Task 4: First CI/CD Pipeline

Create the Pipeline File

Navigate to Repository > Files and click the + symbol to create a new file.

Name the file .gitlab-ci.yml (note the leading dot). This filename is essential for GitLab to recognize it as a pipeline configuration.

Pipeline Configuration

Copy and paste this configuration into your editor:

yaml

workflow:
  rules:
    - if: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH != "main" && $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE != "merge_request_event"
      when: never
    - when: always
 
stages:
  - test_docker
  - test_shell
 
run_test_docker:
  stage: test_docker
  tags:
    - docker
  script:
    - echo $HOSTNAME
    - echo "I am a test output on a docker environment"
 
run_test_shell:
  stage: test_shell
  tags:
    - shell
  script:
    - echo $HOSTNAME
    - echo "I am a test output on a shell environment"
    - ansible --version

Configuration Explanation

The pipeline configuration accomplishes several things:

Workflow Rules: Pipeline execution triggers on the main branch and merge request events only.

Pipeline Stages: Two distinct stages organize your jobs sequentially—test_docker runs first, followed by test_shell.

Docker Job: The run_test_docker task executes on Docker runners (identified by the docker tag) and outputs hostname information.

Shell Job: The run_test_shell task runs on shell runners and includes Ansible version verification.

Monitor Pipeline Execution

After committing changes, visit CI/CD > Pipelines to track execution status.

Click individual jobs to inspect detailed output logs.

Docker Job Output

Shell Job Output

Practice Exercises

Experiment with these modifications in the CI/CD Editor:

Execute "ansible –version" within the docker stage
Introduce intentional command errors to observe failure handling
Expand job counts within each stage
Incorporate before_script and after_script blocks in your jobs

Reference Documentation

Consult GitLab's official resources for deeper learning: