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---
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stage: Release
group: Release Management
info: To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with this page, see https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/ux/technical-writing/#designated-technical-writers
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type: concepts, howto
---
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# Protected Environments **(PREMIUM)**
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> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/6303) in [GitLab Premium](https://about.gitlab.com/pricing/) 11.3.
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## Overview
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[Environments ](../environments/index.md ) can be used for different reasons:
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- Some of them are just for testing.
- Others are for production.
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Since deploy jobs can be raised by different users with different roles, it is important that
specific environments are "protected" to prevent unauthorized people from affecting them.
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By default, a protected environment does one thing: it ensures that only people
with the right privileges can deploy to it, thus keeping it safe.
NOTE: **Note** :
A GitLab admin is always allowed to use environments, even if they are protected.
To protect, update, or unprotect an environment, you need to have at least
[Maintainer permissions ](../../user/permissions.md ).
## Protecting environments
To protect an environment:
1. Navigate to your project's **Settings > CI/CD** .
1. Expand the **Protected Environments** section.
1. From the **Environment** dropdown menu, select the environment you want to protect.
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1. In the **Allowed to Deploy** dropdown menu, select the role, users, or groups you
want to give deploy access to. Keep in mind that:
- There are two roles to choose from:
- **Maintainers**: will allow access to all maintainers in the project.
- **Developers**: will allow access to all maintainers and all developers in the project.
- You can only select groups that are already associated with the project.
- Only users that have at least Developer permission level will appear in
the **Allowed to Deploy** dropdown menu.
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1. Click the **Protect** button.
The protected environment will now appear in the list of protected environments.
## Modifying and unprotecting environments
Maintainers can:
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- Update existing protected environments at any time by changing the access in the
**Allowed to Deploy** dropdown menu.
- Unprotect a protected environment by clicking the **Unprotect** button for that environment.
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