🚀 Getting Started with GitLab CI/CD: Core Components Explained

Hello everyone! 👋

In today’s DevOps-driven world, automating software delivery is essential.
GitLab CI/CD provides an easy and powerful way to do this directly inside GitLab.

Let’s break it down step-by-step:

🛠️ 1️⃣ What is a Pipeline?

A Pipeline is a collection of stages that execute jobs automatically when changes are pushed to the repository.

Think of it as your automation engine! 🚀

📌 2️⃣ What are Stages?

A Pipeline is divided into multiple stages such as:

  • build
  • test
  • deploy

Each stage contains jobs that run in sequence, ensuring an organized workflow.

⚙️ 3️⃣ What are Jobs?

A Job is a task performed inside a stage.
Each job has:

  • ✔️ A script: the set of commands to run
  • ✔️ A runner: an agent that actually executes the job

✅ Jobs are the smallest executable unit in GitLab CI/CD.

💻 4️⃣ Script Execution Flow

Inside a job, the script execution follows:

  • 🔹 before_script — Commands that run before every job (e.g., setting up dependencies)
  • 🔹 script — The main commands for the job
  • 🔹 after_script — Commands that run after the job (e.g., cleanup tasks)

📝 Example: Simple .gitlab-ci.yml

stages:
  - build
  - test
  - deploy

build_job:
  stage: build
  script:
    - echo "Building the project..."

test_job:
  stage: test
  script:
    - echo "Running tests..."

deploy_job:
  stage: deploy
  script:
    - echo "Deploying application..."

✅ Each job is clearly linked to a stage.
✅ Jobs in the same stage run in parallel.
✅ Stages run sequentially.

🔥 Different Types of Pipelines in GitLab

Type Description
Basic Pipeline The classic pipeline with build, test, deploy stages
Multi-Project Pipeline Triggers pipelines across multiple repositories
Parent-Child Pipeline Splits big pipelines into smaller manageable pieces
Merge Request Pipeline Special pipelines triggered during Merge Requests only
Scheduled Pipelines Pipelines that run based on a cron schedule automatically

🎯 Conclusion

GitLab CI/CD simplifies how teams build, test, and deploy software.
Starting simple — by automating build and test stages — sets a strong DevOps foundation.

Stay tuned! In upcoming posts, I’ll cover:

  • Setting up your own GitLab Runner
  • Docker image builds with GitLab
  • Deployment automation to Kubernetes

Let’s automate and innovate! 🚀

“First automate the boring stuff, then scale the magic.” 🔥