Job dependencies

Goal

Learn how to...

• ignore stages
• start jobs as soon as dependencies are met

Task: Start a job early

Start the job build as soon as the job audit completes without waiting for other job of the stage check to finish. Check out the official documentation of needs.

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

Solution (Click if you are stuck)

.gitlab-ci.yml:

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
  needs:
  - audit
  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

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

Bonus: Start a job late

If two jobs in the same stage should not be executed at the same time, the needs keyword can also delay a job until the dependencies are met. Modify the job lint so that it waits for the job audit to finish.

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

Solution (Click if you are stuck)

.gitlab-ci.yml:

stages:
- check
- build
- test

default:
  image: golang:1.19.2

lint:
  stage: check
  needs:
  - audit
  script:
  - go fmt .

audit:
  stage: check
  script:
  - go vet .

build:
  stage: build
  needs:
  - audit
  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

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