Mastering GitLab Runners: Self-Hosted vs Shared, Executors, and Autoscaling Explained

#devops #gitlabci #cicdpipeline

Our Website: https://merge-ready.com/mastering-git...


Learn how to optimize your GitLab CI/CD pipelines with GitLab Runners in this in-depth tutorial. We explain what GitLab Runners are, the differences between GitLab’s shared runners and self-hosted runners, and how to install and register your own runner step-by-step. You’ll discover how to configure runners (covering instance, group, and project scope), use tags to target jobs, and leverage different executors like Shell, Docker, and Kubernetes for various build environments.

We also dive into advanced topics like runner autoscaling – dynamically spawning machines for CI jobs on-demand, and best practices for a fault-tolerant, efficient CI infrastructure.

Whether you’re on GitLab SaaS or self-managed, this guide will help you master GitLab Runners to speed up builds, ensure isolation, and take full control of your continuous integration workflow. (Includes a friendly walkthrough with examples and pro tips for DevOps engineers, not a sales pitch – real talk on benefits and limitations of self-hosted runners, keeping your pipeline fast and secure.)

D|OPS Digital: [email protected]
Me: [email protected]

00:00 - Intro
00:36 - What are Runners
01:13 - Hosted vs Self-Hosted
02:01 - Why Self-Hosted
02:24 - Runner versions
02:36 - How Runners work
02:54 - WALKTHOUGH, Installing and Registering
03:45 - Scope and Tags
04:41 - Executors
04:56 - Config and Autoscaling
05:21 - Goodbye