Docker Run GitLab Runner - Shell/Bash

Introduction

Docker Run GitLab Runner is a great way to automate your CI/CD process. When using GitLab Runner, you can execute CI/CD pipelines for your projects.

This article describes how to use Docker to run GitLab Runner with the Shell/Bash executor.

Prerequisites

Before proceeding, make sure you have the following:

• Docker installed on your machine
• GitLab Runner installed on your system or a GitLab account with Runner available

Steps

1. Pull GitLab Runner Image

The first step is to pull the GitLab Runner open-source image using Docker. You can pull the image by running the following command:

docker pull gitlab/gitlab-runner:latest

2. Register Runner

To register the GitLab Runner, you'll first need to retrieve the registration token from your GitLab project. You can do this by navigating to the Settings > CI/CD section of your project and copy the token from the Runner registration token section.

Next, you need to run the following command to register the GitLab Runner:

docker run -it --rm -v /srv/gitlab-runner/config:/etc/gitlab-runner gitlab/gitlab-runner register \
  --non-interactive \
  --executor "shell" \
  --url "https://gitlab.com/" \
  --registration-token "YOUR_REGISTRATION_TOKEN" \
  --description "YOUR_RUNNER_DESCRIPTION" \
  --tag-list "YOUR_TAG_LIST" \
  --run-untagged="true" \
  --locked="false"

Here is what each of the command options does:

• -it - Runs the container in interactive mode and creates a tty terminal.
• --rm - Removes the container upon exit.
• -v /srv/gitlab-runner/config:/etc/gitlab-runner - Mounts the GitLab Runner configuration directory.
• --non-interactive - Runs the registration command in non-interactive mode.
• --executor "shell" - Specifies the runner executor type.
• --url "https://gitlab.com/" - Specifies the URL of your GitLab instance.
• --registration-token "YOUR_REGISTRATION_TOKEN" - Specifies the Runner registration token.
• --description "YOUR_RUNNER_DESCRIPTION" - Specifies a description for the Runner.
• --tag-list "YOUR_TAG_LIST" - Specifies a comma-separated list of runner tags.
• --run-untagged="true" - Allows the Runner to run untagged jobs.
• --locked="false" - Specifies that the Runner is not locked and can be used by any project.

3. Start GitLab Runner

After registering the Runner, you can start it by running the following command:

docker run -d --name gitlab-runner --restart always \
  -v /srv/gitlab-runner/config:/etc/gitlab-runner \
  gitlab/gitlab-runner:latest

Here is what each of the command options does:

• -d - Runs the container in detached mode.
• --name gitlab-runner - Specifies a name for the container.
• --restart always - Automatically restarts the container upon exit.
• -v /srv/gitlab-runner/config:/etc/gitlab-runner - Mounts the Runner configuration directory.
• gitlab/gitlab-runner:latest - Specifies the GitLab Runner image to run.

Conclusion

In this article, you learned how to use Docker Run GitLab Runner with the Shell/Bash executor. You pulled the Runner image, registered a new Runner and started it using Docker. Now you can leverage the GitLab Runner to speed up your CI/CD pipeline in your projects.