[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":817},["ShallowReactive",2],{"/en-us/blog/connecting-gitlab-and-pantheon-streamline-wordpress-drupal-workflows":3,"navigation-en-us":40,"banner-en-us":448,"footer-en-us":458,"blog-post-authors-en-us-Andrew Taylor":698,"blog-related-posts-en-us-connecting-gitlab-and-pantheon-streamline-wordpress-drupal-workflows":712,"blog-promotions-en-us":754,"next-steps-en-us":807},{"id":4,"title":5,"authorSlugs":6,"body":8,"categorySlug":9,"config":10,"content":14,"description":8,"extension":27,"isFeatured":12,"meta":28,"navigation":29,"path":30,"publishedDate":20,"seo":31,"stem":36,"tagSlugs":37,"__hash__":39},"blogPosts/en-us/blog/connecting-gitlab-and-pantheon-streamline-wordpress-drupal-workflows.yml","Connecting Gitlab And Pantheon Streamline Wordpress Drupal Workflows",[7],"andrew-taylor",null,"engineering",{"slug":11,"featured":12,"template":13},"connecting-gitlab-and-pantheon-streamline-wordpress-drupal-workflows",false,"BlogPost",{"title":15,"description":16,"authors":17,"heroImage":19,"date":20,"body":21,"category":9,"tags":22},"How to connect GitLab and Pantheon to streamline Drupal and WordPress workflows","Our guest author, a Developer Programs Engineer at Pantheon, shares how to automate WordPress deployments using GitLab CI/CD.",[18],"Andrew Taylor","https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1749680516/Blog/Hero%20Images/gitlab-pantheon.png","2019-03-26","As a member of the developer relations team at [Pantheon](https://pantheon.io), I’m always looking for new ways to help WordPress and Drupal developers solve workflow problems with automation. To this end, I love exploring new tools and how they can be used effectively together.\n\n### One frequent problem I see teams facing is the dreaded single staging server.\n\nIt’s not fun to wait in line for your turn to use the staging server or to send clients a URL and tell them to review some work but ignore other, incomplete pieces.\n\n[Multidev environments](https://pantheon.io/docs/multidev/), one of Pantheon’s advanced developer tools, solves this issue by allowing environments matching Git branches to be created on demand. Each multidev environment has its own URL and database, making independent work, QA, and approval possible without developers stepping on each other's toes.\n\nHowever, Pantheon doesn’t provide source control management (SCM) or continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) tooling. Instead, the platform is flexible enough to be integrated with your preferred tools.\n\n### The next problem I see consistently is teams using different tools to manage development work and to build and deploy that work.\n\nFor example, using one tool for SCM and something else for CI/CD. Having to jump between tools to edit code and diagnose failing jobs is cumbersome.\n\n[GitLab](/) solves this problem by providing a full suite of development workflow tools, such as SCM, with features like issues and merge requests, best-in-class CI/CD, and a container registry, to name a few. I haven't come across another application that is so complete to manage development workflow.\n\nAs someone who loves automation, I explored connecting Pantheon to GitLab so that commits to the master branch on GitLab deploy to the main dev environment on Pantheon. Additionally, merge requests on GitLab can create and deploy code to Pantheon multidev environments.\n\nThis tutorial will walk you through setting up the connection between GitLab and Pantheon so you, too, can streamline your WordPress and Drupal workflow.\n\nThis can be done with [GitLab repository mirroring](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/project/repository/repository_mirroring.html), but we will be setting it up manually to get some experience with [GitLab CI](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ci/) and have the ability to expand beyond just deployment in the future.\n\n## Background\n\nFor this post, you need to know that Pantheon breaks each site down into three components: code, database, and files.\n\nThe code portion of a Pantheon site includes the CMS files, such as WordPress core, plugins and themes. These files are managed in a [Git repository](https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Git-Basics-Getting-a-Git-Repository) hosted by Pantheon, which means we can deploy code from GitLab to Pantheon with Git.\n\nWhen Pantheon refers to files, it is the media files, such as images, for your site. These are typically uploaded by site users and are ignored in Git.\n\nYou can [create a free account](https://pantheon.io/register), learn more about the [Pantheon workflow](https://pantheon.io/docs/pantheon-workflow), or [sign up for a live demo](https://pantheon.io/live-demo) on pantheon.io.\n\n## Assumptions\n\nMy project is named `pantheon-gitlab-blog-demo`, both on Pantheon and GitLab. You should use a unique project name. This tutorial uses a WordPress site. Drupal can be substituted, but some modification will be needed.\n\nI'll also be using the [Git command line](https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Getting-Started-The-Command-Line) but you can substitute a [graphical interface](https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Appendix-A%3A-Git-in-Other-Environments-Graphical-Interfaces) if you prefer.\n\n## Create the projects\n\nFirst up, create a [new GitLab project](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/project/working_with_projects.html#create-a-project) – we'll come back to this in a little bit.\n\nNow, [create a new WordPress site on Pantheon](https://pantheon.io/docs/launch-wordpress/). After your new site is created, you will need to install WordPress for the site dashboard.\n\n_You might be tempted to make some changes, such as adding or removing plugins, but please refrain. We haven't connected the site to GitLab yet and want to make sure all code changes, e.g. adding or removing plugins, go through GitLab._\n\nAfter WordPress is installed, go back to the Pantheon site dashboard and change the development mode to Git.\n\n![Pantheon Dashboard](https://about.gitlab.com/images/blogimages/pantheon-dashboard-after-fresh-wordpress-install.png){: .shadow.medium.center}\n\n## Initial commit to GitLab\n\nNext, we need to get the starting WordPress code from the Pantheon site over to GitLab. In order to do this, we will clone the code from the Pantheon site Git repository locally, then push it to the GitLab repository.\n\nTo make this easier, and more secure, [add an SSH key to Pantheon](https://pantheon.io/docs/ssh-keys/) to avoid entering your password when cloning Pantheon Git repository. While you're at it, [add an SSH key to GitLab](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ssh/) as well.\n\nTo do this, clone the Pantheon site locally by copying the command in the Clone with Git drop-down field from the site dashboard.\n\n![CPantheon git connection](https://about.gitlab.com/images/blogimages/pantheon-git-connection-info.png){: .shadow.center}\n\n_If you need help, see the [Pantheon Start With Git](https://pantheon.io/docs/git/#clone-your-site-codebase) documentation._\n\nNext, we want to change the `git remote origin` to point to GitLab, instead of Pantheon. This can be done with the [`git remote` command](https://git-scm.com/docs/git-remote).\n\nHead over to your GitLab project and grab the repository URL, which can be found at in the Clone drop-down of the project details screen. Be sure to use the Clone with SSH variant of the GitLab repository URL, since we set up an SSH key earlier.\n\n![Gitlab git connection](https://about.gitlab.com/images/blogimages/gitlab-git-connection-info.png){: .shadow.medium.center}\n\nThe default `git remote` for the local copy of our code repository is `origin`. We can change it with `git remote set-url origin [GitLab repository URL]`, replacing `[GitLab repository URL]` with your actual GitLab repository URL.\n\nFinally, run `git push origin master --force` to send the WordPress code from the Pantheon site to GitLab.\n\n_The --force flag is only needed as part of this one-time step. Subsequent `git push` commands to GitLab won't need it._\n\n## Set up credentials and variables\n\nRemember how we added an SSH key locally to authorize with Pantheon and GitLab? Well, an SSH token can also be used to authorize GitLab and Pantheon.\n\nGitLab has some great documentation, and we will be looking at the [SSH keys when using the Docker executor section of the Using SSH keys with GitLab CI/CD doc](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ci/ssh_keys/#ssh-keys-when-using-the-docker-executor).\n\nAt this point, we will need to do the first two steps: _Create a new SSH key pair locally with ssh-keygen and Add the private key as a variable to your project._\n\nWhen done, `SSH_PRIVATE_KEY` should be set as a [GitLab CI/CD Environment Variables](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ci/variables/) in the project settings.\n\nTo take care of the third and fourth steps, create `.gitlab-ci.yml` file with the following contents:\n\n```markdown\nbefore_script:\n  # See https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ci/ssh_keys/\n  - eval $(ssh-agent -s)\n  - echo \"$SSH_PRIVATE_KEY\" | tr -d '\\r' | ssh-add - > /dev/null\n  - mkdir -p $HOME/.ssh && echo \"StrictHostKeyChecking no\" >> \"$HOME/.ssh/config\"\n  - git config --global user.email \"$GITLAB_USER_EMAIL\"\n  - git config --global user.name \"Gitlab CI\"\n  ```\n\nDon't commit the `.gitlab-ci.yml` file just yet, we will be adding more to it in the next section.\n\nNow, we need to take care of step 5, _add the public key from the one you created in the first step to the services that you want to have an access to from within the build environment._\n\nIn our case, the service we want to access from GitLab is Pantheon. Follow the Pantheon doc to [Add Your SSH Key to Pantheon](https://pantheon.io/docs/ssh-keys/#add-your-ssh-key-to-pantheon) to complete this step.\n\n_Be sure that the private SSH key is in GitLab and the public key is on Pantheon_\n\nWe will also need to set some additional environment variables. The first one should be named PANTHEON_SITE, and the value will be the machine name of your `Pantheon site`. and the value will be the *machine name* of your Pantheon site.\n\nYou can get the machine name from the end of the Clone with Git command. Since you already cloned the site locally, it will be the directory name of your local repository.\n\n![wordpress machine name](https://about.gitlab.com/images/blogimages/pantheon-machine-name.png){: .shadow.medium.center}\n\nThe next GitLab CI environment variable to set is `PANTHEON_GIT_URL`, which will be the Git repository URL of the Pantheon site that we used earlier.\n\n_Enter just the SSH repository URL, leaving off `git clone` and the site machine name at the end._\n\nPhew! Now that setup is done, we can move on to finishing our `.gitlab-ci.yml` file.\n\n## Create the deployment job\n\nWhat we will be doing with GitLab CI initially is very similar to what we did with Git repositories earlier. This time though, we will add the Pantheon repository as a second Git remote and then push the code from GitLab to Pantheon.\n\nTo do this, we will set up a [stage](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ci/yaml/#stages) named `deploy` and a [job](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ci/jobs/) named `deploy:dev`, as it will deploy to the dev environment on Pantheon. The resulting `.gitlab-ci.yml` file should look like this:\n```text\nstages:\n- deploy\n\nbefore_script:\n  # See https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ci/ssh_keys/\n  - eval $(ssh-agent -s)\n  - echo \"$SSH_PRIVATE_KEY\" | tr -d '\\r' | ssh-add - > /dev/null\n  - mkdir -p $HOME/.ssh && echo \"StrictHostKeyChecking no\" >> \"$HOME/.ssh/config\"\n  - git config --global user.email \"$GITLAB_USER_EMAIL\"\n  - git config --global user.name \"Gitlab CI\"\n\ndeploy:dev:\n  stage: deploy\n  environment:\n    name: dev\n    url: https://dev-$PANTHEON_SITE.pantheonsite.io/\n  script:\n    - git remote add pantheon $PANTHEON_GIT_URL\n    - git push pantheon master --force\n  only:\n    - master\n```\n`SSH_PRIVATE_KEY`, `PANTHEON_SITE`, and `PANTHEON_GIT_URL` should all look familiar - they are the environment variables we set up earlier. Having environment variables will allow us to re-use the values multiple times in our `.gitlab-ci.yml` file, while having one place to update them, should they change in the future.\n\nFinally, add, commit, and push the `.gitlab-ci.yml` file to send it to GitLab.\n\n## Verify the deployment\n\nIf everything was done correctly, the `deploy:dev` job run on GitLab CI/CD, succeed and send the `.gitlab-ci.yml` commit to Pantheon. Let's take a look!\n\n![deploy job](https://about.gitlab.com/images/blogimages/gitlab-deploy-dev-job.png){: .shadow.center}\n\n![deploy job passing](https://about.gitlab.com/images/blogimages/gitlab-deploy-dev-job-passed.png){: .shadow.center}\n\n![gitlab commit on pantheon dev](https://about.gitlab.com/images/blogimages/gitlab-commits-on-pantheon-dev.png){: .shadow.center}\n\n## Sending merge request branches to Pantheon\n\nThis next section makes use of my favorite Pantheon feature, [multidev](https://pantheon.io/docs/multidev), which allows you to create additional Pantheon environments on demand associated with Git branches.\n\nThis section is entirely optional as [multidev access is restricted](https://pantheon.io/docs/multidev-faq/), however, if you do have multidev access, having GitLab merge requests automatically create multidev environments on Pantheon is a huge workflow improvement.\n\nWe will start by making a new Git branch locally with `git checkout -b multidev-support`. Now, let's edit `.gitlab-ci.yml` again.\n\nI like to use the merge request number in the Pantheon environment name. For example, the first merge request would be `mr-1`, the second would be `mr-2`, and so on.\n\nSince the merge request changes, we need to define these Pantheon branch names dynamically. GitLab makes this easy by providing [predefined environment](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ci/variables/predefined_variables.html) variables.\n\nWe can use `$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_IID`, which provides the merge request number. Let's put that to use, along with our global environment variables from earlier, and add a new deploy:multidev job to the end of our `.gitlab-ci.yml` file.\n```yaml\ndeploy:multidev:\n  stage: deploy\n  environment:\n    name: multidev/mr-$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_IID\n    url: https://mr-$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_IID-$PANTHEON_SITE.pantheonsite.io/\n  script:\n    # Checkout the merge request source branch\n    - git checkout $CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME\n    # Add the Pantheon git repository as an additional remote\n    - git remote add pantheon $PANTHEON_GIT_URL\n    # Push the merge request source branch to Pantheon\n    - git push pantheon $CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME:mr-$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_IID --force\n  only:\n    - merge_requests\n```\nThis should look very similar to our `deploy:dev` job, only pushing a branch to Pantheon instead of `master`.\n\nAfter you add and commit the updated `.gitlab-ci.yml` file, push this new branch to GitLab with `git push -u origin multidev-support`.\n\nNext, let's create a new merge request from our `multidev-support` branch by following the _Create merge request_ prompt.\n\n![create merge request](https://about.gitlab.com/images/blogimages/gitlab-create-merge-request-prompt.png){: .shadow.medium.center}\n\nAfter creating the merge request, look for the  CI/CD job `deploy:multidev` to run.\n\n![multidev deploy success](https://about.gitlab.com/images/blogimages/multidev-branch-deploy-success.png){: .shadow.medium.center}\n\nLook at that – a new branch was sent to Pantheon. However, when we go to the multidev section of the site dashboard on Pantheon there isn't a new multidev environment.\n\n![multidev branch](https://about.gitlab.com/images/blogimages/pantheon-no-multidev-environments.png){: .shadow.medium.center}\n\nLet's look at the _Git_ Branches section.\n\n![mr branch](https://about.gitlab.com/images/blogimages/pantheon-mr-1-branch.png){: .shadow.medium.center}\n\nOur `mr-1` branch did make it to Pantheon after all. Go ahead and create an environment from the `mr-1` branch.\n\n![create multidev](https://about.gitlab.com/images/blogimages/pantheon-mr-1-multidev-creation.png){: .shadow.medium.center}\n\nOnce the multidev environment has been created, head back to GitLab and look at the _Operations > Environments_ section. You will notice entries for `dev` and `mr-1`.\n\nThis is because we added an `environment` entry with `name` and `url` to our CI/CD jobs. If you click on the open environment icon, you will be taken to the URL for the multidev on Pantheon.\n\n## Automating multidev creation\n\nWe _could_ stop here and try to remember to create a multidev environment each time there is a new merge request, but we can automate that process as well!\n\nPantheon has a command line tool, [Terminus](https://pantheon.io/docs/terminus/), that allows you to interact with the platform in an automated fashion. Terminus will allow us to provision our multidev environments from the command line – perfect for use in [GitLab CI](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ci/).\n\nWe will need a new merge request to test this, so let's create a new branch with `git checkout -b auto-multidev-creation`.\n\nIn order to use Terminus in GitLab CI/CD jobs we will need a machine token to authenticate with Terminus and a container image with Terminus available.\n\n[Create a Pantheon machine token](https://pantheon.io/docs/machine-tokens/#create-a-machine-token), save it to a safe place, and add it as a global GitLab environment variable named `PANTHEON_MACHINE_TOKEN`.\n\n_If you don't remember how to add GitLab environment variables, scroll up to where we defined `PANTHEON_SITE` earlier in the tutorial._\n\n## Building a Dockerfile with Terminus\n\nIf you don't have Docker or aren't comfortable working with `Dockerfile` files, you can use my image `registry.gitlab.com/ataylorme/pantheon-gitlab-blog-demo:latest` and skip this section.\n\n[GitLab has a container registry](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/packages/container_registry/index.html) that allows us to build and host a Dockerfile for use in our project. Let's create a Dockerfile that has Terminus available, so we can interact with Pantheon.\n\nTerminus is a PHP-based command line tool, so we will start with a PHP image. I prefer to install Terminus via Composer so I'll be using [the official Docker Composer image](https://hub.docker.com/_/composer) as a base. Create a `Dockerfile` in your local repository directory with the following contents:\n```text\n# Use the official Composer image as a parent image\nFROM composer:1.8\n\n# Update/upgrade apk\nRUN apk update\nRUN apk upgrade\n\n# Make the Terminus directory\nRUN mkdir -p /usr/local/share/terminus\n\n# Install Terminus 2.x with Composer\nRUN /usr/bin/env COMPOSER_BIN_DIR=/usr/local/bin composer -n --working-dir=/usr/local/share/terminus require pantheon-systems/terminus:\"^2\"\n```\nFollow the _Build and push images_ section of the [container registry documentation](https://gitlab.com/help/user/project/container_registry#build-and-push-images) to build an image from the `Dockerfile` and upload it to GitLab.\n\nVisit the _Registry_ section of your GitLab project. If things went according to plan you will see your image listed. Make a note of the image tag link, as we will need to use that in our `.gitlab-ci.yml` file.\n\n![container registry](https://about.gitlab.com/images/blogimages/gitlab-container-registry.png){: .shadow.center}\n\nThe `script` section of our `deploy:multidev` job is starting to get long, so let's move it to a dedicated file. Create a new file `private/multidev-deploy.sh` with the following contents:\n```bash\n#!/bin/bash\n\n# Store the mr- environment name\nexport PANTHEON_ENV=mr-$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_IID\n\n# Authenticate with Terminus\nterminus auth:login --machine-token=$PANTHEON_MACHINE_TOKEN\n\n# Checkout the merge request source branch\ngit checkout $CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME\n\n# Add the Pantheon Git repository as an additional remote\ngit remote add pantheon $PANTHEON_GIT_URL\n\n# Push the merge request source branch to Pantheon\ngit push pantheon $CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME:$PANTHEON_ENV --force\n\n# Create a function for determining if a multidev exists\nTERMINUS_DOES_MULTIDEV_EXIST()\n{\n    # Stash a list of Pantheon multidev environments\n    PANTHEON_MULTIDEV_LIST=\"$(terminus multidev:list ${PANTHEON_SITE} --format=list --field=id)\"\n\n    while read -r multiDev; do\n        if [[ \"${multiDev}\" == \"$1\" ]]\n        then\n            return 0;\n        fi\n    done \u003C\u003C\u003C \"$PANTHEON_MULTIDEV_LIST\"\n\n    return 1;\n}\n\n# If the mutltidev doesn't exist\nif ! TERMINUS_DOES_MULTIDEV_EXIST $PANTHEON_ENV\nthen\n    # Create it with Terminus\n    echo \"No multidev for $PANTHEON_ENV found, creating one...\"\n    terminus multidev:create $PANTHEON_SITE.dev $PANTHEON_ENV\nelse\n    echo \"The multidev $PANTHEON_ENV already exists, skipping creating it...\"\nfi\n```\nThe script is in the `private` directory as [it is not web accessible on Pantheon](https://pantheon.io/docs/private-paths/). Now that we have a script for our multidev logic, update the `deploy:multidev` section of `.gitlab-ci.yml` so that it looks like this:\n```yaml\ndeploy:multidev:\n  stage: deploy\n  environment:\n    name: multidev/mr-$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_IID\n    url: https://mr-$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_IID-$PANTHEON_SITE.pantheonsite.io/\n  script:\n    # Run the multidev deploy script\n    - \"/bin/bash ./private/multidev-deploy.sh\"\n  only:\n    - merge_requests\n```\nIn order to make sure our jobs run with the custom image created earlier, add an `image` definition with the registry URL to `.gitlab-ci.yml`. My complete `.gitlab-ci.yml` file now looks like this:\n```text\nimage: registry.gitlab.com/ataylorme/pantheon-gitlab-blog-demo:latest\n\nstages:\n- deploy\n\nbefore_script:\n  # See https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ci/ssh_keys/\n  - eval $(ssh-agent -s)\n  - echo \"$SSH_PRIVATE_KEY\" | tr -d '\\r' | ssh-add - > /dev/null\n  - mkdir -p $HOME/.ssh && echo \"StrictHostKeyChecking no\" >> \"$HOME/.ssh/config\"\n  - git config --global user.email \"$GITLAB_USER_EMAIL\"\n  - git config --global user.name \"Gitlab CI\"\n\ndeploy:dev:\n  stage: deploy\n  environment:\n    name: dev\n    url: https://dev-$PANTHEON_SITE.pantheonsite.io/\n  script:\n    - git remote add pantheon $PANTHEON_GIT_URL\n    - git push pantheon master --force\n  only:\n    - master\n\ndeploy:multidev:\n  stage: deploy\n  environment:\n    name: multidev/mr-$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_IID\n    url: https://mr-$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_IID-$PANTHEON_SITE.pantheonsite.io/\n  script:\n    # Run the multidev deploy script\n    - \"/bin/bash ./private/multidev-deploy.sh\"\n  only:\n    - merge_requests\n```\n\nAdd, commit, and push `private/multidev-deploy.sh` and `.gitlab-ci.yml`. Now, head back to GitLab and wait for the CI/CD job to finish. The multidev creation takes a few minutes, so be patient.\n\nWhen it is finished, go check out the multidev list on Pantheon. Voila! The `mr-2` multidev is there.\n\n![mr-2](https://about.gitlab.com/images/blogimages/pantheon-mr-2-multidev.png){: .shadow.medium.center}\n\n## Conclusion\n\nOpening a merge request and having an environment spin up automatically is a powerful addition to any team's workflow.\n\nBy leveraging the powerful tools offered by both GitLab and Pantheon, we can connect GitLab to Pantheon in an automated fashion.\n\nSince we used GitLab CI/CD, there is room for growth in our workflow as well. Here are a few ideas to get you started:\n* Add a build step.\n* Add automated testing.\n* Add a job to enforce coding standards.\n* Add [dynamic application security testing](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/application_security/dast/).\n\nDrop me a line with any thoughts you have on GitLab, Pantheon, and automation.\n\nP.S. Did you know Terminus, Pantheon’s command line tool, [is extendable via plugins](https://pantheon.io/docs/terminus/plugins/)?\n\nOver at Pantheon, we have been hard at work on version 2 of our [Terminus Build Tools Plugin](https://github.com/pantheon-systems/terminus-build-tools-plugin/), complete with GitLab support. If you don't want to do all this setup for each project, I encourage you to check it out and help us test the v2 beta. The terminus `build:project:create` command just needs a Pantheon token and GitLab token. From there, it will spin up one of our example projects, complete with Composer and automated testing, create a new project on GitLab, a new site on Pantheon, and connect the two by setting up environment variables and SSH keys.\n\n### About the guest author\n\nAndrew Taylor is a Developer Programs Engineer at [Pantheon](https://pantheon.io/).\n",[23,24,25,26],"DevOps","integrations","community","workflow","yml",{},true,"/en-us/blog/connecting-gitlab-and-pantheon-streamline-wordpress-drupal-workflows",{"title":32,"description":16,"ogTitle":32,"ogDescription":16,"noIndex":12,"ogImage":19,"ogUrl":33,"ogSiteName":34,"ogType":35,"canonicalUrls":33},"Streamlining Drupal and WordPress with GitLab and 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Where they diverge is what happens when your delivery needs get real: a monorepo with a dozen services, microservices spread across multiple repositories, deployments to dozens of environments, or a platform team trying to enforce standards without becoming a bottleneck.\n  \nGitLab's pipeline execution model was designed for that complexity. Parent-child pipelines, DAG execution, dynamic pipeline generation, multi-project triggers, merge request pipelines with merged results, and CI/CD Components each solve a distinct class of problems. Because they compose, understanding the full model unlocks something more than a faster pipeline. In this article, you'll learn about the five patterns where that model stands out, each mapped to a real engineering scenario with the configuration to match.\n  \nThe configs below are illustrative. The scripts use echo commands to keep the signal-to-noise ratio low. Swap them out for your actual build, test, and deploy steps and they are ready to use.\n\n\n## 1. Monorepos: Parent-child pipelines + DAG execution\n\n\nThe problem: Your monorepo has a frontend, a backend, and a docs site. Every commit triggers a full rebuild of everything, even when only a README changed.\n\n\nGitLab solves this with two complementary features: [parent-child pipelines](https://docs.gitlab.com/ci/pipelines/downstream_pipelines/#parent-child-pipelines) (which let a top-level pipeline spawn isolated sub-pipelines) and [DAG execution via `needs`](https://docs.gitlab.com/ci/yaml/#needs) (which breaks rigid stage-by-stage ordering and lets jobs start the moment their dependencies finish).\n\n\nA parent pipeline detects what changed and triggers only the relevant child pipelines:\n\n```yaml\n# .gitlab-ci.yml\nstages:\n  - trigger\n\ntrigger-services:\n  stage: trigger\n  trigger:\n    include:\n      - local: '.gitlab/ci/api-service.yml'\n      - local: '.gitlab/ci/web-service.yml'\n      - local: '.gitlab/ci/worker-service.yml'\n    strategy: depend\n```\n\n\nEach child pipeline is a fully independent pipeline with its own stages, jobs, and artifacts. The parent waits for all of them via [strategy: depend](https://docs.gitlab.com/ci/pipelines/downstream_pipelines/#wait-for-downstream-pipeline-to-complete) so you get a single green/red signal at the top level, with full drill-down into each service's pipeline. This organizational separation is the bigger win for large teams: each service owns its pipeline config, changes in one cannot break another, and the complexity stays manageable as the repo grows.\n\n\nOne thing worth knowing: when you pass [multiple files to a single `trigger: include:`](https://docs.gitlab.com/ci/pipelines/downstream_pipelines/#combine-multiple-child-pipeline-configuration-files), GitLab merges them into a single child pipeline configuration. This means jobs defined across those files share the same pipeline context and can reference each other with `needs:`, which is what makes the DAG optimization possible. If you split them into separate trigger jobs instead, each would be its own isolated pipeline and cross-file `needs:` references would not work.\n\n\nCombine this with `needs:` inside each child pipeline and you get DAG execution. Your integration tests can start the moment the build finishes, without waiting for other jobs in the same stage.\n\n```yaml\n# .gitlab/ci/api-service.yml\nstages:\n  - build\n  - test\n\nbuild-api:\n  stage: build\n  script:\n    - echo \"Building API service\"\n\ntest-api:\n  stage: test\n  needs: [build-api]\n  script:\n    - echo \"Running API tests\"\n```\n\n\nWhy it matters: Teams with large monorepos typically report significant reductions in pipeline runtime after switching to DAG execution, since jobs no longer wait on unrelated work in the same stage. Parent-child pipelines add the organizational layer that keeps the configuration maintainable as the repo and team grow.\n\n![Local downstream pipelines](https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1775738759/Blog/Imported/hackathon-fake-blog-post-s/image3_vwj3rz.png \"Local downstream pipelines\")\n\n## 2. Microservices: Cross-repo, multi-project pipelines\n\n\nThe problem: Your frontend lives in one repo, your backend in another. When the frontend team ships a change, they have no visibility into whether it broke the backend integration and vice versa.\n\n\nGitLab's [multi-project pipelines](https://docs.gitlab.com/ci/pipelines/downstream_pipelines/#multi-project-pipelines) let one project trigger a pipeline in a completely separate project and wait for the result. The triggering project gets a linked downstream pipeline right in its own pipeline view.\n\n\nThe frontend pipeline builds an API contract artifact and publishes it, then triggers the backend pipeline. The backend fetches that artifact directly using the [Jobs API](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/api/jobs.html#download-a-single-artifact-file-from-specific-tag-or-branch) and validates it before allowing anything to proceed. If a breaking change is detected, the backend pipeline fails and the frontend pipeline fails with it.\n\n```yaml\n# frontend repo: .gitlab-ci.yml\nstages:\n  - build\n  - test\n  - trigger-backend\n\nbuild-frontend:\n  stage: build\n  script:\n    - echo \"Building frontend and generating API contract...\"\n    - mkdir -p dist\n    - |\n      echo '{\n        \"api_version\": \"v2\",\n        \"breaking_changes\": false\n      }' > dist/api-contract.json\n    - cat dist/api-contract.json\n  artifacts:\n    paths:\n      - dist/api-contract.json\n    expire_in: 1 hour\n\ntest-frontend:\n  stage: test\n  script:\n    - echo \"All frontend tests passed!\"\n\ntrigger-backend-pipeline:\n  stage: trigger-backend\n  trigger:\n    project: my-org/backend-service\n    branch: main\n    strategy: depend\n  rules:\n    - if: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == \"main\"\n```\n\n```yaml\n# backend repo: .gitlab-ci.yml\nstages:\n  - build\n  - test\n\nbuild-backend:\n  stage: build\n  script:\n    - echo \"All backend tests passed!\"\n\nintegration-test:\n  stage: test\n  rules:\n    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == \"pipeline\"\n  script:\n    - echo \"Fetching API contract from frontend...\"\n    - |\n      curl --silent --fail \\\n        --header \"JOB-TOKEN: $CI_JOB_TOKEN\" \\\n        --output api-contract.json \\\n        \"${CI_API_V4_URL}/projects/${FRONTEND_PROJECT_ID}/jobs/artifacts/main/raw/dist/api-contract.json?job=build-frontend\"\n    - cat api-contract.json\n    - |\n      if grep -q '\"breaking_changes\": true' api-contract.json; then\n        echo \"FAIL: Breaking API changes detected - backend integration blocked!\"\n        exit 1\n      fi\n      echo \"PASS: API contract is compatible!\"\n```\n\n\nA few things worth noting in this config. The `integration-test` job uses `$CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == \"pipeline\"` to ensure it only runs when triggered by an upstream pipeline, not on a standalone push to the backend repo. The frontend project ID is referenced via `$FRONTEND_PROJECT_ID`, which should be set as a [CI/CD variable](https://docs.gitlab.com/ci/variables/) in the backend project settings to avoid hardcoding it.\n\n\nWhy it matters: Cross-service breakage that previously surfaced in production gets caught in the pipeline instead. The dependency between services stops being invisible and becomes something teams can see, track, and act on.\n\n\n![Cross-project pipelines](https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1775738762/Blog/Imported/hackathon-fake-blog-post-s/image4_h6mfsb.png \"Cross-project pipelines\")\n\n\n## 3. Multi-tenant / matrix deployments: Dynamic child pipelines\n\n\nThe problem: You deploy the same application to 15 customer environments, or three cloud regions, or dev/staging/prod. Updating a deploy stage across all of them one by one is the kind of work that leads to configuration drift. Writing a separate pipeline for each environment is unmaintainable from day one.\n\n\nGitLab's [dynamic child pipelines](https://docs.gitlab.com/ci/pipelines/downstream_pipelines/#dynamic-child-pipelines) let you generate a pipeline at runtime. A job runs a script that produces a YAML file, and that YAML becomes the pipeline for the next stage. The pipeline structure itself becomes data.\n\n\n```yaml\n# .gitlab-ci.yml\nstages:\n  - generate\n  - trigger-environments\n\ngenerate-config:\n  stage: generate\n  script:\n    - |\n      # ENVIRONMENTS can be passed as a CI variable or read from a config file.\n      # Default to dev, staging, prod if not set.\n      ENVIRONMENTS=${ENVIRONMENTS:-\"dev staging prod\"}\n      for ENV in $ENVIRONMENTS; do\n        cat > ${ENV}-pipeline.yml \u003C\u003C EOF\n      stages:\n        - deploy\n        - verify\n      deploy-${ENV}:\n        stage: deploy\n        script:\n          - echo \"Deploying to ${ENV} environment\"\n      verify-${ENV}:\n        stage: verify\n        script:\n          - echo \"Running smoke tests on ${ENV}\"\n      EOF\n      done\n  artifacts:\n    paths:\n      - \"*.yml\"\n    exclude:\n      - \".gitlab-ci.yml\"\n\n.trigger-template:\n  stage: trigger-environments\n  trigger:\n    strategy: depend\n\ntrigger-dev:\n  extends: .trigger-template\n  trigger:\n    include:\n      - artifact: dev-pipeline.yml\n        job: generate-config\n\ntrigger-staging:\n  extends: .trigger-template\n  needs: [trigger-dev]\n  trigger:\n    include:\n      - artifact: staging-pipeline.yml\n        job: generate-config\n\ntrigger-prod:\n  extends: .trigger-template\n  needs: [trigger-staging]\n  trigger:\n    include:\n      - artifact: prod-pipeline.yml\n        job: generate-config\n  when: manual\n```\n\n\nThe generation script loops over an `ENVIRONMENTS` variable rather than hardcoding each environment separately. Pass in a different list via a CI variable or read it from a config file and the pipeline adapts without touching the YAML. The trigger jobs use [extends:](https://docs.gitlab.com/ci/yaml/#extends) to inherit shared configuration from `.trigger-template`, so `strategy: depend` is defined once rather than repeated on every trigger job. Add a new environment by updating the variable, not by duplicating pipeline config. Add [when: manual](https://docs.gitlab.com/ci/yaml/#when) to the production trigger and you get a promotion gate baked right into the pipeline graph.\n\n\nWhy it matters: SaaS companies and platform teams use this pattern to manage dozens of environments without duplicating pipeline logic. The pipeline structure itself stays lean as the deployment matrix grows.\n\n\n![Dynamic pipeline](https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1775738765/Blog/Imported/hackathon-fake-blog-post-s/image7_wr0kx2.png \"Dynamic pipeline\")\n\n\n## 4. MR-first delivery: Merge request pipelines, merged results, and workflow routing\n\n\nThe problem: Your pipeline runs on every push to every branch. Expensive tests run on feature branches that will never merge. Meanwhile, you have no guarantee that what you tested is actually what will land on `main` after a merge.\n\n\nGitLab has three interlocking features that solve this together:\n\n\n*   [Merge request pipelines](https://docs.gitlab.com/ci/pipelines/merge_request_pipelines/) run only when a merge request exists, not on every branch push. This alone eliminates a significant amount of wasted compute.\n\n*   [Merged results pipelines](https://docs.gitlab.com/ci/pipelines/merged_results_pipelines/) go further. GitLab creates a temporary merge commit (your branch plus the current target branch) and runs the pipeline against that. You are testing what will actually exist after the merge, not just your branch in isolation.\n\n*   [Workflow rules](https://docs.gitlab.com/ci/yaml/workflow/) let you define exactly which pipeline type runs under which conditions and suppress everything else. The `$CI_OPEN_MERGE_REQUESTS` guard below prevents duplicate pipelines firing for both a branch and its open MR simultaneously.\n\n\nWith those three working together, here is what a tiered pipeline looks like:\n\n```yaml\n# .gitlab-ci.yml\nworkflow:\n  rules:\n    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == \"merge_request_event\"\n    - if: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH && $CI_OPEN_MERGE_REQUESTS\n      when: never\n    - if: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH\n    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == \"schedule\"\n\nstages:\n  - fast-checks\n  - expensive-tests\n  - deploy\n\nlint-code:\n  stage: fast-checks\n  script:\n    - echo \"Running linter\"\n  rules:\n    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == \"push\"\n    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == \"merge_request_event\"\n    - if: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == \"main\"\n\nunit-tests:\n  stage: fast-checks\n  script:\n    - echo \"Running unit tests\"\n  rules:\n    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == \"push\"\n    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == \"merge_request_event\"\n    - if: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == \"main\"\n\nintegration-tests:\n  stage: expensive-tests\n  script:\n    - echo \"Running integration tests (15 min)\"\n  rules:\n    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == \"merge_request_event\"\n    - if: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == \"main\"\n\ne2e-tests:\n  stage: expensive-tests\n  script:\n    - echo \"Running E2E tests (30 min)\"\n  rules:\n    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == \"merge_request_event\"\n    - if: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == \"main\"\n\nnightly-comprehensive-scan:\n  stage: expensive-tests\n  script:\n    - echo \"Running full nightly suite (2 hours)\"\n  rules:\n    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == \"schedule\"\n\ndeploy-production:\n  stage: deploy\n  script:\n    - echo \"Deploying to production\"\n  rules:\n    - if: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == \"main\"\n      when: manual\n```\n\nWith this setup, the pipeline behaves differently depending on context. A push to a feature branch with no open MR runs lint and unit tests only. Once an MR is opened, the workflow rules switch from a branch pipeline to an MR pipeline, and the full integration and E2E suite runs against the merged result. Merging to `main` queues a manual production deployment. A nightly schedule runs the comprehensive scan once, not on every commit.\n\n\nWhy it matters: Teams routinely cut CI costs significantly with this pattern, not by running fewer tests, but by running the right tests at the right time. Merged results pipelines catch the class of bugs that only appear after a merge, before they ever reach `main`.\n\n\n![Conditional pipelines (within a branch with no MR)](https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1775738768/Blog/Imported/hackathon-fake-blog-post-s/image6_dnfcny.png \"Conditional pipelines (within a branch with no MR)\")\n\n\n\n![Conditional pipelines (within an MR)](https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1775738772/Blog/Imported/hackathon-fake-blog-post-s/image1_wyiafu.png \"Conditional pipelines (within an MR)\")\n\n\n\n![Conditional pipelines (on the main branch)](https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1775738774/Blog/Imported/hackathon-fake-blog-post-s/image5_r6lkfd.png \"Conditional pipelines (on the main branch)\")\n\n## 5. Governed pipelines: CI/CD Components\n\n\nThe problem: Your platform team has defined the right way to build, test, and deploy. But every team has their own `.gitlab-ci.yml` with subtle variations. Security scanning gets skipped. Deployment standards drift. Audits are painful.\n\n\nGitLab [CI/CD Components](https://docs.gitlab.com/ci/components/) let platform teams publish versioned, reusable pipeline building blocks. Application teams consume them with a single `include:` line and optional inputs — no copy-paste, no drift. Components are discoverable through the [CI/CD Catalog](https://docs.gitlab.com/ci/components/#cicd-catalog), which means teams can find and adopt approved building blocks without needing to go through the platform team directly.\n\n\nHere is a component definition from a shared library:\n\n```yaml\n# templates/deploy.yml\nspec:\n  inputs:\n    stage:\n      default: deploy\n    environment:\n      default: production\n---\ndeploy-job:\n  stage: $[[ inputs.stage ]]\n  script:\n    - echo \"Deploying $APP_NAME to $[[ inputs.environment ]]\"\n    - echo \"Deploy URL: $DEPLOY_URL\"\n  environment:\n    name: $[[ inputs.environment ]]\n```\nAnd here is how an application team consumes it:\n\n```yaml\n# Application repo: .gitlab-ci.yml\nvariables:\n  APP_NAME: \"my-awesome-app\"\n  DEPLOY_URL: \"https://api.example.com\"\n\ninclude:\n  - component: gitlab.com/my-org/component-library/build@v1.0.6\n  - component: gitlab.com/my-org/component-library/test@v1.0.6\n  - component: gitlab.com/my-org/component-library/deploy@v1.0.6\n    inputs:\n      environment: staging\n\nstages:\n  - build\n  - test\n  - deploy\n```\n\nThree lines of `include:` replace hundreds of lines of duplicated YAML. The platform team can push a security fix to `v1.0.7` and teams opt in on their own schedule — or the platform team can pin everyone to a minimum version. Either way, one change propagates everywhere instead of needing to be applied repo by repo.\n\n\nPair this with [resource groups](https://docs.gitlab.com/ci/resource_groups/) to prevent concurrent deployments to the same environment, and [protected environments](https://docs.gitlab.com/ci/environments/protected_environments/) to enforce approval gates - and you have a governed delivery platform where compliance is the default, not the exception.\n\n\nWhy it matters: This is the pattern that makes GitLab CI/CD scale across hundreds of teams. Platform engineering teams enforce compliance without becoming a bottleneck. Application teams get a fast path to a working pipeline without reinventing the wheel.\n\n\n![Component pipeline (imported jobs)](https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1775738776/Blog/Imported/hackathon-fake-blog-post-s/image2_pizuxd.png \"Component pipeline (imported jobs)\")\n\n## Putting it all together\n\nNone of these features exist in isolation. The reason GitLab's pipeline model is worth understanding deeply is that these primitives compose:\n\n*   A monorepo uses parent-child pipelines, and each child uses DAG execution\n\n*   A microservices platform uses multi-project pipelines, and each project uses MR pipelines with merged results\n\n*   A governed platform uses CI/CD components to standardize the patterns above across every team\n\n\nMost teams discover one of these features when they hit a specific pain point. The ones who invest in understanding the full model end up with a delivery system that actually reflects how their engineering organization works, not a pipeline that fights it.\n\n## Other patterns worth exploring\n\n\nThe five patterns above cover the most common structural pain points, but GitLab's pipeline model goes further. A few others worth looking into as your needs grow:\n\n\n*   [Review apps with dynamic environments](https://docs.gitlab.com/ci/environments/) let you spin up a live preview for every feature branch and tear it down automatically when the MR closes. Useful for teams doing frontend work or API changes that need stakeholder sign-off before merging.\n\n*   [Caching and artifact strategies](https://docs.gitlab.com/ci/caching/) are often the fastest way to cut pipeline runtime after the structural work is done. Structuring `cache:` keys around dependency lockfiles and being deliberate about what gets passed between jobs with [artifacts:](https://docs.gitlab.com/ci/yaml/#artifacts) can make a significant difference without changing your pipeline shape at all.\n\n*   [Scheduled and API-triggered pipelines](https://docs.gitlab.com/ci/pipelines/schedules/) are worth knowing about because not everything should run on a code push. Nightly security scans, compliance reports, and release automation are better modeled as scheduled or [API-triggered](https://docs.gitlab.com/ci/triggers/) pipelines with `$CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE` routing the right jobs for each context.\n\n## How to get started\n\nModern software delivery is complex. Teams are managing monorepos with dozens of services, coordinating across multiple repositories, deploying to many environments at once, and trying to keep standards consistent as organizations grow. GitLab's pipeline model was built with all of that in mind.\n\nWhat makes it worth investing time in is how well the pieces fit together. Parent-child pipelines bring structure to large codebases. Multi-project pipelines make cross-team dependencies visible and testable. Dynamic pipelines turn environment management into something that scales gracefully. MR-first delivery with merged results ensures confidence at every step of the review process. And CI/CD Components give platform teams a way to share best practices across an entire organization without becoming a bottleneck.\n\nEach of these features is powerful on its own, and even more so when combined. GitLab gives you the building blocks to design a delivery system that fits how your team actually works, and grows with you as your needs evolve.\n\n> [Start a free trial of GitLab Ultimate](https://about.gitlab.com/free-trial/) to use pipeline logic today.\n\n## Read more\n\n*   [Variable and artifact sharing in GitLab parent-child pipelines](https://about.gitlab.com/blog/variable-and-artifact-sharing-in-gitlab-parent-child-pipelines/)\n*   [CI/CD inputs: Secure and preferred method to pass parameters to a pipeline](https://about.gitlab.com/blog/ci-cd-inputs-secure-and-preferred-method-to-pass-parameters-to-a-pipeline/)\n*   [Tutorial: How to set up your first GitLab CI/CD component](https://about.gitlab.com/blog/tutorial-how-to-set-up-your-first-gitlab-ci-cd-component/)\n*   [How to include file references in your CI/CD components](https://about.gitlab.com/blog/how-to-include-file-references-in-your-ci-cd-components/)\n*   [FAQ: GitLab CI/CD Catalog](https://about.gitlab.com/blog/faq-gitlab-ci-cd-catalog/)\n*   [Building a GitLab CI/CD pipeline for a monorepo the easy way](https://about.gitlab.com/blog/building-a-gitlab-ci-cd-pipeline-for-a-monorepo-the-easy-way/)\n*   [A CI/CD component builder's journey](https://about.gitlab.com/blog/a-ci-component-builders-journey/)\n*   [CI/CD Catalog goes GA: No more building pipelines from scratch](https://about.gitlab.com/blog/ci-cd-catalog-goes-ga-no-more-building-pipelines-from-scratch/)","5 ways GitLab pipeline logic solves real engineering problems","Learn how to scale CI/CD with composable patterns for monorepos, microservices, environments, and governance.",[719],"Omid Khan","https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1772721753/frfsm1qfscwrmsyzj1qn.png","2026-04-09",[109,723,724,725],"DevOps platform","tutorial","features",{"featured":29,"template":13,"slug":727},"5-ways-gitlab-pipeline-logic-solves-real-engineering-problems",{"content":729,"config":739},{"title":730,"description":731,"authors":732,"heroImage":734,"date":735,"body":736,"category":9,"tags":737},"How to use GitLab Container Virtual Registry with Docker Hardened Images","Learn how to simplify container image management with this step-by-step guide.",[733],"Tim Rizzi","https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1772111172/mwhgbjawn62kymfwrhle.png","2026-03-12","If you're a platform engineer, you've probably had this conversation:\n  \n*\"Security says we need to use hardened base images.\"*\n\n*\"Great, where do I configure credentials for yet another registry?\"*\n\n*\"Also, how do we make sure everyone actually uses them?\"*\n\nOr this one:\n\n*\"Why are our builds so slow?\"*\n\n*\"We're pulling the same 500MB image from Docker Hub in every single job.\"*\n\n*\"Can't we just cache these somewhere?\"*\n\nI've been working on [Container Virtual Registry](https://docs.gitlab.com/user/packages/virtual_registry/container/) at GitLab specifically to solve these problems. It's a pull-through cache that sits in front of your upstream registries — Docker Hub, dhi.io (Docker Hardened Images), MCR, and Quay — and gives your teams a single endpoint to pull from. Images get cached on the first pull. Subsequent pulls come from the cache. Your developers don't need to know or care which upstream a particular image came from.\n\nThis article shows you how to set up Container Virtual Registry, specifically with Docker Hardened Images in mind, since that's a combination that makes a lot of sense for teams concerned about security and not making their developers' lives harder.\n\n## What problem are we actually solving?\n\nThe Platform teams I usually talk to manage container images across three to five registries:\n\n* **Docker Hub** for most base images\n* **dhi.io** for Docker Hardened Images (security-conscious workloads)\n* **MCR** for .NET and Azure tooling\n* **Quay.io** for Red Hat ecosystem stuff\n* **Internal registries** for proprietary images\n\nEach one has its own:\n\n* Authentication mechanism\n* Network latency characteristics\n* Way of organizing image paths\n\nYour CI/CD configs end up littered with registry-specific logic. Credential management becomes a project unto itself. And every pipeline job pulls the same base images over the network, even though they haven't changed in weeks.\n\nContainer Virtual Registry consolidates this. One registry URL. One authentication flow (GitLab's). Cached images are served from GitLab's infrastructure rather than traversing the internet each time.\n\n## How it works\n\nThe model is straightforward:\n\n```text\nYour pipeline pulls:\n  gitlab.com/virtual_registries/container/1000016/python:3.13\n\nVirtual registry checks:\n  1. Do I have this cached? → Return it\n  2. No? → Fetch from upstream, cache it, return it\n\n```\n\nYou configure upstreams in priority order. When a pull request comes in, the virtual registry checks each upstream until it finds the image. The result gets cached for a configurable period (default 24 hours).\n\n```text\n┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐\n│                    CI/CD Pipeline                       │\n│                          │                              │\n│                          ▼                              │\n│   gitlab.com/virtual_registries/container/\u003Cid>/image   │\n└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘\n                           │\n                           ▼\n┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐\n│            Container Virtual Registry                   │\n│                                                         │\n│  Upstream 1: Docker Hub ────────────────┐               │\n│  Upstream 2: dhi.io (Hardened) ────────┐│               │\n│  Upstream 3: MCR ─────────────────────┐││               │\n│  Upstream 4: Quay.io ────────────────┐│││               │\n│                                      ││││               │\n│                    ┌─────────────────┴┴┴┴──┐            │\n│                    │        Cache          │            │\n│                    │  (manifests + layers) │            │\n│                    └───────────────────────┘            │\n└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘\n```\n\n## Why this matters for Docker Hardened Images\n\n[Docker Hardened Images](https://docs.docker.com/dhi/) are great because of the minimal attack surface, near-zero CVEs, proper software bills of materials (SBOMs), and SLSA provenance. If you're evaluating base images for security-sensitive workloads, they should be on your list.\n\nBut adopting them creates the same operational friction as any new registry:\n\n* **Credential distribution**: You need to get Docker credentials to every system that pulls images from dhi.io.\n* **CI/CD changes**: Every pipeline needs to be updated to authenticate with dhi.io.\n* **Developer friction**: People need to remember to use the hardened variants.\n* **Visibility gap**: It's difficult to tell if teams are actually using hardened images vs. regular ones.\n\nVirtual registry addresses each of these:\n\n**Single credential**: Teams authenticate to GitLab. The virtual registry handles upstream authentication. You configure Docker credentials once, at the registry level, and they apply to all pulls.\n\n**No CI/CD changes per-team**: Point pipelines at your virtual registry. Done. The upstream configuration is centralized.\n\n**Gradual adoption**: Since images get cached with their full path, you can see in the cache what's being pulled. If someone's pulling `library/python:3.11` instead of the hardened variant, you'll know.\n\n**Audit trail**: The cache shows you exactly which images are in active use. Useful for compliance, useful for understanding what your fleet actually depends on.\n\n## Setting it up\n\nHere's a real setup using the Python client from this demo project.\n\n### Create the virtual registry\n\n```python\nfrom virtual_registry_client import VirtualRegistryClient\n\nclient = VirtualRegistryClient()\n\nregistry = client.create_virtual_registry(\n    group_id=\"785414\",  # Your top-level group ID\n    name=\"platform-images\",\n    description=\"Cached container images for platform teams\"\n)\n\nprint(f\"Registry ID: {registry['id']}\")\n# You'll need this ID for the pull URL\n```\n\n### Add Docker Hub as an upstream\n\nFor official images like Alpine, Python, etc.:\n\n```python\ndocker_upstream = client.create_upstream(\n    registry_id=registry['id'],\n    url=\"https://registry-1.docker.io\",\n    name=\"Docker Hub\",\n    cache_validity_hours=24\n)\n```\n\n### Add Docker Hardened Images (dhi.io)\n\nDocker Hardened Images are hosted on `dhi.io`, a separate registry that requires authentication:\n\n```python\ndhi_upstream = client.create_upstream(\n    registry_id=registry['id'],\n    url=\"https://dhi.io\",\n    name=\"Docker Hardened Images\",\n    username=\"your-docker-username\",\n    password=\"your-docker-access-token\",\n    cache_validity_hours=24\n)\n```\n\n### Add other upstreams\n\n```python\n# MCR for .NET teams\nclient.create_upstream(\n    registry_id=registry['id'],\n    url=\"https://mcr.microsoft.com\",\n    name=\"Microsoft Container Registry\",\n    cache_validity_hours=48\n)\n\n# Quay for Red Hat stuff\nclient.create_upstream(\n    registry_id=registry['id'],\n    url=\"https://quay.io\",\n    name=\"Quay.io\",\n    cache_validity_hours=24\n)\n```\n\n### Update your CI/CD\n\nHere's a `.gitlab-ci.yml` that pulls through the virtual registry:\n\n```yaml\nvariables:\n  VIRTUAL_REGISTRY_ID: \u003Cyour_virtual_registry_ID>\n\n  \nbuild:\n  image: docker:24\n  services:\n    - docker:24-dind\n  before_script:\n    # Authenticate to GitLab (which handles upstream auth for you)\n    - echo \"${CI_JOB_TOKEN}\" | docker login -u gitlab-ci-token --password-stdin gitlab.com\n  script:\n    # All of these go through your single virtual registry\n    \n    # Official Docker Hub images (use library/ prefix)\n    - docker pull gitlab.com/virtual_registries/container/${VIRTUAL_REGISTRY_ID}/library/alpine:latest\n    \n    # Docker Hardened Images from dhi.io (no prefix needed)\n    - docker pull gitlab.com/virtual_registries/container/${VIRTUAL_REGISTRY_ID}/python:3.13\n    \n    # .NET from MCR\n    - docker pull gitlab.com/virtual_registries/container/${VIRTUAL_REGISTRY_ID}/dotnet/sdk:8.0\n```\n\n### Image path formats\n\nDifferent registries use different path conventions:\n\n| Registry | Pull URL Example |\n|----------|------------------|\n| Docker Hub (official) | `.../library/python:3.11-slim` |\n| Docker Hardened Images (dhi.io) | `.../python:3.13` |\n| MCR | `.../dotnet/sdk:8.0` |\n| Quay.io | `.../prometheus/prometheus:latest` |\n\n### Verify it's working\n\nAfter some pulls, check your cache:\n\n```python\nupstreams = client.list_registry_upstreams(registry['id'])\nfor upstream in upstreams:\n    entries = client.list_cache_entries(upstream['id'])\n    print(f\"{upstream['name']}: {len(entries)} cached entries\")\n\n```\n\n## What the numbers look like\n\nI ran tests pulling images through the virtual registry:\n\n| Metric | Without Cache | With Warm Cache |\n|--------|---------------|-----------------|\n| Pull time (Alpine) | 10.3s | 4.2s |\n| Pull time (Python 3.13 DHI) | 11.6s | ~4s |\n| Network roundtrips to upstream | Every pull | Cache misses only |\n\n\n\n\nThe first pull is the same speed (it has to fetch from upstream). Every pull after that, for the cache validity period, comes straight from GitLab's storage. No network hop to Docker Hub, dhi.io, MCR, or wherever the image lives.\n\nFor a team running hundreds of pipeline jobs per day, that's hours of cumulative build time saved.\n\n## Practical considerations\nHere are some considerations to keep in mind:\n\n### Cache validity\n\n24 hours is the default. For security-sensitive images where you want patches quickly, consider 12 hours or less:\n\n```python\nclient.create_upstream(\n    registry_id=registry['id'],\n    url=\"https://dhi.io\",\n    name=\"Docker Hardened Images\",\n    username=\"your-username\",\n    password=\"your-token\",\n    cache_validity_hours=12\n)\n```\n\nFor stable, infrequently-updated images (like specific version tags), longer validity is fine.\n\n### Upstream priority\n\nUpstreams are checked in order. If you have images with the same name on different registries, the first matching upstream wins.\n\n### Limits\n\n* Maximum of 20 virtual registries per group\n* Maximum of 20 upstreams per virtual registry\n\n## Configuration via UI\n\nYou can also configure virtual registries and upstreams directly from the GitLab UI—no API calls required. Navigate to your group's **Settings > Packages and registries > Virtual Registry** to:\n\n* Create and manage virtual registries\n* Add, edit, and reorder upstream registries\n* View and manage the cache\n* Monitor which images are being pulled\n\n## What's next\n\nWe're actively developing:\n\n* **Allow/deny lists**: Use regex to control which images can be pulled from specific upstreams.\n\nThis is beta software. It works, people are using it in production, but we're still iterating based on feedback.\n\n## Share your feedback\n\nIf you're a platform engineer dealing with container registry sprawl, I'd like to understand your setup:\n\n* How many upstream registries are you managing?\n* What's your biggest pain point with the current state?\n* Would something like this help, and if not, what's missing?\n\nPlease share your experiences in the [Container Virtual Registry feedback issue](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/work_items/589630).\n## Related resources\n- [New GitLab metrics and registry features help reduce CI/CD bottlenecks](https://about.gitlab.com/blog/new-gitlab-metrics-and-registry-features-help-reduce-ci-cd-bottlenecks/#container-virtual-registry)\n- [Container Virtual Registry documentation](https://docs.gitlab.com/user/packages/virtual_registry/container/)\n- [Container Virtual Registry API](https://docs.gitlab.com/api/container_virtual_registries/)",[724,738,725],"product",{"featured":12,"template":13,"slug":740},"using-gitlab-container-virtual-registry-with-docker-hardened-images",{"content":742,"config":752},{"title":743,"description":744,"authors":745,"heroImage":747,"date":748,"category":9,"tags":749,"body":751},"How IIT Bombay students are coding the future with GitLab","At GitLab, we often talk about how software accelerates innovation. But sometimes, you have to step away from the Zoom calls and stand in a crowded university hall to remember why we do this.",[746],"Nick Veenhof","https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1750099013/Blog/Hero%20Images/Blog/Hero%20Images/blog-image-template-1800x945%20%2814%29_6VTUA8mUhOZNDaRVNPeKwl_1750099012960.png","2026-01-08",[25,620,750],"open source","The GitLab team recently had the privilege of judging the **iHack Hackathon** at **IIT Bombay's E-Summit**. The energy was electric, the coffee was flowing, and the talent was undeniable. But what struck us most wasn't just the code — it was the sheer determination of students to solve real-world problems, often overcoming significant logistical and financial hurdles to simply be in the room.\n\n\nThrough our [GitLab for Education program](https://about.gitlab.com/solutions/education/), we aim to empower the next generation of developers with tools and opportunity. Here is a look at what the students built, and how they used GitLab to bridge the gap between idea and reality.\n\n## The challenge: Build faster, build securely\n\nThe premise for the GitLab track of the hackathon was simple: Don't just show us a product; show us how you built it. We wanted to see how students utilized GitLab's platform — from Issue Boards to CI/CD pipelines — to accelerate the development lifecycle.\n\nThe results were inspiring.\n\n## The winners\n\n### 1st place: Team Decode — Democratizing Scientific Research\n\n**Project:** FIRE (Fast Integrated Research Environment)\n\nTeam Decode took home the top prize with a solution that warms a developer's heart: a local-first, blazing-fast data processing tool built with [Rust](https://about.gitlab.com/blog/secure-rust-development-with-gitlab/) and Tauri. They identified a massive pain point for data science students: existing tools are fragmented, slow, and expensive.\n\nTheir solution, FIRE, allows researchers to visualize complex formats (like NetCDF) instantly. What impressed the judges most was their \"hacker\" ethos. They didn't just build a tool; they built it to be open and accessible.\n\n**How they used GitLab:** Since the team lived far apart, asynchronous communication was key. They utilized **GitLab Issue Boards** and **Milestones** to track progress and integrated their repo with Telegram to get real-time push notifications. As one team member noted, \"Coordinating all these technologies was really difficult, and what helped us was GitLab... the Issue Board really helped us track who was doing what.\"\n\n![Team Decode](https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1767380253/epqazj1jc5c7zkgqun9h.jpg)\n\n### 2nd place: Team BichdeHueDost — Reuniting to Solve Payments\n\n**Project:** SemiPay (RFID Cashless Payment for Schools)\n\nThe team name, BichdeHueDost, translates to \"Friends who have been set apart.\" It's a fitting name for a group of friends who went to different colleges but reunited to build this project. They tackled a unique problem: handling cash in schools for young children. Their solution used RFID cards backed by a blockchain ledger to ensure secure, cashless transactions for students.\n\n**How they used GitLab:** They utilized [GitLab CI/CD](https://about.gitlab.com/topics/ci-cd/) to automate the build process for their Flutter application (APK), ensuring that every commit resulted in a testable artifact. This allowed them to iterate quickly despite the \"flaky\" nature of cross-platform mobile development.\n\n![Team BichdeHueDost](https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1767380253/pkukrjgx2miukb6nrj5g.jpg)\n\n### 3rd place: Team ZenYukti — Agentic Repository Intelligence\n\n**Project:** RepoInsight AI (AI-powered, GitLab-native intelligence platform)\n\nTeam ZenYukti impressed us with a solution that tackles a universal developer pain point: understanding unfamiliar codebases. What stood out to the judges was the tool's practical approach to onboarding and code comprehension: RepoInsight-AI automatically generates documentation, visualizes repository structure, and even helps identify bugs, all while maintaining context about the entire codebase.\n\n**How they used GitLab:** The team built a comprehensive CI/CD pipeline that showcased GitLab's security and DevOps capabilities. They integrated [GitLab's Security Templates](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/lib/gitlab/ci/templates/Security) (SAST, Dependency Scanning, and Secret Detection), and utilized [GitLab Container Registry](https://docs.gitlab.com/user/packages/container_registry/) to manage their Docker images for backend and frontend components. They created an AI auto-review bot that runs on merge requests, demonstrating an \"agentic workflow\" where AI assists in the development process itself.\n\n![Team ZenYukti](https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1767380253/ymlzqoruv5al1secatba.jpg)\n\n## Beyond the code: A lesson in inclusion\n\nWhile the code was impressive, the most powerful moment of the event happened away from the keyboard.\n\nDuring the feedback session, we learned about the journey Team ZenYukti took to get to Mumbai. They traveled over 24 hours, covering nearly 1,800 kilometers. Because flights were too expensive and trains were booked, they traveled in the \"General Coach,\" a non-reserved, severely overcrowded carriage.\n\nAs one student described it:\n\n*\"You cannot even imagine something like this... there are no seats... people sit on the top of the train. This is what we have endured.\"*\n\nThis hit home. [Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging](https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/company/culture/inclusion/) are core values at GitLab. We realized that for these students, the barrier to entry wasn't intellect or skill, it was access.\n\nIn that moment, we decided to break that barrier. We committed to reimbursing the travel expenses for the participants who struggled to get there. It's a small step, but it underlines a massive truth: **talent is distributed equally, but opportunity is not.**\n\n![hackathon class together](https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1767380252/o5aqmboquz8ehusxvgom.jpg)\n\n### The future is bright (and automated)\n\nWe also saw incredible potential in teams like Prometheus, who attempted to build an autonomous patch remediation tool (DevGuardian), and Team Arrakis, who built a voice-first job portal for blue-collar workers using [GitLab Duo](https://about.gitlab.com/gitlab-duo-agent-platform/) to troubleshoot their pipelines.\n\nTo all the students who participated: You are the future. Through [GitLab for Education](https://about.gitlab.com/solutions/education/), we are committed to providing you with the top-tier tools (like GitLab Ultimate) you need to learn, collaborate, and change the world — whether you are coding from a dorm room, a lab, or a train carriage. **Keep shipping.**\n\n> :bulb: Learn more about the [GitLab for Education program](https://about.gitlab.com/solutions/education/).\n",{"slug":753,"featured":12,"template":13},"how-iit-bombay-students-code-future-with-gitlab",{"promotions":755},[756,770,781,793],{"id":757,"categories":758,"header":760,"text":761,"button":762,"image":767},"ai-modernization",[759],"ai-ml","Is AI achieving its promise at scale?","Quiz will take 5 minutes or less",{"text":763,"config":764},"Get your AI maturity score",{"href":765,"dataGaName":766,"dataGaLocation":243},"/assessments/ai-modernization-assessment/","modernization assessment",{"config":768},{"src":769},"https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1772138786/qix0m7kwnd8x2fh1zq49.png",{"id":771,"categories":772,"header":773,"text":761,"button":774,"image":778},"devops-modernization",[738,566],"Are you just managing tools or shipping innovation?",{"text":775,"config":776},"Get your DevOps maturity score",{"href":777,"dataGaName":766,"dataGaLocation":243},"/assessments/devops-modernization-assessment/",{"config":779},{"src":780},"https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1772138785/eg818fmakweyuznttgid.png",{"id":782,"categories":783,"header":785,"text":761,"button":786,"image":790},"security-modernization",[784],"security","Are you trading speed for security?",{"text":787,"config":788},"Get your security maturity score",{"href":789,"dataGaName":766,"dataGaLocation":243},"/assessments/security-modernization-assessment/",{"config":791},{"src":792},"https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1772138786/p4pbqd9nnjejg5ds6mdk.png",{"id":794,"paths":795,"header":798,"text":799,"button":800,"image":805},"github-azure-migration",[796,797],"migration-from-azure-devops-to-gitlab","integrating-azure-devops-scm-and-gitlab","Is your team ready for GitHub's Azure move?","GitHub is already rebuilding around Azure. Find out what it means for you.",{"text":801,"config":802},"See how GitLab compares to GitHub",{"href":803,"dataGaName":804,"dataGaLocation":243},"/compare/gitlab-vs-github/github-azure-migration/","github azure migration",{"config":806},{"src":780},{"header":808,"blurb":809,"button":810,"secondaryButton":815},"Start building faster today","See what your team can do with the intelligent orchestration platform for DevSecOps.\n",{"text":811,"config":812},"Get your free trial",{"href":813,"dataGaName":51,"dataGaLocation":814},"https://gitlab.com/-/trial_registrations/new?glm_content=default-saas-trial&glm_source=about.gitlab.com/","feature",{"text":504,"config":816},{"href":55,"dataGaName":56,"dataGaLocation":814},1776454380670]