Templates

Make jobs reusable

Job templates begin with a dot to prevent execution

Templates can be located in the same .gitlab-ci.yml (inline)

Templates can be imported using include from…

• Files in the same repository
• Files in other repositories of the same instance
• Remote locations (only unauthenticated)

See also the official development guide for templates

Hands-On: Template and include

1. Create inline tmplate:

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

2. Use in build job

    build:
      extends: .build-go
      #...
   

3. Check pipeline

(See inline/.gitlab-ci.yml)

Hands-On: Local

1. Add go.yaml to root of project

2. Include go.yaml:

    include:
    - local: go.yaml
   
    build:
      extends: .build-go
      #...
   

3. Check pipeline

(See local/.gitlab-ci.yml)

Hands-On: File

1. Remove go.yaml from project
2. Create a new project, e.g. template-go
3. Add go.yaml to the root of the new project

4. Include go.yaml:

    include:
    - project: <GROUP>/template-go
      ref: main
      file: go.yaml
   

5. Check pipeline

(See file/.gitlab-ci.yml)

Pro tip: Multiple inheritence

Jobs can inherit from multiple templates

job_name:
  extends:
  - .template1
  - .template2

With conflicting templates…

.template1:
  script: pwd
.template2:
  script: whoami

…last writer wins!

job_name:
  script: whoami

But variables are merged!

Pro tip 2: Solve multiple inheritence

Conflicting templates…

.template1:
  script: pwd
.template2:
  script: whoami

…can be resolved by using reference tags

job_name:
  script:
  - !reference[.template1, script]
  - !reference[.template2, script]