MangaD/Roadmap_to_Learn_GitLab_CICD.md

Roadmap to Learn GitLab CI/CD

Disclaimer: ChatGPT generated document.

To get started with GitLab CI/CD and become proficient, follow this step-by-step approach:

1. Understand the Basics of GitLab

GitLab Overview: Get familiar with GitLab as a platform, which includes Git repositories, issues tracking, and pipelines. If you haven’t used GitLab before, start by exploring how it works for managing source code and collaborating in repositories.
Install GitLab: You can either use GitLab’s cloud version or set it up on a local or remote machine. Set up a GitLab account if you don’t have one: GitLab.

2. Learn Git Fundamentals

Version Control with Git: Brush up on Git basics such as cloning, branching, merging, and working with pull requests.
GitLab Repositories: Understand how to push and pull code using GitLab repositories.
Collaboration: Learn how issues, merge requests, and code reviews are managed in GitLab.

3. Start with Basic GitLab CI/CD Pipelines

GitLab CI/CD Basics: GitLab CI/CD is based on .gitlab-ci.yml, a configuration file where you define your pipeline.
- Read the official GitLab documentation on CI/CD: GitLab CI/CD Docs.
Create a Simple Pipeline:
1. Inside your GitLab project, create a .gitlab-ci.yml file.
2. Define simple stages (e.g., build, test, deploy).
3. Run a basic pipeline that echoes a message or builds a simple application.

Example:

stages:
  - build
  - test

build_job:
  stage: build
  script:
    - echo "Building the project"

test_job:
  stage: test
  script:
    - echo "Running tests"

4. Learn about GitLab Runners

GitLab Runner: It’s the agent that runs your CI/CD jobs. Learn how to configure and register runners (shared or specific to a project).
Use GitLab-Hosted Runners: Initially, GitLab’s shared runners will be sufficient, but later, you can explore setting up your own runners to gain more control over the environment.

5. Dive into Key CI/CD Concepts

Pipelines, Jobs, and Stages: Learn how to split your work into stages (like build, test, deploy) and jobs within those stages.
Triggers and Variables: Understand how to use triggers to run pipelines on specific events (e.g., push to a branch) and utilize environment variables for flexible pipelines.
Artifacts and Caching: Learn how to pass data between jobs using artifacts, and cache dependencies to speed up pipeline execution.

6. Build More Complex Pipelines

Multi-Stage Pipelines: Set up a pipeline with multiple stages like linting, testing, building, and deploying.
Parallel Jobs: Speed up execution by running jobs in parallel.
Conditional Pipelines: Use conditions and rules to control when certain jobs or stages are run.
- Example of a pipeline that runs only on the main branch:
```
test_job:
  stage: test
  script: echo "Running tests"
  rules:
    - if: '$CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == "main"'
```

7. Integrate with External Services

Docker Integration: Learn how to integrate Docker with GitLab CI/CD, for instance, by building Docker images as part of your pipeline.
Deploy to Cloud Providers: Set up pipelines that deploy to AWS, GCP, or Azure.
Continuous Deployment: Learn how to implement CD to automatically deploy changes to production or staging environments.

8. Security in CI/CD

Secrets Management: Learn how to securely manage environment variables and secrets (e.g., API keys) using GitLab's CI/CD environment settings.
Static Application Security Testing (SAST): Integrate security checks into your pipeline to automatically scan your code for vulnerabilities using GitLab's built-in security features.

9. Monitoring and Optimization

Pipeline Monitoring: Use GitLab’s monitoring tools to analyze your pipelines’ performance and troubleshoot any issues.
Optimize Performance: Use caching, artifacts, and parallel jobs to optimize pipeline speed and efficiency.

10. Advanced Topics

Auto DevOps: GitLab’s built-in feature that provides pre-configured CI/CD pipelines, useful if you’re deploying common types of applications.
GitLab CI/CD for Microservices: Explore how to build and manage pipelines for microservice architectures.

11. Practice and Learn from Real-World Projects

Create Projects with CI/CD: Build and iterate on your own projects using GitLab CI/CD.
Study Open-Source Projects: Look at public GitLab repositories that use CI/CD pipelines to see how they’re structured.
GitLab Learning Resources:
- GitLab’s official learning portal: GitLab Learn.

With this roadmap, you should gradually become proficient in GitLab CI/CD while also applying it to real-world scenarios.