Efficient CI/CD with Shared Configurations in GitLab
Tags: cicd, gitlab, devops
Published: 2024-01-23 08:44:05


![header](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/yhrg943x1ayz1tqe6s9j.png)
Original post, first published on [medium account](https://outofindex.medium.com/efficient-ci-cd-with-shared-configurations-in-gitlab-0b0e28712892).


In the realm of Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (CI/CD), maintaining consistency across multiple projects can be challenging. GitLab CI offers a powerful feature called “Shared CI Configurations”, enabling teams to streamline their CI/CD workflows and foster code reuse.


![gitlab logo](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/njvlssssg3ladij7u71a.png)

In this blog post, we’ll explore how to leverage shared CI configurations to enhance efficiency and maintain a standardized approach across projects.

**Understanding Shared CI Configurations:**
GitLab’s Shared CI Configurations allow teams to define CI/CD configurations in a separate repository and then include these configurations in other projects. This approach promotes code reuse, reduces duplication, and ensures a uniform CI/CD setup across different repositories.

**Use Case:**
Reusable CI Configurations for Mini-Apps
Consider a scenario where a development team is managing several mini-apps or modules within a larger project. Each mini-app shares common CI/CD steps, such as building, testing, and deploying. Instead of duplicating these configurations in each mini-app, the team can centralize the CI/CD setup in a shared configuration repository.

**Getting Started:**
Create a Shared CI Configurations Repository: Start by creating a new repository specifically for storing shared CI configurations. This repository will house the `.gitlab-ci.yml` file and any scripts or configurations that multiple projects can reuse.

**Define Shared CI Configurations:**
Craft the CI/CD configurations in the shared repository according to the needs of your projects. Consider defining stages, jobs, and environment variables that are commonly used across projects.

```yml
# .gitlab-ci.yml in Shared CI Configurations Repository

stages:
  - build
  - test

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

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

**Include Shared Configurations in Projects:**

In each mini-app or module repository, include the shared configurations using the `include` directive in the project's `.gitlab-ci.yml` file.

```yml
# .gitlab-ci.yml in Mini-App Repository

include:
  - project: 'your-group/shared-ci-configurations'
    file: '/path/to/.gitlab-ci.yml'
    ref: main
```

**Advantages of Shared CI Configurations:**

**Consistency Across Projects:** Shared CI configurations ensure that all mini-apps within the project follow the same CI/CD process. This consistency is crucial for a unified development and deployment experience.
**Ease of Maintenance:**
Updates or improvements to the CI/CD pipeline can be made in a single location — the shared configurations repository — making maintenance more straightforward.
**Code Reusability:**
Reusing CI configurations reduces redundancy and minimizes the effort needed to set up CI/CD for each mini-app. This is especially beneficial in projects with many modules.
**Conclusion:**
Shared CI Configurations in GitLab CI offer a powerful solution for maintaining a cohesive CI/CD strategy across multiple projects. By centralizing configurations, teams can enhance consistency, reduce duplication, and optimize their development workflows. As teams continue to embrace CI/CD best practices, the use of shared configurations becomes a valuable asset in their toolset.