Hello dev.to community! 👋
Yesterday, I explored GitHub Actions — a cloud-native CI/CD tool integrated into GitHub. Today, I’m diving into GitLab CI, another popular CI/CD solution that’s both self-managed and cloud-native, offering end-to-end DevOps features in one platform.
🔹 Why GitLab CI Matters
Unlike tools that focus only on CI/CD, GitLab provides a complete DevOps lifecycle in a single application.
✅ Built-in CI/CD with no extra setup
✅ Powerful pipeline-as-code (.gitlab-ci.yml)
✅ Works for both self-hosted GitLab and GitLab.com
✅ Advanced features like auto DevOps, environments, and security scans
🧠 Core GitLab CI Concepts
Pipeline → Defines the overall CI/CD workflow
Jobs → Individual tasks (build, test, deploy)
Stages → Logical group of jobs (build → test → deploy)
Runners → Agents that execute jobs (shared or self-hosted)
Artifacts → Files created by jobs (logs, build outputs)
🔧 Example: Simple GitLab CI Pipeline
.gitlab-ci.yml
stages:
- build
- test
- deploy
build_job:
stage: build
script:
- echo "Building application..."
- npm install
test_job:
stage: test
script:
- echo "Running tests..."
- npm test
deploy_job:
stage: deploy
script:
- echo "Deploying to production..."
only:
- main
👉 Save this as .gitlab-ci.yml in your repo root. GitLab will auto-detect and run the pipeline.
🛠️ DevOps Use Cases
Automate build → test → deploy workflows
Deploy applications to Kubernetes, AWS, GCP, or Azure
Run SAST/DAST security scans directly in pipelines
Manage infrastructure as code (Terraform + GitLab)
Set up review apps for each merge request
⚡ Pro Tips
Use GitLab Environments for staging/production tracking
Store sensitive data in GitLab CI/CD variables
Explore Auto DevOps for quick deployments
Combine with GitLab Container Registry for Docker images
🧪 Hands-on Mini-Lab (Try this!)
1️⃣ Create a repo in GitLab
2️⃣ Add a .gitlab-ci.yml file with build/test jobs
3️⃣ Push your code → GitLab CI pipeline runs automatically
4️⃣ Check job logs under CI/CD → Pipelines
🎯 Key Takeaway:
GitLab CI gives you flexibility, security, and scalability, making it a strong choice for teams that want an all-in-one DevOps platform.
🔜 Tomorrow (Day 16):
I’ll explore Automation with Terraform — the backbone of Infrastructure as Code (IaC). 🌍
🔖 #GitLabCI #DevOps #CICD #Automation #CloudNative #SRE
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