224 lines
8.1 KiB
Markdown
224 lines
8.1 KiB
Markdown
# Getting started with GitLab CI
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>**Note:** Starting from version 8.0, GitLab [Continuous Integration][ci] (CI)
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is fully integrated into GitLab itself and is [enabled] by default on all
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projects.
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GitLab offers a [continuous integration][ci] service. If you
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[add a `.gitlab-ci.yml` file][yaml] to the root directory of your repository,
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and configure your GitLab project to use a [Runner], then each commit or
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push, triggers your CI [pipeline].
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The `.gitlab-ci.yml` file tells the GitLab runner what to do. By default it runs
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a pipeline with three [stages]: `build`, `test`, and `deploy`. You don't need to
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use all three stages; stages with no jobs are simply ignored.
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If everything runs OK (no non-zero return values), you'll get a nice green
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checkmark associated with the commit. This makes it
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easy to see whether a commit caused any of the tests to fail before
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you even look at the code.
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Most projects use GitLab's CI service to run the test suite so that
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developers get immediate feedback if they broke something.
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There's a growing trend to use continuous delivery and continuous deployment to
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automatically deploy tested code to staging and production environments.
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So in brief, the steps needed to have a working CI can be summed up to:
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1. Add `.gitlab-ci.yml` to the root directory of your repository
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1. Configure a Runner
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From there on, on every push to your Git repository, the Runner will
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automagically start the pipeline and the pipeline will appear under the
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project's **Pipelines** page.
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---
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This guide assumes that you:
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- have a working GitLab instance of version 8.0+r or are using
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[GitLab.com](https://gitlab.com)
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- have a project in GitLab that you would like to use CI for
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Let's break it down to pieces and work on solving the GitLab CI puzzle.
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## Creating a `.gitlab-ci.yml` file
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Before you create `.gitlab-ci.yml` let's first explain in brief what this is
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all about.
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### What is `.gitlab-ci.yml`
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The `.gitlab-ci.yml` file is where you configure what CI does with your project.
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It lives in the root of your repository.
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On any push to your repository, GitLab will look for the `.gitlab-ci.yml`
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file and start jobs on _Runners_ according to the contents of the file,
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for that commit.
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Because `.gitlab-ci.yml` is in the repository and is version controlled, old
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versions still build successfully, forks can easily make use of CI, branches can
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have different pipelines and jobs, and you have a single source of truth for CI.
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You can read more about the reasons why we are using `.gitlab-ci.yml` [in our
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blog about it][blog-ci].
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### Creating a simple `.gitlab-ci.yml` file
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>**Note:**
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`.gitlab-ci.yml` is a [YAML](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YAML) file
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so you have to pay extra attention to indentation. Always use spaces, not tabs.
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You need to create a file named `.gitlab-ci.yml` in the root directory of your
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repository. Below is an example for a Ruby on Rails project.
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```yaml
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before_script:
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- apt-get update -qq && apt-get install -y -qq sqlite3 libsqlite3-dev nodejs
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- ruby -v
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- which ruby
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- gem install bundler --no-ri --no-rdoc
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- bundle install --jobs $(nproc) "${FLAGS[@]}"
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rspec:
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script:
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- bundle exec rspec
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rubocop:
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script:
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- bundle exec rubocop
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```
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This is the simplest possible configuration that will work for most Ruby
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applications:
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1. Define two jobs `rspec` and `rubocop` (the names are arbitrary) with
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different commands to be executed.
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1. Before every job, the commands defined by `before_script` are executed.
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The `.gitlab-ci.yml` file defines sets of jobs with constraints of how and when
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they should be run. The jobs are defined as top-level elements with a name (in
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our case `rspec` and `rubocop`) and always have to contain the `script` keyword.
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Jobs are used to create jobs, which are then picked by
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[Runners](../runners/README.md) and executed within the environment of the Runner.
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What is important is that each job is run independently from each other.
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If you want to check whether your `.gitlab-ci.yml` file is valid, there is a
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Lint tool under the page `/ci/lint` of your GitLab instance. You can also find
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a "CI Lint" button to go to this page under **Pipelines ➔ Pipelines** and
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**Pipelines ➔ Jobs** in your project.
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For more information and a complete `.gitlab-ci.yml` syntax, please read
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[the reference documentation on .gitlab-ci.yml](../yaml/README.md).
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### Push `.gitlab-ci.yml` to GitLab
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Once you've created `.gitlab-ci.yml`, you should add it to your Git repository
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and push it to GitLab.
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```bash
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git add .gitlab-ci.yml
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git commit -m "Add .gitlab-ci.yml"
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git push origin master
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```
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Now if you go to the **Pipelines** page you will see that the pipeline is
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pending.
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You can also go to the **Commits** page and notice the little pause icon next
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to the commit SHA.
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Clicking on it you will be directed to the jobs page for that specific commit.
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Notice that there are two jobs pending which are named after what we wrote in
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`.gitlab-ci.yml`. The red triangle indicates that there is no Runner configured
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yet for these jobs.
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The next step is to configure a Runner so that it picks the pending jobs.
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## Configuring a Runner
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In GitLab, Runners run the jobs that you define in `.gitlab-ci.yml`. A Runner
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can be a virtual machine, a VPS, a bare-metal machine, a docker container or
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even a cluster of containers. GitLab and the Runners communicate through an API,
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so the only requirement is that the Runner's machine has [Internet] access.
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A Runner can be specific to a certain project or serve multiple projects in
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GitLab. If it serves all projects it's called a _Shared Runner_.
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Find more information about different Runners in the
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[Runners](../runners/README.md) documentation.
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You can find whether any Runners are assigned to your project by going to
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**Settings ➔ Runners**. Setting up a Runner is easy and straightforward. The
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official Runner supported by GitLab is written in Go and its documentation
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can be found at <https://docs.gitlab.com/runner/>.
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In order to have a functional Runner you need to follow two steps:
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1. [Install it][runner-install]
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2. [Configure it](../runners/README.md#registering-a-specific-runner)
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Follow the links above to set up your own Runner or use a Shared Runner as
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described in the next section.
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Once the Runner has been set up, you should see it on the Runners page of your
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project, following **Settings ➔ Runners**.
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### Shared Runners
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If you use [GitLab.com](https://gitlab.com/) you can use the **Shared Runners**
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provided by GitLab Inc.
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These are special virtual machines that run on GitLab's infrastructure and can
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build any project.
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To enable the **Shared Runners** you have to go to your project's
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**Settings ➔ Runners** and click **Enable shared runners**.
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[Read more on Shared Runners](../runners/README.md).
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## Seeing the status of your pipeline and jobs
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After configuring the Runner successfully, you should see the status of your
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last commit change from _pending_ to either _running_, _success_ or _failed_.
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You can view all pipelines by going to the **Pipelines** page in your project.
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Or you can view all jobs, by going to the **Pipelines ➔ Jobs** page.
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By clicking on a job's status, you will be able to see the log of that job.
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This is important to diagnose why a job failed or acted differently than
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you expected.
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You are also able to view the status of any commit in the various pages in
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GitLab, such as **Commits** and **Merge requests**.
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## Examples
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Visit the [examples README][examples] to see a list of examples using GitLab
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CI with various languages.
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[runner-install]: https://docs.gitlab.com/runner/install/
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[blog-ci]: https://about.gitlab.com/2015/05/06/why-were-replacing-gitlab-ci-jobs-with-gitlab-ci-dot-yml/
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[examples]: ../examples/README.md
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[ci]: https://about.gitlab.com/gitlab-ci/
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[yaml]: ../yaml/README.md
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[runner]: ../runners/README.md
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[enabled]: ../enable_or_disable_ci.md
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[stages]: ../yaml/README.md#stages
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[pipeline]: ../pipelines.md
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[internet]: https://about.gitlab.com/images/theinternet.png
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