175 lines
5.4 KiB
Markdown
175 lines
5.4 KiB
Markdown
# Introduction to build artifacts
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Artifacts is a list of files and directories which are attached to a build
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after it completes successfully. This feature is enabled by default in all GitLab installations.
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_If you are searching for ways to use artifacts, jump to
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[Defining artifacts in `.gitlab-ci.yml`](#defining-artifacts-in-gitlab-ciyml)._
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Since GitLab 8.2 and [GitLab Runner] 0.7.0, build artifacts that are created by
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GitLab Runner are uploaded to GitLab and are downloadable as a single archive
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(`tar.gz`) using the GitLab UI.
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Starting from GitLab 8.4 and GitLab Runner 1.0, the artifacts archive format
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changed to `ZIP`, and it is now possible to browse its contents, with the added
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ability of downloading the files separately.
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**Note:**
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The artifacts browser will be available only for new artifacts that are sent
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to GitLab using GitLab Runner version 1.0 and up. It will not be possible to
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browse old artifacts already uploaded to GitLab.
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## Disabling build artifacts
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To disable artifacts site-wide, follow the steps below.
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---
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**In Omnibus installations:**
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1. Edit `/etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb` and add the following line:
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```ruby
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gitlab_rails['artifacts_enabled'] = false
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```
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1. Save the file and [reconfigure GitLab][] for the changes to take effect.
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---
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**In installations from source:**
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1. Edit `/home/git/gitlab/config/gitlab.yml` and add or amend the following lines:
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```yaml
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artifacts:
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enabled: false
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```
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1. Save the file and [restart GitLab][] for the changes to take effect.
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## Defining artifacts in `.gitlab-ci.yml`
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A simple example of using the artifacts definition in `.gitlab-ci.yml` would be
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the following:
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```yaml
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pdf:
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script: xelatex mycv.tex
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artifacts:
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paths:
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- mycv.pdf
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```
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A job named `pdf` calls the `xelatex` command in order to build a pdf file from
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the latex source file `mycv.tex`. We then define the `artifacts` paths which in
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turn are defined with the `paths` keyword. All paths to files and directories
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are relative to the repository that was cloned during the build.
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For more examples on artifacts, follow the
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[separate artifacts yaml documentation](../yaml/README.md#artifacts).
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## Storing build artifacts
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After a successful build, GitLab Runner uploads an archive containing the build
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artifacts to GitLab.
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To change the location where the artifacts are stored, follow the steps below.
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---
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**In Omnibus installations:**
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_The artifacts are stored by default in
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`/var/opt/gitlab/gitlab-rails/shared/artifacts`._
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1. To change the storage path for example to `/mnt/storage/artifacts`, edit
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`/etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb` and add the following line:
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```ruby
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gitlab_rails['artifacts_path'] = "/mnt/storage/artifacts"
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```
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1. Save the file and [reconfigure GitLab][] for the changes to take effect.
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---
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**In installations from source:**
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_The artifacts are stored by default in
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`/home/git/gitlab/shared/artifacts`._
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1. To change the storage path for example to `/mnt/storage/artifacts`, edit
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`/home/git/gitlab/config/gitlab.yml` and add or amend the following lines:
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```yaml
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artifacts:
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enabled: true
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path: /mnt/storage/artifacts
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```
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1. Save the file and [restart GitLab][] for the changes to take effect.
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## Browsing build artifacts
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When GitLab receives an artifacts archive, an archive metadata file is also
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generated. This metadata file describes all the entries that are located in the
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artifacts archive itself. The metadata file is in a binary format, with
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additional GZIP compression.
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GitLab does not extract the artifacts archive in order to save space, memory
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and disk I/O. It instead inspects the metadata file which contains all the
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relevant information. This is especially important when there is a lot of
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artifacts, or an archive is a very large file.
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---
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After a successful build, if you visit the build's specific page, you can see
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that there are two buttons.
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One is for downloading the artifacts archive and the other for browsing its
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contents.
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---
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The archive browser shows the name and the actual file size of each file in the
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archive. If your artifacts contained directories, then you are also able to
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browse inside them.
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Below you can see an image of three different file formats, as well as two
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directories.
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---
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## Downloading build artifacts
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If you need to download the whole archive, there are buttons in various places
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inside GitLab that make that possible.
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1. While on the builds page, you can see the download icon for each build's
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artifacts archive in the right corner
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1. While inside a specific build, you are presented with a download button
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along with the one that browses the archive
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1. And finally, when browsing an archive you can see the download button at
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the top right corner
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---
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Note that GitLab does not extract the entire artifacts archive to send just a
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single file to the user.
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When clicking on a specific file, [GitLab Workhorse] extracts it from the
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archive and the download begins.
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This implementation saves space, memory and disk I/O.
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[gitlab runner]: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ci-multi-runner "GitLab Runner repository"
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[reconfigure gitlab]: ../../administration/restart_gitlab.md "How to restart GitLab documentation"
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[restart gitlab]: ../../administration/restart_gitlab.md "How to restart GitLab documentation"
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[gitlab workhorse]: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-workhorse "GitLab Workhorse repository"
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