While other platforms like Jenkins often make you rely on a complicated web of third-party plugins (that may or may not be kept up to date), GitLab built CI/CD right into its core. The whole configuration lives in https://traderoom.info/github-gitlab-bitbucket-azure-devops/ a simple YAML file, .gitlab-ci.yml, inside each repository. In this GitLab overview, we’ll get into its core features, how it’s built, and what it costs. We’ll also look at the potential downsides of a “one-stop-shop,” especially when it comes to managing all the scattered knowledge your development team needs to get work done. I was just looking for a way to do the same, but at the very least, you have not incorporated the deploy token username in your commands, which I expect would be compulsory.
Because that is what it feels like is going on here. My intention is to use Podman vs. Docker on the RHEL8 box, so that is all installed and configured. And I’ve run some basic containers to verify things are working at a basic level. Gitlab Runner is configured according to the Docker docs which cover this. It is set to run under user gitlab-runner (which it setup when it installed). The config.toml file is adjusted to point at the Podman UNIX socket file.
- By adding a dedicated knowledge tool like eesel AI, you can fill in the gaps of GitLab’s “one-stop-shop” platform and fix the frustrating problem of internal developer support.
- There might be tools for merging issues and MR from multiple repositories but would that be a worthy time investment?
- I have found a lot over youtube and other pages but for gitlab.com which brought me a lot of problems as they were not working as it was trying to connect to gitlab.com.
- GitLab’s features are split across three main plans.
- You can see your own account’s sock files but not that of other users.
Handling that for a personal project would be difficult for me. There might be tools for merging issues and MR from multiple repositories but would that be a worthy time investment? I think not so an apples vs oranges comparison is a must for me. Right now I’m thinking releases would be duplicated to GitHub and code only in GitLab. Issues will be in 2 places but code will be in 1 at least this way.
One platform for teams of every size
This is especially noticeable in areas like internal knowledge management, where critical information often remains scattered across other dedicated tools. GitLab is an incredibly capable DevSecOps platform. For teams that want to consolidate their tools, cut down on complexity, and build security into their development process from the start, it’s a fantastic choice.
You might get prompted for username/password once on git clone. GitLab’s integrated CI/CD stands out because it’s built directly into the core platform, reducing reliance on complicated third-party plugins. Key advantages include container-native builds for consistency, Auto DevOps for minimal setup, and Review Apps for interactive testing of merge requests. The “one-stop-shop” model’s main limitation is that some features might offer a “good enough” solution rather than a best-in-class one.
GitHub vs GitLab – Why should I choose GitLab?
You made it very clear and I’ve been following the tutorial on setting up runners on my local device. In this case the code is still hosted on GitLab but I will run the pipelines on my local device which is a great solution for CI. Storage limits still apply and for some projects it is fine.
A complete GitLab overview for 2025: Features, pricing, and limitations
In this detailed overview, we break down its action-oriented features, complex workflow capabilities, and opaque pricing model to help you decide if it’s the right fit for your team. You don’t need to be a systems architect to use GitLab, but understanding a little about how it works can help you see how it delivers that all-in-one service. While the full architecture is complex, a few key services do most of the work.
- On Windows, it should work by setting this to the wincred credential helper.
- When you make a request to GitLab (either from your browser or a Git command), it goes through a web server to GitLab Workhorse, which is a smart reverse proxy.
- So I followed those steps, installing GitLab Runner (#1).
- Or try to run the command under gitlab-runner user and see if it works.
- But it’s odd they should have the same sort of info twice, once as a link to a doc page, then as a button with a popup.
Source code management and collaboration
Actually, I have tried creating a separate job with only the above command in order to avoid job failure on other commands. Having this all integrated means the code review happens right next to the code and the CI/CD pipeline, so you’re not constantly switching contexts. KDE also completed its move to a self-hosted GitLab repository in mid-2020.
Where GitLab vets open source projects manually (and annually), GitHub freely provides. Projects one writes would be more visible and can potentially be seen by more users / developers too. I had to Used this command git branch -m old branch name new branch name . In terminal its showing correct but its not updated in browser. Please let me know any having knowledge about this.
Just interesting that it didn’t match, as it makes me wonder what process that GitLab Runner .rpm is using to create the gitlab-runner account during installation. Then you will see /var/run/podman/podman.sock and I believe you could use this, no matter what the user. At least if that works, it will at least confirm that it’s user-specific and not for entirely the system. Unless of course it doesn’t work using the system-wide method as well. Now I have Google-fu’d my way to finding multiple references to this error, most of which were folks trying to simply use Docker with GitLab Runner and not Podman. So the fixes described (mostly making sure Docker was installed) don’t apply.
If you do, you get features worth $100/seat/month for free. On macOS, I have set it to the osxkeychain (you can see my full .gitconfig here). You can create a branch named “branch_old” from “branch”, and then delete the branch named “branch” . When I do this I get errors of pre-recive hooks rejecting the deletion of protected branches. On July 23, 2021, GitLab Inc. released its software Package Hunter, a Falco-based tool that detects malicious code,40 under the open-source MIT Licence. GitLab.com is a fully managed, SaaS offering hosted by GitLab, providing the fastest way to get started without maintenance worries.
Start shipping better software faster
I have found a lot over youtube and other pages but for gitlab.com which brought me a lot of problems as they were not working as it was trying to connect to gitlab.com. This GitLab overview suggests complementing GitLab with a specialized AI-powered internal assistant like eesel AI. This tool can unify scattered knowledge from sources like Confluence, Google Docs, and Slack, providing a single, intelligent source of truth for developers. The main thing to consider is whether its all-in-one model is the right fit, or if you’d rather build your own stack of specialized, best-in-class tools.
A self-managed GitLab instance gives you total control over your servers, security, and data, but requires you to handle updates and upkeep. GitLab integrates security directly into the CI/CD pipeline, shifting security “left” to catch vulnerabilities early in the process. It includes features like SAST, DAST, container scanning, and secret detection, which are particularly prominent in the Ultimate tier. The primary benefit is consolidating your entire DevSecOps toolchain into a single, unified platform.
Anything Git-related, like cloning or pushing code, goes to a dedicated service called Gitaly. All the important data, like user info and issues, is stored in a PostgreSQL database. The idea is that instead of patching together a bunch of different tools, your team can manage its entire workflow in one spot. It started out with separate Community and Enterprise editions, but now GitLab uses a single, open-core codebase, unlocking different features depending on which pricing plan you’re on. Ok, I have tried everything from rebooting the RHEL8 box (no change) to adjusting the config.toml file with various parameter changes and more.
For what it’s worth, I had read that documentation but persisted in searching for a deploy token solution because personal access token scopes are overbroad for my use case, viz. Specifying a URI for a single file in a private repository. Instead of merely providing a GitLab URI, I’ll now need to deploy a laundry list of Azure resources in order to securely serve a single script to an ARM template. So if I understand it correctly, when I did step #5 (systemctl –user –now enable podman.socket), that likely created all this. And I’m guessing based on my experience that by installing the Podman socket with the –user option, that’s what makes this a user level service of sorts. And IF that is the case, WHY exactly do GitLab’s own instructions indicate to do this if the GitLab Runner does not actually “log in” as it were?
But that I suspect is to be expected being a user-level service. For now all I have in the repo itself is a README.md and .gitlab-ci.yml file. And the contents of the latter are the default where it’s just a few stages that all pretty much just execute echo commands. You can’t deactivate pull requests, but that’s not a problem anyway. Unless you make an incredibly popular project, pull requests will be so rare it won’t bother you where they come from.