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Artifacts

Goal

Learn how to...

  • define artifacts
  • consume artifacts

Task 1: Pass an artifact to the next stage

Artifacts are useful for splitting a task in separate job. Refer to the official documentation.

Improve the pipeline by using artifacts:

  1. Create an artifact from the hello binary
  2. Create a new stage called test with a job called test
  3. Call the hello binary as a smoke test

Afterwards check the pipeline in the GitLab UI. You should see a successful pipeline run.

Hint (Click if you are stuck)

Example for creating an artifacts:

job_name:
  script:
  - echo foo >file.txt
  artifacts:
    paths:
    - file.txt
Solution (Click if you are stuck)

.gitlab-ci.yml:

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stages:
- check
- build
- test

default:
  image: golang:1.19.2

lint:
  stage: check
  script:
  - go fmt .

audit:
  stage: check
  script:
  - go vet .

build:
  stage: build
  script:
  - |
    go build \
        -ldflags "-X main.Version=${CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME} -X 'main.Author=${AUTHOR}'" \
        -o hello \
        .
  artifacts:
    paths:
    - hello

test:
  stage: test
  image: alpine
  script:
  - ./hello

If you want to jump to the solution, execute the following command:

git checkout upstream/160_gitlab_ci/060_artifact -- '*'

Bonus 1: Define from which jobs to receive artifacts

Usually, artifacts are received from all jobs in the previous stages. Decide from which jobs to receive artifacts using the dependencies keyword. See the official documentation.

Modify the job test to consume artifacts only from the job build.

Solution (Click if you are stuck)

.gitlab-ci.yml:

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stages:
- check
- build
- test

default:
  image: golang:1.19.2

lint:
  stage: check
  script:
  - go fmt .

audit:
  stage: check
  script:
  - go vet .

build:
  stage: build
  script:
  - |
    go build \
        -ldflags "-X main.Version=${CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME} -X 'main.Author=${AUTHOR}'" \
        -o hello \
        .
  artifacts:
    paths:
    - hello

test:
  stage: test
  image: alpine
  dependencies:
  - build
  script:
  - ./hello

This was just a demonstration. The changes will not be preserved in the following chapters.

Bonus 2: Passing environment variables

In some situations, artifacts are to heavy-weight and passing a variable would be enough. Read the documentation for passing environment variables and implement this between two jobs of your choice.

The following hint and solution are a working example.

Hint (Click if you are stuck)

Example for creating an artifact for environment variables:

job_name:
  script:
  - echo "foo=bar" >build.env
  artifacts:
    reports:
      dotenv: build.env
Solution (Click if you are stuck)

.gitlab-ci.yml:

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stages:
- check
- build
- test

default:
  image: golang:1.19.2

lint:
  stage: check
  script:
  - go fmt .

audit:
  stage: check
  script:
  - go vet .

build:
  stage: build
  variables:
    BINARY_NAME: hello
  script:
  - |
    go build \
        -ldflags "-X main.Version=${CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME} -X 'main.Author=${AUTHOR}'" \
        -o "${BINARY_NAME}" \
        .
  - echo "${BINARY_NAME}" >build.env
  artifacts:
    paths:
    - hello
    reports:
      dotenv: build.env

test:
  stage: test
  image: alpine
  script:
  - ./${BINARY_NAME}

This was just a demonstration. The changes will not be preserved in the following chapters.