Build repositories from GitLab

Cloud Build enables you to create triggers to build from repositories hosted on GitLab, allowing you to execute builds in response to events such as commit pushes or merge requests associated with your GitLab repository.

This page explains how you can enable trigger functionality on a GitLab instance. Learn more about Cloud Build triggers and Cloud Build repositories.

Before you begin

• Enable the Cloud Build and Secret Manager APIs.

  Enable the APIs

• Follow the instructions to connect a GitLab host.
• Follow the instructions to connect a GitLab repository.

Creating a GitLab trigger

Console

To create a GitLab trigger using the Google Cloud console:

1. Open the Triggers page:

   Open the Triggers page

2. Select your Google Cloud project from the top of the page and click Open.

3. Click Create trigger.

4. Enter the following trigger settings:

   • Name: A name for your trigger.

   • Region: Select the region for your trigger.

     • If the build config file associated with the trigger specifies a private pool, Cloud Build uses the private pool to run your build. In this case, the region you specify in your trigger must match the region where you created your private pool.
     • If the build config file associated with the trigger does not specify a private pool, Cloud Build uses the default pool to run your build in the same region as your trigger.

   • Description (Optional): A description for your trigger.

   • Event: Select the repository event to invoke your trigger.

     • Push to a branch: Set your trigger to start a build on commits to a particular branch.

     • Push new tag: Set your trigger to start a build on commits that contain a particular tag.

     • Pull request: Set your trigger to start a build on commits to a merge request.

   • Source: Select 2nd gen as your source.

     Note: The region of your repository must match the region of your trigger.

     • Repository: From the list of available repositories, select the desired repository. To connect a new repository, see Connect to a GitLab repository.

     • Branch or Tag: Specify a regular expression with the branch or tag value to match. For information on acceptable regular expression syntax, see RE2 syntax.

     • Comment control: If you selected Pull request as your Event, choose one of the following options to control whether a build will automatically be executed by the trigger:

       Warning: Any user with read access to the repository can submit a merge request, which may execute a build that includes changes to the source code in the merge request. To disable this behavior, we recommend using manual approvals to gate builds when making merge requests on public repositories. You can also learn more about the build-time privileges of triggers.

       • Required except for owners and collaborators: When a merge request is created or updated by a repository owner or collaborator, builds will automatically be executed by the trigger. If an external contributor initiates the action, builds will only be executed after an owner or collaborator comments /gcbrun on the merge request.

       • Required: When a merge request is created or updated by any contributor, builds will only be executed after an owner or collaborator comments /gcbrun on the merge request. Builds are executed each time a change to a merge request is made.

       • Not required: When a merge request is created or updated by any contributor, builds will automatically be executed by triggers.

   • Configuration: Select the build config file located in your repository or configure your build inline on the trigger.

   • Type: Select the type of configuration to use for your build.

     • Cloud Build configuration file (yaml or json): Use a build config file for your configuration.
     • Dockerfile: Use a Dockerfile for your configuration.

   • Location: Specify the location for your configuration.

     • Repository: If your config file is located in your repository, provide the location of your build config file or the Dockerfile directory and a name for the resulting image. If your configuration is a Dockerfile, you can optionally provide a timeout for your build. When you've provided the Dockerfile and image name, you'll see a preview of the docker build command that your build will execute.

     • Inline: If you selected Cloud Build configuration file (yaml or json) as your configuration option, you can specify your build config inline. Click Open Editor to write your build config file in the Google Cloud console using YAML or JSON syntax. Click Done to save your build config.

       Note: Inline build configuration support is not available for Dockerfile.

5. Click Create to create your GitLab trigger.

gcloud

To create GitLab triggers using gcloud commands, run the following command:

gcloud builds triggers create gitlab \
  --name=TRIGGER_NAME \
  --repository=projects/PROJECT_ID/locations/REGION/connections/CONNECTION_NAME/repositories/REPO_NAME \
  --branch-pattern=BRANCH_PATTERN # or --tag-pattern=TAG_PATTERN \
  --build-config=BUILD_CONFIG_FILE \
  --region=REGION

Where:

• TRIGGER_NAME is the name of your trigger.
• PROJECT_ID is your Google Cloud project ID.
• REGION is the region for of your trigger.
• CONNECTION_NAME is the name of your GitLab connection.
• REPO_NAME is the name of your repository
• BRANCH_PATTERN is the branch name in your repository to invoke the build on.
• TAG_PATTERN is the tag name in your repository to invoke the build on.
• BUILD_CONFIG_FILE is the path to your build configuration file.

Data sharing

The data sent to GitLab from Cloud Build helps you identify triggers by name and see build results on your GitLab repositories.

The following data is currently shared between Cloud Build and your GitLab host:

• Google Cloud project ID
• Trigger name

What's next

• Learn how to manage build triggers.