LightDevOps

LightDevOps is a universal GitLab CI/CD pipeline as an easier alternative to GitLab's Auto DevOps. It automatically builds, tests and deploys the application to the Kubernetes cluster, only a Dockerfile and a Helm chart is needed.

Quickstart

In the Gitlab project, assuming that the Dockerfile is in the repository, Helm chart is in the ./chart directory and the Kubernetes cluster is also connected.

In Settings -> CI/CD -> under General pipelines tab, set the path to the CI/CD configuration file:

https://lightdevops.cze.tech/cicd/gitlab-kube-BA-TA-DA.yaml

In Settings -> Repository -> under Deploy tokens tab, create a token with name gitlab-deploy-token and at least read_registry scope.

Optionally set variable TEST_UNIT_COMMAND with docker image command that runs unit tests.

The next commit creates a pipeline that builds, tests and (in the case of the default branch) deploys the application to the Kubernetes cluster. To deploy on the manual trigger, use DM instead of DA in the URL.

Customization

Customization is done by CI/CD variables.

Environment

For an explanation of working with environments, see Environments.

Name	Type	Description	Default value
ENVIRONMENT_PROD_NAME	Variable	Production environment name	prod
ENVIRONMENT_STAG_NAME	Variable	Staging environment name	stag
ENVIRONMENT_<0_to_9>_NAME	Variable	Additional environment names	None

Build

If BUILD_ENVIRONMENTS is set to true, all other variables are within the scope for the environment.

Name	Type	Description	Default value
BUILD_ENVIRONMENTS	Variable	true to create build jobs for individual environments (case-insensitive)	None
BUILD_ENABLED	Variable	auto to create build job, manual to runs it on the manual trigger (case-insensitive)	Depend on variant
BUILD_FILE_CONTENT_<name>	File	Add a file with the given content to the repository before building, <name> can be any custom name	None
BUILD_FILE_PATH_<name>	Variable	The relative path within the repository to place corresponding file by <name>	None
DOCKER_PATH	Variable	The relative path to the build's context	.
DOCKER_FILE	Variable	The relative path to the Dockerfile within the repository	Docker's default (Dockerfile)
DOCKER_FILE	File	Dockerfile (if the bundled Dockerfile is not to be used)	None
DOCKER_ARG_<name>	Variable	Set Docker's build-time variable <name> (docker --build-arg <name>=VALUE)	None

Test

If BUILD_ENVIRONMENTS is set to true, all variables except for TEST_PRECOMMIT_ENABLEDare within the scope for the environment.

Name	Type	Description	Default value
TEST_ENABLED	Variable	auto to create test jobs, manual to run them on the manual trigger (case-insensitive, test command for corresponding test must also be set)	Depend on variant
TEST_UNIT_COMMAND	Variable	Docker image command to run unit tests	None
TEST_PRECOMMIT_ENABLED	Variable	true to enable pre-commit test, manual to run it on the manual trigger (case-insensitive, overwrites TEST_ENABLED)	None
TEST_PRECOMMIT_FILE	Variable	The relative path to pre-commit configuration file within the repository	.pre-commit-config.yaml
TEST_<0_to_9>_COMMAND	Variable	Docker image command to run another tests	None

Deploy and clean

All variables are within the scope for the environment.

Name	Type	Description	Default value
DEPLOY_ENABLED	Variable	auto to create deploy jobs, manual to run them on the manual trigger (case-insensitive)	Depend on variant
DEPLOY_URL	Variable	URL for an environment	None
KUBE_NAMESPACE	Variable	Kubernetes namespace to deploy	GitLab's default (<project_name>-<project_id>-<environment>)
HELM_VALUES_<name>	Variable	Helm values URL, <name> can be any custom name	None
HELM_VALUES_<name>	File	Helm values in YAML format, <name> can be any custom name	None
HELM_SET_<name>	Variable	Helm values in key1=val1,key2=val2,... format, <name> can be any custom name	None
HELM_SETSTRING_<name>	Variable	Helm STRING values in key1=val1,key2=val2,... format, <name> can be any custom name	None
HELM_SETFILE_CONTENT_<name>	File	Helm value from the given content, <name> can be any custom name	None
HELM_SETFILE_KEY_<name>	Variable	Helm key to value by <name>	None
HELM_CHART	Variable	Helm chart path within the repository or chart name if HELM_REPO is set	chart
HELM_REPO	Variable	Helm chart repository URL (if the bundled chart is not to be used)	None
HELM_USERNAME	Variable	Helm chart repository username	None
HELM_PASSWORD	Variable	Helm chart repository password	None
HELM_KEY_REPOSITORY	Variable	Helm chart key to set image repository	image.repository
HELM_KEY_TAG	Variable	Helm chart key to set image tag	image.tag
HELM_KEY_SECRET	Variable	Helm chart key to set registry secret name	imagePullSecrets[0].name
HELM_DEBUG	Variable	true to enable verbose Helm output and disable atomic flag (case-insensitive)	None

Variants

There are variants which define default values for variables BUILD_ENABLED, TEST_ENABLED and DEPLOY_ENABLED defined by letters in filename of CI/CD configuration file. Base variant without default values is:

gitlab-kube.yaml

and variant with enabled automatic build is:

gitlab-kube-BA.yaml

All available variants:

Variant	Variable	Default value
-BA	BUILD_ENABLED	auto
-BM	BUILD_ENABLED	manual
-Bx-TA	TEST_ENABLED	auto
-Bx-TM	TEST_ENABLED	manual
-Bx-Tx-DA	DEPLOY_ENABLED	auto
-Bx-Tx-DM	DEPLOY_ENABLED	manual

It is not possible to define a default value for the next stage without the previous one, e.g. for TEST_ENABLED without BUILD_ENABLED.

Environments

There are two predefined environments, prod as a production environment and stag as a staging environment. The variables ENVIRONMENT_<0_to_9>_NAME can be used to define another 10 environments.

Deployment jobs are created for all defined environments. Creating a deployment job for certain environment only, e.g. production environment, is possible by setting DEPLOY_ENABLED only for prod environment. In the case of the variant with enabled deployment by default, it is possible to set DEPLOY_ENABLED with the value false (or anything instead of auto and manual) for stag environment.

The usual setup is automatic deployment to the staging environment and manual to the production environment so it is possible to use the -BA-TA-DM variant and set DEPLOY_ENABLED to auto for stag environment.

With BUILD_ENVIRONMENTS it is possible to create separate build and test jobs for each environment. This can be used when the environment settings are directly in the builded image (e.g. PWA or mobile applications).

Helm chart requirements

Some values must be possible to set in the Helm chart, but these are standard conventions, so it is assumed that the chart does not need to be modified. If necessary, it is possible to change keys that set these values with CI/CD variables.

Description	Default value	Variable
Image repository	image.repository	HELM_KEY_REPOSITORY
Image tag	image.tag	HELM_KEY_TAG
Registry secret (imagePullSecrets of a pod)	imagePullSecrets[0].name	HELM_KEY_SECRET

Troubleshooting

• When the deploy job failed with error: You must be logged in to the server (Unauthorized) it is necessary in the affected GitLab managed cluster, under Advanced settings tab, click Clear cluster cache.

Build this application

The application itself is a static web page where the CI/CD pipelines are in the cicd directory.

Build from code

Requirements:

• Make
• pandoc
• gomplate

Build is done with:

make

then the output is in the ./build/web directory.

The Dockerfile and Helm chart are also part of this repository so it can be easily build and deployed to Kubernetes (e.g. from GitLab by the LightDevOps pipeline itself).

Run from Docker Hub

Run the image from Docker Hub:

docker run -p 80:80 czetech/lightdevops

Install to Kubernetes using Helm

Setup Helm repository:

helm repo add czetech https://charts.cze.tech/

Install Helm chart:

helm install lightdevops czetech/lightdevops \
  --set ingress.enabled=true \
  --set ingress.hosts[0]=<ingress-host>

see the chart for more options.

Source code

The source code is available at https://github.com/czetech/lightdevops.