Tutorial: Configure GitLab Runner to use the Google Kubernetes Engine All tiers All offerings
This tutorial describes how to configure GitLab Runner to use the Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) to run jobs.
In this tutorial, you configure GitLab Runner to run jobs in the Standard cluster mode.
To configure GitLab Runner to use the GKE:
- Set up your environment.
- Create and connect to a cluster.
- Install and configure the Kubernetes Operator.
- Optional. Verify that the configuration was successful.
Before you begin
Before you can configure GitLab Runner to use the GKE you must:
- Have a project where you have the Maintainer or Owner role. If you don’t have a project, you can create it.
- Obtain the project runner registration token.
- Install GitLab Runner.
Set up your environment
Install the tools to configure and use GitLab Runner in the GKE.
- Install and configure Google Cloud CLI. You use Google Cloud CLI to connect to the cluster.
- Install and configure kubectl. You use kubectl to communicate with the remote cluster from your local environment.
Create and connect to a cluster
This step describes how to create a cluster and connect to it. After you connect to the cluster, you use kubectl to interact with it.
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In the Google Cloud Platform, create a standard cluster.
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Install the kubectl authentication plugin:
gcloud components install gke-gcloud-auth-plugin
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Connect to the cluster:
gcloud container clusters get-credentials CLUSTER_NAME --zone=CLUSTER_LOCATION
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View the cluster configuration:
kubectl config view
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Verify that you are connected to the cluster:
kubectl config current-context
Install and configure the Kubernetes Operator
Now that you have a cluster, you’re ready to install and configure the Kubernetes Operator.
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Install the prerequisites:
kubectl apply -f https://github.com/jetstack/cert-manager/releases/download/v1.7.1/cert-manager.yaml
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Install the Operator Lifecycle Manager (OLM), a tool that manages the Kubernetes Operators that run on the cluster:
curl --silent --location "https://github.com/operator-framework/operator-lifecycle-manager/releases/download/v0.24.0/install.sh" \ | bash -s v0.24.0
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Install the Kubernetes Operator Catalog:
kubectl create -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/operator-framework/operator-lifecycle-manager/master/deploy/upstream/quickstart/crds.yaml kubectl create -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/operator-framework/operator-lifecycle-manager/master/deploy/upstream/quickstart/olm.yaml
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Install the Kubernetes Operator:
kubectl create -f https://operatorhub.io/install/gitlab-runner-operator.yaml
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Create a secret that contains the
runner-registration-token
from your GitLab project:cat > gitlab-runner-secret.yml << EOF apiVersion: v1 kind: Secret metadata: name: gitlab-runner-secret type: Opaque stringData: runner-registration-token: YOUR_RUNNER_REGISTRATION_TOKEN EOF
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Apply the secret:
kubectl apply -f gitlab-runner-secret.yml
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Create the custom resource definition file and include the following information:
cat > gitlab-runner.yml << EOF apiVersion: apps.gitlab.com/v1beta2 kind: Runner metadata: name: gitlab-runner spec: gitlabUrl: https://gitlab.example.com buildImage: alpine token: gitlab-runner-secret EOF
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Apply the custom resource definition file:
kubectl apply -f gitlab-runner.yml
That’s it! You’ve configured GitLab Runner to use the GKE. In the next step, you can check if your configuration is working.
Verify your configuration
To check if runners are running in the GKE cluster, you can either:
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Use the following command:
kubectl get pods
You should see the following output. This shows that your runners are running in the GKE cluster:
NAME READY STATUS RESTARTS AGE gitlab-runner-hash-short_hash 1/1 Running 0 5m
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Check the job log in GitLab:
- On the left sidebar, select Search or go to and find your project.
- Select Build > Jobs and find the job.
- To view the job log, select the job status.