ContextQMD
Back to Gitlabhq

Auto DevOps

doc/topics/autodevops/_index.md

18.11.27.6 KB
Original Source

{{< details >}}

  • Tier: Free, Premium, Ultimate
  • Offering: GitLab.com, GitLab Self-Managed, GitLab Dedicated

{{< /details >}}

Auto DevOps turns your code into production-ready applications without the usual configuration overhead. The entire DevOps lifecycle is pre-configured using industry best practices. Start with the defaults to ship quickly, then customize when you need more control. No complex configuration files or deep DevOps expertise is required.

With Auto DevOps you get:

  • CI/CD pipelines that automatically detect your language and framework
  • Built-in security scanning to find vulnerabilities before they reach production
  • Code quality and performance testing on every commit
  • Ready-to-use review apps for previewing changes in a live environment
  • Quick deployments to Kubernetes clusters
  • Progressive deployment strategies that reduce risk and downtime

<i class="fa-youtube-play" aria-hidden="true"></i> For an introduction to Auto DevOps, watch Auto DevOps.

<!-- Video published on 2018-06-22 -->

Auto DevOps features

Auto DevOps supports development during each of the DevOps stages.

StageAuto DevOps feature
BuildAuto build
BuildAuto dependency scanning
TestAuto test
TestAuto browser performance testing
TestAuto code intelligence
TestAuto code quality
TestAuto container scanning
DeployAuto review apps
DeployAuto deploy
SecureAuto dynamic application security testing (DAST)
SecureAuto static application security testing (SAST)
SecureAuto secret detection

Comparison to application platforms and PaaS

Auto DevOps provides features often included in an application platform or in a Platform as a Service (PaaS).

Inspired by Heroku, Auto DevOps goes beyond it in multiple ways:

  • Auto DevOps works with any Kubernetes cluster.
  • There is no additional cost.
  • You can use a cluster hosted by yourself or on any public cloud.
  • Auto DevOps offers an incremental graduation path. If you need to customize, start by changing the templates and evolve from there.

Get started with Auto DevOps

To get started, you only need to enable Auto DevOps. This is enough to run an Auto DevOps pipeline to build and test your application.

If you want to build, test, and deploy your app:

  1. View the requirements for deployment.
  2. Enable Auto DevOps.
  3. Deploy your app to a cloud provider.

Enable or disable Auto DevOps

Auto DevOps runs pipelines automatically only if a Dockerfile or matching buildpack exists.

You can enable or disable Auto DevOps for a project or an entire group. Instance administrators can also set Auto DevOps as the default for all projects in an instance.

Before enabling Auto DevOps, consider preparing it for deployment. If you don't, Auto DevOps can build and test your app, but cannot deploy it.

Per project

To use Auto DevOps for individual projects, you can enable it in a project-by-project basis. If you intend to use it for more projects, you can enable it for a group or an instance. This can save you the time of enabling it in each project.

Prerequisites:

  • You must have the Maintainer or Owner role for the project.
  • Ensure your project does not have a .gitlab-ci.yml present. If present, your CI/CD configuration takes precedence over the Auto DevOps pipeline.

To enable Auto DevOps for a project:

  1. In the top bar, select Search or go to and find your project.
  2. Select Settings > CI/CD.
  3. Expand Auto DevOps.
  4. Select the Default to Auto DevOps pipeline checkbox.
  5. Optional but recommended. Add the base domain.
  6. Optional but recommended. Choose the deployment strategy.
  7. Select Save changes.

GitLab triggers the Auto DevOps pipeline on the default branch.

To disable it, follow the same process and clear the Default to Auto DevOps pipeline checkbox.

Per group

When you enable Auto DevOps for a group, the subgroups and projects in that group inherit the configuration. You can save time by enabling Auto DevOps for a group instead of enabling it for each subgroup or project.

When enabled for a group, you can still disable Auto DevOps for the subgroups and projects where you don't want to use it.

Prerequisites:

  • You must have the Owner role for the group.

To enable Auto DevOps for a group:

  1. In the top bar, select Search or go to and find your group.
  2. Select Settings > CI/CD.
  3. Expand Auto DevOps.
  4. Select the Default to Auto DevOps pipeline checkbox.
  5. Select Save changes.

To disable Auto DevOps for a group, follow the same process and clear the Default to Auto DevOps pipeline checkbox.

After enabling Auto DevOps for a group, you can trigger the Auto DevOps pipeline for any project that belongs to that group:

  1. In the top bar, select Search or go to and find your project.
  2. Make sure the project doesn't contain a .gitlab-ci.yml file.
  3. Select Build > Pipelines.
  4. To trigger the Auto DevOps pipeline, select New pipeline.

Deploy your app to a cloud provider

Upgrade Auto DevOps dependencies when updating GitLab

When updating GitLab, you might need to upgrade Auto DevOps dependencies to match your new GitLab version:

Private registry support

There is no guarantee that you can use a private container registry with Auto DevOps.

Instead, use the GitLab container registry with Auto DevOps to simplify configuration and prevent any unforeseen issues.

Install applications behind a proxy

The GitLab integration with Helm does not support installing applications when behind a proxy.

If you want to do so, you must inject proxy settings into the installation pods at runtime.

Troubleshooting

See troubleshooting Auto DevOps.