GitLab Runner

GitLab Runner is a service that runs jobs in CI/CD pipeline on your server. You can use shared runners from GitLab or install your own runner.

Install GitLab Runner

You have to install GitLab Runner on your server. Find your version in this the list, and find your architecture.

To find your architecture, you can use this command:
uname -a
Example
output
Linux xxxxx 6.1.0-10-amd64 xxxxx x86_64 GNU/Linux
My architecture is amd64.And to find distribution:
lsb_release -a
Example
output
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Debian
Description:    Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm)
Release:    12
Codename:   bookworm
My OS is Debian, so I will select deb packages.

In my example, link is https://gitlab-runner-downloads.s3.amazonaws.com/latest/deb/gitlab-runner_amd64.deb

curl -LJO "https://gitlab-runner-downloads.s3.amazonaws.com/latest/deb/gitlab-runner_${arch}.deb"

Install GitLab Runner

sudo dpkg -i gitlab-runner_${arch}.deb
To update GitLab Runner, download again the package and install it.
sudo gitlab-runner install --user root
sudo gitlab-runner start
sudo gitlab-runner status

Create a new runner on GitLab

Go to Settings > CI/CD > Runners and click on Expand button.

gitlab-runner

After creating a new runner, you will see a token. You will need it to register your runner.

gitlab-runner

Register GitLab Runner

Automatic

sudo gitlab-runner register  --url https://gitlab.com  --token TOKEN
  • Enter the GitLab instance URL (for example, https://gitlab.com/): depends if you use GitLab.com or your own GitLab instance.
  • Enter a name for the runner. This is stored only in the local config.toml file: I let the default value.
  • Enter an executor: docker, parallels, shell, virtualbox, docker-autoscaler, docker+machine, custom, ssh, instance, kubernetes, docker-windows: I select docker.
  • Enter the default Docker image (for example, ruby:2.7): I choose alpine:latest.

Manually

sudo gitlab-runner register
output
Please enter the gitlab-ci coordinator URL (e.g. https://gitlab.com/):
https://gitlab.com/
output
Please enter the gitlab-ci token for this runner:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
output
Please enter the gitlab-ci description for this runner:
[xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx]: my-runner
output
Please enter the executor: docker, docker-ssh, parallels, shell, ssh, virtualbox, docker+machine, kubernetes, custom, docker-ssh+machine, docker+machine (docker, docker-ssh, parallels, shell, ssh, virtualbox, docker+machine, kubernetes, custom, docker-ssh+machine, docker+machine):
docker
output
Runner registered successfully. Feel free to start it, but if it's running already the config should be automatically reloaded!

Start GitLab Runner

sudo gitlab-runner start my-runner

Commands

Start GitLab Runner

sudo gitlab-runner start

Check GitLab Runner status

sudo gitlab-runner status

Stop GitLab Runner

sudo gitlab-runner stop

Unregister GitLab Runner

sudo gitlab-runner unregister --all-runners
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