If a GitLab project is configured on GitLab CI, is there a way to run the build locally?
I don't want to turn my laptop into a build "runner", I just want to take advantage of Docker and .gitlab-ci.yml to run tests locally (i.e. it's all pre-configured). Another advantage of that is that I'm sure that I'm using the same environment locally and on CI.
Here is an example of how to run Travis builds locally using Docker, I'm looking for something similar with GitLab.
Since a few months ago this is possible using gitlab-runner:
gitlab-runner exec docker my-job-name
Note that you need both docker and gitlab-runner installed on your computer to get this working.
You also need the image key defined in your .gitlab-ci.yml file. Otherwise won't work.
Here's the line I currently use for testing locally using gitlab-runner:
gitlab-runner exec docker test --docker-volumes "/home/elboletaire/.ssh/id_rsa:/root/.ssh/id_rsa:ro"
Note: You can avoid adding a --docker-volumes with your key setting it by default in /etc/gitlab-runner/config.toml. See the official documentation for more details. Also, use gitlab-runner exec docker --help to see all docker-based runner options (like variables, volumes, networks, etc.).
Due to the confusion in the comments, I paste here the gitlab-runner --help result, so you can see that gitlab-runner can make builds locally:
gitlab-runner --help
NAME:
gitlab-runner - a GitLab Runner
USAGE:
gitlab-runner [global options] command [command options] [arguments...]
VERSION:
1.1.0~beta.135.g24365ee (24365ee)
AUTHOR(S):
Kamil Trzciński <ayufan#ayufan.eu>
COMMANDS:
exec execute a build locally
[...]
GLOBAL OPTIONS:
--debug debug mode [$DEBUG]
[...]
As you can see, the exec command is to execute a build locally.
Even though there was an issue to deprecate the current gitlab-runner exec behavior, it ended up being reconsidered and a new version with greater features will replace the current exec functionality.
Note that this process is to use your own machine to run the tests using docker containers. This is not to define custom runners. To do so, just go to your repo's CI/CD settings and read the documentation there. If you wanna ensure your runner is executed instead of one from gitlab.com, add a custom and unique tag to your runner, ensure it only runs tagged jobs and tag all the jobs you want your runner to be responsible of.
I use this docker-based approach:
Edit: 2022-10
docker run --entrypoint bash --rm -w $PWD -v $PWD:$PWD -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock gitlab/gitlab-runner:latest -c 'git config --global --add safe.directory "*";gitlab-runner exec docker test'
For all git versions > 2.35.2. You must add safe.directory within the container to avoid fatal: detected dubious ownership in repository at.... This also true for patched git versions < 2.35.2. The old command will not work anymore.
Details
0. Create a git repo to test this answer
mkdir my-git-project
cd my-git-project
git init
git commit --allow-empty -m"Initialize repo to showcase gitlab-runner locally."
1. Go to your git directory
cd my-git-project
2. Create a .gitlab-ci.yml
Example .gitlab-ci.yml
image: alpine
test:
script:
- echo "Hello Gitlab-Runner"
3. Create a docker container with your project dir mounted
docker run -d \
--name gitlab-runner \
--restart always \
-v $PWD:$PWD \
-v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock \
gitlab/gitlab-runner:latest
(-d) run container in background and print container ID
(--restart always) or not?
(-v $PWD:$PWD) Mount current directory into the current directory of the container - Note: On Windows you could bind your dir to a fixed location, e.g. -v ${PWD}:/opt/myapp. Also $PWD will only work at powershell not at cmd
(-v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock) This gives the container access to the docker socket of the host so it can start "sibling containers" (e.g. Alpine).
(gitlab/gitlab-runner:latest) Just the latest available image from dockerhub.
4. Execute with
Avoid fatal: detected dubious ownership in repository at... More info
docker exec -it -w $PWD gitlab-runner git config --global --add safe.directory "*"
Actual execution
docker exec -it -w $PWD gitlab-runner gitlab-runner exec docker test
# ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
# | | | | | |
# (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f)
(a) Working dir within the container. Note: On Windows you could use a fixed location, e.g. /opt/myapp.
(b) Name of the docker container
(c) Execute the command "gitlab-runner" within the docker container
(d)(e)(f) run gitlab-runner with "docker executer" and run a job named "test"
5. Prints
...
Executing "step_script" stage of the job script
$ echo "Hello Gitlab-Runner"
Hello Gitlab-Runner
Job succeeded
...
Note: The runner will only work on the commited state of your code base. Uncommited changes will be ignored. Exception: The .gitlab-ci.yml itself does not have be commited to be taken into account.
Note: There are some limitations running locally. Have a look at limitations of gitlab runner locally.
I'm currently working on making a gitlab runner that works locally.
Still in the early phases, but eventually it will become very relevant.
It doesn't seem like gitlab want/have time to make this, so here you go.
https://github.com/firecow/gitlab-runner-local
If you are running Gitlab using the docker image there: https://hub.docker.com/r/gitlab/gitlab-ce, it's possible to run pipelines by exposing the local docker.sock with a volume option: -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock. Adding this option to the Gitlab container will allow your workers to access to the docker instance on the host.
The GitLab runner appears to not work on Windows yet and there is an open issue to resolve this.
So, in the meantime I am moving my script code out to a bash script, which I can easily map to a docker container running locally and execute.
In this case I want to build a docker container in my job, so I create a script 'build':
#!/bin/bash
docker build --pull -t myimage:myversion .
in my .gitlab-ci.yaml I execute the script:
image: docker:latest
services:
- docker:dind
before_script:
- apk add bash
build:
stage: build
script:
- chmod 755 build
- build
To run the script locally using powershell I can start the required image and map the volume with the source files:
$containerId = docker run --privileged -d -v ${PWD}:/src docker:dind
install bash if not present:
docker exec $containerId apk add bash
Set permissions on the bash script:
docker exec -it $containerId chmod 755 /src/build
Execute the script:
docker exec -it --workdir /src $containerId bash -c 'build'
Then stop the container:
docker stop $containerId
And finally clean up the container:
docker container rm $containerId
Another approach is to have a local build tool that is installed on your pc and your server at the same time.
So basically, your .gitlab-ci.yml will basically call your preferred build tool.
Here an example .gitlab-ci.yml that i use with nuke.build:
stages:
- build
- test
- pack
variables:
TERM: "xterm" # Use Unix ASCII color codes on Nuke
before_script:
- CHCP 65001 # Set correct code page to avoid charset issues
.job_template: &job_definition
except:
- tags
build:
<<: *job_definition
stage: build
script:
- "./build.ps1"
test:
<<: *job_definition
stage: test
script:
- "./build.ps1 test"
variables:
GIT_CHECKOUT: "false"
pack:
<<: *job_definition
stage: pack
script:
- "./build.ps1 pack"
variables:
GIT_CHECKOUT: "false"
only:
- master
artifacts:
paths:
- output/
And in nuke.build i've defined 3 targets named like the 3 stages (build, test, pack)
In this way you have a reproducible setup (all other things are configured with your build tool) and you can test directly the different targets of your build tool.
(i can call .\build.ps1 , .\build.ps1 test and .\build.ps1 pack when i want)
I am on Windows using VSCode with WSL
I didn't want to register my work PC as a runner so instead I'm running my yaml stages locally to test them out before I upload them
$ sudo apt-get install gitlab-runner
$ gitlab-runner exec shell build
yaml
image: node:10.19.0 # https://hub.docker.com/_/node/
# image: node:latest
cache:
# untracked: true
key: project-name
# key: ${CI_COMMIT_REF_SLUG} # per branch
# key:
# files:
# - package-lock.json # only update cache when this file changes (not working) #jkr
paths:
- .npm/
- node_modules
- build
stages:
- prepare # prepares builds, makes build needed for testing
- test # uses test:build specifically #jkr
- build
- deploy
# before_install:
before_script:
- npm ci --cache .npm --prefer-offline
prepare:
stage: prepare
needs: []
script:
- npm install
test:
stage: test
needs: [prepare]
except:
- schedules
tags:
- linux
script:
- npm run build:dev
- npm run test:cicd-deps
- npm run test:cicd # runs puppeteer tests #jkr
artifacts:
reports:
junit: junit.xml
paths:
- coverage/
build-staging:
stage: build
needs: [prepare]
only:
- schedules
before_script:
- apt-get update && apt-get install -y zip
script:
- npm run build:stage
- zip -r build.zip build
# cache:
# paths:
# - build
# <<: *global_cache
# policy: push
artifacts:
paths:
- build.zip
deploy-dev:
stage: deploy
needs: [build-staging]
tags: [linux]
only:
- schedules
# # - branches#gitlab-org/gitlab
before_script:
- apt-get update && apt-get install -y lftp
script:
# temporarily using 'verify-certificate no'
# for more on verify-certificate #jkr: https://www.versatilewebsolutions.com/blog/2014/04/lftp-ftps-and-certificate-verification.html
# variables do not work with 'single quotes' unless they are "'surrounded by doubles'"
- lftp -e "set ssl:verify-certificate no; open mediajackagency.com; user $LFTP_USERNAME $LFTP_PASSWORD; mirror --reverse --verbose build/ /var/www/domains/dev/clients/client/project/build/; bye"
# environment:
# name: staging
# url: http://dev.mediajackagency.com/clients/client/build
# # url: https://stg2.client.co
when: manual
allow_failure: true
build-production:
stage: build
needs: [prepare]
only:
- schedules
before_script:
- apt-get update && apt-get install -y zip
script:
- npm run build
- zip -r build.zip build
# cache:
# paths:
# - build
# <<: *global_cache
# policy: push
artifacts:
paths:
- build.zip
deploy-client:
stage: deploy
needs: [build-production]
tags: [linux]
only:
- schedules
# - master
before_script:
- apt-get update && apt-get install -y lftp
script:
- sh deploy-prod
environment:
name: production
url: http://www.client.co
when: manual
allow_failure: true
The idea is to keep check commands outside of .gitlab-ci.yml. I use Makefile to run something like make check and my .gitlab-ci.yml runs the same make commands that I use locally to check various things before committing.
This way you'll have one place with all/most of your commands (Makefile) and .gitlab-ci.yml will have only CI-related stuff.
I have written a tool to run all GitLab-CI job locally without have to commit or push, simply with the command ci-toolbox my_job_name.
The URL of the project : https://gitlab.com/mbedsys/citbx4gitlab
Years ago I build this simple solution with Makefile and docker-compose to run the gitlab runner in docker, you can use it to execute jobs locally as well and should work on all systems where docker works:
https://gitlab.com/1oglop1/gitlab-runner-docker
There are few things to change in the docker-compose.override.yaml
version: "3"
services:
runner:
working_dir: <your project dir>
environment:
- REGISTRATION_TOKEN=<token if you want to register>
volumes:
- "<your project dir>:<your project dir>"
Then inside your project you can execute it the same way as mentioned in other answers:
docker exec -it -w $PWD runner gitlab-runner exec <commands>..
I recommend using gitlab-ci-local
https://github.com/firecow/gitlab-ci-local
It's able to run specific jobs as well.
It's a very cool project and I have used it to run simple pipelines on my laptop.
In our project we have a number of repositories that are all needed to build a few different docker containers.
The Dockerfiles of all containers are located in a single repository.
I would like to be able to pull all repositories I need for the builds before building the containers. This would avoid pulling a repository multiple times which can take almost a minute for some of these.
Essentially what I would like to do is:
stages:
- initialize
- build
repo1 pull:
stage: initialize
script:
- git clone https://gitlab-ci-token:${CI_JOB_TOKEN}#gitlab.instance/group/repo1.git
repo2 pull:
stage: initialize
script:
- git clone https://gitlab-ci-token:${CI_JOB_TOKEN}#gitlab.instance/group/repo2.git
image1:
stage: build
script:
- cp repo1/ image1/
- cd image1
- docker build -t image1 --network=host .
- docker login -u gitlab-runner -p gitlab docker.registry
- docker push docker.registry/image1:latest
image2:
stage: build
script:
- cp repo2/ image2/
- cd image2
- docker build -t image2 --network=host .
- docker login -u gitlab-runner -p gitlab docker.registry
- docker push docker.registry/image2:latest
What is the best way to share the repositories over the stages while still allowing for parallel building within the stage?
I'm still learning Gitlab-ci but maybe cache would help?
Add this before you pull the repos and the runner should check if the repo is already in the cache.
cache:
paths:
- repo1/
- repo2/
Gitlab cache reference: https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ci/caching/
Edit:
Or maybe using Git submodules for the dependant repos would be a good idea?
The runner can then be configured to fetch those submodules to the workspace and you should have access to them throughout the ci job.
You need to add a .gitmodules file that would looks something like this:
[submodule "repo1"]
path = repo1
url = ../repo1.git
[submodule "repo2"]
path = repo2
url = ../repo2.git
And then in your .gitlab-ci.yml
variables:
GIT_SUBMODULE_STRATEGY: normal
Gitlab submodule reference: https://docs.gitlab.com/ce/ci/git_submodules.html
I already did CI, but now I want to deploy to my server. My server is the same machine where I do CI, but I do CI in docker-executor. So I can't have acces to server folders to update production.
There is my script:
image: node:9.11.2
cache:
paths:
- node_modules/
before_script:
- npm install
stages:
- test
- deploy
test:
stage: test
script:
- npm run test
deploy:
stage: deploy
script:
#here I want to go to /home/projectFolder and make git pull, npm i, npm start
# but I can't beause I run CI in docker-environment which hasn't acces to my server's dirictories.
First of all you should consider using gitlab auto cicd ( or use it as a base to customize if you dont want to use kubernetes)
You have multiple way to do so but the simplest way should be to use an alpine image and
- install ssh (if necessary)
- load your private ssh key ( from pipeline secrets)
- run your npm commands through ssh.
The cleanest way would be :
- generating adding a valid Dockerfile to your project
- adding docker image generation for each commit on master (in your pipeline)
- Adding docker rm running image (in your pipeline)
- Adding docker run the newly generated image (in your pipeline) (by sharing your docker volume)
- Make nginx redirect to your container.
I can give more detailed advice depending on what you decide to do.
Hoping i helped.
Does anyone know how to resolve "Missing gitlab-runner. Uploading artifacts is disabled."
I have two ssh runner on my server. One for local ssh runner and another one is remote server ssh runner. The local ssh runner working perfectly. But when I call the remote shh runner it's building successfully but it shows "Missing gitlab-runner. Uploading artifacts is disabled." so that I'm not able to call the artifact in the next stage.
The gitlab-ci.yml file looks like this:
stages:
- build
- deploy
cache:
paths:
- .gradle/wrapper
- .gradle/caches
build:
stage: build
script:
- build script
artifacts:
paths:
- build/
only:
- master
deploy:
stage: deploy
script:
- deploy script
dependencies:
- build
only:
- master
You need to install gitlab-runner also on the ssh target host. Gitlab somehow needs this to upload artifacts. This is also documented now: https://docs.gitlab.com/runner/executors/ssh.html:
If you want to upload job artifacts, install gitlab-runner on the host you are connecting to via SSH.
You can put the gitlab-runner in the path ~/bin and add ~/bin to your variable PATH.
I want to build and add a custom image (with ruby, node.js, bower, grunt, jekyll etc.) and tag it as 'myimage:1.0'. This image needs to be stored in gitlab container registry and then used in .gitlab-ci.yml as image: sachin.1.0.0. So that my build via gitlab ci will have everything preinstalled like node.js, etc.
Tried enough, How can this be done ?
Before you do this, you need to configure a gitlab runner which allows you to use docker build. You can configure this using the instructions here depending on your use case
Next, create a new repo in gitlab, let's call it sachin-image.
Inside the root of the git repo, add a Dockerfile with installation of everything you need.
Now, into this repo, add a .gitlab-ci.yml file like so:
---
before_script:
- docker login -u gitlab-ci-token -p $CI_BUILD_TOKEN <my-docker-gitlab-registry-url>
stages:
- build
build_image:
stage: build
script:
- docker build -t gitlab.example.com/my/dockerimage/repo:latest .
- docker push gitlab.example/my/dockerimage/repo:latest
tags:
- docker_engine
At this point, you now have automated docker builds working in gitlab. In order to use this image in future gitlab builds, all you need to use the following image url:
gitlab.example.com/my/dockerimage/repo:latest