257 lines
9.8 KiB
Markdown
257 lines
9.8 KiB
Markdown
---
|
|
type: reference
|
|
---
|
|
|
|
# Multi-project pipelines
|
|
|
|
> - [Introduced](https://about.gitlab.com/releases/2015/08/22/gitlab-7-14-released/#build-triggers-api-gitlab-ci) in GitLab 7.14, as Build Triggers.
|
|
> - [Made available](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/issues/199224) in all tiers in GitLab 12.8.
|
|
|
|
You can set up [GitLab CI/CD](README.md) across multiple projects, so that a pipeline
|
|
in one project can trigger a pipeline in another project.
|
|
|
|
## Overview
|
|
|
|
GitLab CI/CD is a powerful continuous integration tool that works not only per project,
|
|
but also across projects with multi-project pipelines.
|
|
|
|
Multi-project pipelines are useful for larger products that require cross-project inter-dependencies, such as those
|
|
adopting a [microservices architecture](https://about.gitlab.com/blog/2016/08/16/trends-in-version-control-land-microservices/).
|
|
|
|
For a demonstration of how cross-functional development teams can use cross-pipeline
|
|
triggering to trigger multiple pipelines for different microservices projects, see
|
|
[Cross-project Pipeline Triggering and Visualization](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/marketing/product-marketing/demo/#cross-project-pipeline-triggering-and-visualization-may-2019---1110).
|
|
|
|
Additionally, it's possible to visualize the entire pipeline, including all cross-project
|
|
inter-dependencies. **(PREMIUM)**
|
|
|
|
## Use cases
|
|
|
|
Let's assume you deploy your web app from different projects in GitLab:
|
|
|
|
- One for the free version, which has its own pipeline that builds and tests your app
|
|
- One for the paid version add-ons, which also pass through builds and tests
|
|
- One for the documentation, which also builds, tests, and deploys with an SSG
|
|
|
|
With Multi-Project Pipelines you can visualize the entire pipeline, including all build and test stages for the three projects.
|
|
|
|
## Multi-project pipeline visualization **(PREMIUM)**
|
|
|
|
> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/issues/2121) in [GitLab Premium 9.3](https://about.gitlab.com/releases/2017/06/22/gitlab-9-3-released/#multi-project-pipeline-graphs).
|
|
|
|
When you configure GitLab CI for your project, you can visualize the stages of your
|
|
[jobs](pipelines/index.md#configuring-pipelines) on a [pipeline graph](pipelines/index.md#visualizing-pipelines).
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
In the Merge Request Widget, multi-project pipeline mini-graphs are displayed,
|
|
and when hovering or tapping (on touchscreen devices) they will expand and be shown adjacent to each other.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
## Triggering multi-project pipelines through API
|
|
|
|
> - Use of `CI_JOB_TOKEN` for multi-project pipelines was [introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/2017) in [GitLab Premium][ee] 9.3.
|
|
> - Use of `CI_JOB_TOKEN` for multi-project pipelines was [made available](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/issues/31573) in all tiers in GitLab 12.4.
|
|
|
|
When you use the [`CI_JOB_TOKEN` to trigger pipelines](triggers/README.md#ci-job-token), GitLab
|
|
recognizes the source of the job token, and thus internally ties these pipelines
|
|
together, allowing you to visualize their relationships on pipeline graphs.
|
|
|
|
These relationships are displayed in the pipeline graph by showing inbound and
|
|
outbound connections for upstream and downstream pipeline dependencies.
|
|
|
|
## Creating multi-project pipelines from `.gitlab-ci.yml`
|
|
|
|
> - [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/issues/8997) in [GitLab Premium](https://about.gitlab.com/pricing/) 11.8.
|
|
> - [Made available](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/issues/199224) in all tiers in 12.8.
|
|
|
|
### Triggering a downstream pipeline using a bridge job
|
|
|
|
Before GitLab 11.8, it was necessary to implement a pipeline job that was
|
|
responsible for making the API request [to trigger a pipeline](#triggering-multi-project-pipelines-through-api)
|
|
in a different project.
|
|
|
|
In GitLab 11.8, GitLab provides a new CI/CD configuration syntax to make this
|
|
task easier, and avoid needing GitLab Runner for triggering cross-project
|
|
pipelines. The following illustrates configuring a bridge job:
|
|
|
|
```yaml
|
|
rspec:
|
|
stage: test
|
|
script: bundle exec rspec
|
|
|
|
staging:
|
|
variables:
|
|
ENVIRONMENT: staging
|
|
stage: deploy
|
|
trigger: my/deployment
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
In the example above, as soon as `rspec` job succeeds in the `test` stage,
|
|
the `staging` bridge job is going to be started. The initial status of this
|
|
job will be `pending`. GitLab will create a downstream pipeline in the
|
|
`my/deployment` project and, as soon as the pipeline gets created, the
|
|
`staging` job will succeed. `my/deployment` is a full path to that project.
|
|
|
|
The user that created the upstream pipeline needs to have access rights to the
|
|
downstream project (`my/deployment` in this case). If a downstream project can
|
|
not be found, or a user does not have access rights to create pipeline there,
|
|
the `staging` job is going to be marked as _failed_.
|
|
|
|
CAUTION: **Caution:**
|
|
In the example, `staging` will be marked as succeeded as soon as a downstream pipeline
|
|
gets created. If you want to display the downstream pipeline's status instead, see
|
|
[Mirroring status from triggered pipeline](#mirroring-status-from-triggered-pipeline).
|
|
|
|
NOTE: **Note:**
|
|
Bridge jobs do not support every configuration entry that a user can use
|
|
in the case of regular jobs. Bridge jobs will not be picked by a Runner,
|
|
so there is no point in adding support for `script`, for example. If a user
|
|
tries to use unsupported configuration syntax, YAML validation will fail upon
|
|
pipeline creation.
|
|
|
|
### Specifying a downstream pipeline branch
|
|
|
|
It is possible to specify a branch name that a downstream pipeline will use:
|
|
|
|
```yaml
|
|
rspec:
|
|
stage: test
|
|
script: bundle exec rspec
|
|
|
|
staging:
|
|
stage: deploy
|
|
trigger:
|
|
project: my/deployment
|
|
branch: stable-11-2
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
Use:
|
|
|
|
- The `project` keyword to specify the full path to a downstream project.
|
|
- The `branch` keyword to specify the name of a branch in the project specified by `project`.
|
|
[From GitLab 12.4](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/issues/10126), variable expansion is
|
|
supported.
|
|
|
|
GitLab will use a commit that is currently on the HEAD of the branch when
|
|
creating a downstream pipeline.
|
|
|
|
### Passing variables to a downstream pipeline
|
|
|
|
Sometimes you might want to pass variables to a downstream pipeline.
|
|
You can do that using the `variables` keyword, just like you would when
|
|
defining a regular job.
|
|
|
|
```yaml
|
|
rspec:
|
|
stage: test
|
|
script: bundle exec rspec
|
|
|
|
staging:
|
|
variables:
|
|
ENVIRONMENT: staging
|
|
stage: deploy
|
|
trigger: my/deployment
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
The `ENVIRONMENT` variable will be passed to every job defined in a downstream
|
|
pipeline. It will be available as an environment variable when GitLab Runner picks a job.
|
|
|
|
In the following configuration, the `MY_VARIABLE` variable will be passed to the downstream pipeline
|
|
that is created when the `trigger-downstream` job is queued. This is because `trigger-downstream`
|
|
job inherits variables declared in global variables blocks, and then we pass these variables to a downstream pipeline.
|
|
|
|
```yaml
|
|
variables:
|
|
MY_VARIABLE: my-value
|
|
|
|
trigger-downstream:
|
|
variables:
|
|
ENVIRONMENT: something
|
|
trigger: my/project
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
You might want to pass some information about the upstream pipeline using, for
|
|
example, predefined variables. In order to do that, you can use interpolation
|
|
to pass any variable. For example:
|
|
|
|
```yaml
|
|
downstream-job:
|
|
variables:
|
|
UPSTREAM_BRANCH: $CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME
|
|
trigger: my/project
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
In this scenario, the `UPSTREAM_BRANCH` variable with a value related to the
|
|
upstream pipeline will be passed to the `downstream-job` job, and will be available
|
|
within the context of all downstream builds.
|
|
|
|
NOTE: **Tip:**
|
|
Upstream pipelines take precedence over downstream ones. If there are two
|
|
variables with the same name defined in both upstream and downstream projects,
|
|
the ones defined in the upstream project will take precedence.
|
|
|
|
### Mirroring status from triggered pipeline
|
|
|
|
> - [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/issues/11238) in [GitLab Premium](https://about.gitlab.com/pricing/) 12.3.
|
|
> - [Moved](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/issues/199224) to GitLab Core in 12.8.
|
|
|
|
You can mirror the pipeline status from the triggered pipeline to the source
|
|
bridge job by using `strategy: depend`. For example:
|
|
|
|
```yaml
|
|
trigger_job:
|
|
trigger:
|
|
project: my/project
|
|
strategy: depend
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
### Mirroring status from upstream pipeline
|
|
|
|
You can mirror the pipeline status from an upstream pipeline to a bridge job by
|
|
using the `needs:pipeline` keyword. The latest pipeline status from master is
|
|
replicated to the bridge job.
|
|
|
|
Example:
|
|
|
|
```yaml
|
|
upstream_bridge:
|
|
stage: test
|
|
needs:
|
|
pipeline: other/project
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
### Limitations
|
|
|
|
Because bridge jobs are a little different to regular jobs, it is not
|
|
possible to use exactly the same configuration syntax here, as one would
|
|
normally do when defining a regular job that will be picked by a runner.
|
|
|
|
Some features are not implemented yet. For example, support for environments.
|
|
|
|
[Configuration keywords](yaml/README.md) available for bridge jobs are:
|
|
|
|
- `trigger` (to define a downstream pipeline trigger)
|
|
- `stage`
|
|
- `allow_failure`
|
|
- [`rules`](yaml/README.md#rules)
|
|
- `only` and `except`
|
|
- `when` (only with `on_success`, `on_failure`, and `always` values)
|
|
- `extends`
|
|
|
|
## Trigger a pipeline when an upstream project is rebuilt
|
|
|
|
> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/issues/9045) in [GitLab Premium](https://about.gitlab.com/pricing/) 12.8.
|
|
|
|
You can trigger a pipeline in your project whenever a pipeline finishes for a new
|
|
tag in a different project:
|
|
|
|
1. Go to the project's **Settings > CI / CD** page, and expand the **Pipeline subscriptions** section.
|
|
1. Enter the path to the project you want to subscribe to.
|
|
1. Click subscribe.
|
|
|
|
Any pipelines that complete successfully for new tags in the subscribed project
|
|
will now trigger a pipeline on the current project's default branch. The maximum
|
|
number of upstream pipeline subscriptions is 2, for both the upstream and
|
|
downstream projects.
|