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CI/CD Automation Tutorial

GitLab CI/CD

Learn how to automate building, testing, packaging, and deploying applications with GitLab CI/CD pipelines,.gitlab-ci.yml, stages, jobs, runners, and automation rules.

Level: Beginner to Intermediate
Topic: CI/CD Automation
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GitLab CI/CD Pipeline

Automate Your Delivery Workflow

Source Code

Build Application

Run Tests

Create Artifacts

Deploy Application

Introduction

What is GitLab CI/CD?

GitLab CI/CD is used to automate software development workflows, including building, testing, validating, packaging, and deploying applications.

A GitLab CI/CD pipeline is configured using a YAML file that defines the stages, jobs, scripts, and rules required to automate the software delivery process.

The pipeline configuration is typically stored in a file named.gitlab-ci.ymlat the root of the project repository.

Core Concepts

Understanding GitLab CI/CD

GitLab CI/CD uses pipelines, stages, jobs, runners, variables, and configuration rules to automate different parts of the software development lifecycle.

01

Pipeline

A GitLab CI/CD pipeline is an automated workflow that runs jobs to build, test, validate, package, and deploy an application.

Key Topics

  • • Automated workflows
  • • Continuous Integration
  • • Continuous Delivery
  • • Pipeline execution
02

.gitlab-ci.yml

The .gitlab-ci.yml file contains the configuration for your GitLab CI/CD pipeline, including stages, jobs, scripts, variables, and execution rules.

Key Topics

  • • YAML configuration
  • • Pipeline as Code
  • • Version control
  • • Automation configuration
03

Stages

Stages organize jobs into logical phases such as build, test, and deploy. Jobs in later stages normally wait for earlier stages to complete successfully.

Key Topics

  • • Build
  • • Test
  • • Deploy
  • • Pipeline flow
04

Jobs

Jobs are individual units of work in a pipeline. A job can execute commands for building applications, running tests, creating artifacts, or deploying software.

Key Topics

  • • Scripts
  • • Build tasks
  • • Testing
  • • Deployment

GitLab CI/CD Architecture

Main components of GitLab CI/CD

Repository

Your application source code and CI/CD configuration are stored in a GitLab project repository.

Pipeline

A pipeline coordinates the stages and jobs required to automate your software delivery workflow.

Stage

A stage groups related jobs and helps define the overall execution flow of the pipeline.

Job

A job contains the commands and configuration required to perform a specific automation task.

Runner

A GitLab Runner is responsible for executing CI/CD jobs in the configured execution environment.

Artifacts

Artifacts store files generated by jobs so they can be downloaded or used by later parts of the pipeline.

Pipeline as Code

What is .gitlab-ci.yml?

The.gitlab-ci.ymlfile contains the instructions that define how GitLab CI/CD should run your automation workflow.

Inside this file, you can define stages, jobs, scripts, variables, artifacts, rules, dependencies, and other CI/CD configuration.

Keeping the pipeline configuration with the application source code allows teams to version, review, and maintain automation as part of the project.

Example Project Structure

my-project/
│
├── src/
│
├── package.json
│
├── README.md
│
└── .gitlab-ci.yml

Your First Pipeline

Create a basic GitLab CI/CD pipeline

This example creates a pipeline with three stages: build, test, and deploy.

Each job belongs to a stage and contains a script with the commands GitLab should execute.

Jobs in the same stage can run in parallel when suitable runners are available, while later stages normally wait for earlier stages to complete successfully.

.gitlab-ci.yml

stages:
  - build
  - test
  - deploy

build-job:
  stage: build
  script:
    - npm ci
    - npm run build

test-job:
  stage: test
  script:
    - npm test

deploy-job:
  stage: deploy
  script:
    - echo "Deploying application"

Pipeline Execution

How a GitLab pipeline works

01

Code Change

A developer pushes code, creates a merge request, runs a scheduled pipeline, or manually triggers a pipeline.

02

Pipeline Created

GitLab reads the CI/CD configuration and creates the pipeline based on the defined stages and jobs.

03

Runner Assigned

An available GitLab Runner receives the job and prepares the execution environment.

04

Build and Test

The pipeline executes build commands, tests, validation, and other automated tasks.

05

Create Artifacts

Build output and other generated files can be stored as artifacts for later jobs or downloads.

06

Deploy Application

After successful validation, the pipeline can deploy the application to the required environment.

Use Cases

What can GitLab CI/CD automate?

GitLab CI/CD can automate many tasks throughout the application development and software delivery lifecycle.

Continuous Integration

Automatically build and test applications whenever developers push code to a repository.

Automated Testing

Run unit tests, integration tests, linting, and other validation tasks automatically.

Application Builds

Compile applications and generate build artifacts through automated CI/CD jobs.

Docker Automation

Build and manage container images as part of your GitLab CI/CD pipeline.

Automated Deployment

Deploy validated applications to development, staging, production, Kubernetes, cloud, or other environments.

Scheduled Automation

Run recurring CI/CD pipelines for maintenance, testing, reporting, backups, and other automated tasks.

Learning Roadmap

How to learn GitLab CI/CD

Follow these steps to move from GitLab CI/CD fundamentals to building complete automated delivery pipelines.

Step 1

Understand GitLab CI/CD Basics

Learn how GitLab projects, pipelines, stages, jobs, and runners work together.

Step 2

Create Your First Pipeline

Add a .gitlab-ci.yml file to your repository and create a simple job.

Step 3

Learn Stages and Jobs

Organize your pipeline into stages such as build, test, and deploy, then define jobs inside those stages.

Step 4

Work with GitLab Runners

Understand how runners execute jobs and how execution environments are selected.

Step 5

Use Variables and Artifacts

Configure environment variables and preserve generated files for later use in your pipeline.

Step 6

Build a Complete CI/CD Pipeline

Combine builds, testing, artifacts, containerization, and deployment into a complete automated workflow.

Best Practices

GitLab CI/CD best practices

Keep Configuration in Git

Store your .gitlab-ci.yml configuration in the project repository so pipeline changes can be versioned and reviewed.

Use Clear Job Names

Use descriptive names that make it easy to understand what each job does when viewing pipeline results.

Protect Sensitive Variables

Use GitLab CI/CD variables and appropriate security settings instead of storing passwords, tokens, or keys directly in your configuration.

Use Artifacts Carefully

Store important build output as artifacts when it is required by later jobs or needs to be downloaded.

Optimize Pipeline Flow

Organize stages and job dependencies efficiently to reduce unnecessary waiting and improve pipeline execution time.

Review Pipeline Results

Monitor job logs, failures, artifacts, and pipeline history to identify and troubleshoot automation problems.

Continue Learning

Explore more CI/CD tutorials

🚀

CI/CD for Beginners

Learn Continuous Integration, Continuous Delivery, pipelines, automated testing, and software delivery.

⚡

GitHub Actions

Learn how to automate builds, testing, workflows, and deployments from your GitHub repository.

⚙️

Jenkins

Learn Jenkins pipelines, Jenkinsfiles, stages, agents, jobs, testing, and CI/CD automation.

Next Step

Start building GitLab CI/CD pipelines

Practice creating.gitlab-ci.ymlfiles, defining stages and jobs, using runners, managing artifacts, and building complete CI/CD automation workflows.

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