ b/spec/support/test_env.rb
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ module TestEnv
   end
 
   def repos_path
-    Gitlab.config.repositories.storages.default
+    Gitlab.config.repositories.storages.default['path']
   end
 
   def backup_path
diff --git a/spec/tasks/gitlab/backup_rake_spec.rb b/spec/tasks/gitlab/backup_rake_spec.rb
index dfbfbd05f43ac1cadf56581cdd4641ea3e44bee9..10458966cb955cdb903da4b83ea68340e06130ae 100644
--- a/spec/tasks/gitlab/backup_rake_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/tasks/gitlab/backup_rake_spec.rb
@@ -227,8 +227,8 @@ describe 'gitlab:app namespace rake task' do
         FileUtils.mkdir('tmp/tests/default_storage')
         FileUtils.mkdir('tmp/tests/custom_storage')
         storages = {
-          'default' => 'tmp/tests/default_storage',
-          'custom' => 'tmp/tests/custom_storage'
+          'default' => { 'path' => 'tmp/tests/default_storage' },
+          'custom' => { 'path' => 'tmp/tests/custom_storage' }
         }
         allow(Gitlab.config.repositories).to receive(:storages).and_return(storages)
 
diff --git a/spec/workers/post_receive_spec.rb b/spec/workers/post_receive_spec.rb
index 5919b99a6ed5652f67e37026ddcefbd7b10f1020..7bcb552120210a04e38842601abdd6c368645279 100644
--- a/spec/workers/post_receive_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/workers/post_receive_spec.rb
@@ -105,6 +105,6 @@ describe PostReceive do
   end
 
   def pwd(project)
-    File.join(Gitlab.config.repositories.storages.default, project.path_with_namespace)
+    File.join(Gitlab.config.repositories.storages.default['path'], project.path_with_namespace)
   end
 end