Advanced GitLab Training Course

Introduction and Core Principles

• Establishing a baseline: assessing participants’ existing knowledge of Git and GitLab.
• Reviewing essential Git concepts: commits, branches, merges, push/pull operations.
• An overview of GitLab editions (Free versus Premium versus Ultimate).
• Common GitLab use cases and their organisational advantages.

Overview of GitLab Features and Architecture

• A walkthrough of the GitLab interface and project structure.
• Key functionalities: repository management, pipelines, and issue boards.
• An introduction to GitLab CI/CD architecture and the role of runners.

GitLab Workflow

• Standard workflows: GitLab Flow versus GitFlow.
• Managing merge requests, approvals, and review cycles.
• Branch management strategies and permission settings.

Structuring Projects with Groups and Namespaces

• Understanding GitLab groups, subgroups, and namespaces.
• Project visibility settings and group-level permissions.
• Forking strategies and managing team access.

Implementing CI/CD in GitLab

• Setting up and registering GitLab Runners.
• Configuring Docker and Kubernetes executors.
• Utilising Docker-in-Docker (DIND): benefits and considerations.
• Resolving common runner-related issues.
• Writing and structuring the gitlab-ci.yml file.
• Managing variables and CI secrets.
• Designing CI workflows and stages.
• Incorporating templates and reusable pipeline definitions.
• Configuring triggers, schedules, and manual pipeline controls.
• Generating releases and establishing tagging strategies.

Issue Management and Collaboration

• Creating and linking issues effectively.
• Configuring custom issue boards and labels.
• Tracking progress through milestones.

Using GitLab Markdown

• Formatting issues, merge requests, and wiki pages.
• Applying Markdown for documentation and inline visuals.
• Utilising checklists, code blocks, and tables.

GitLab Pages

• Publishing static websites directly from GitLab repositories.
• Configuring GitLab Pages with custom domains.
• Integrating CI/CD with Pages deployments.

Security and Access Management

• Managing personal access tokens and project tokens.
• Securing pipeline secrets and variables.
• An overview of GitLab’s security scanning capabilities.

Troubleshooting and Diagnostics

• Identifying common CI/CD errors and applying fixes.
• Analyse runner logs and debugging failed jobs.
• Best practices for ensuring pipeline reliability.

Summary and Next Steps

• Course recap and Q&A session.
• Final review session or assessment task.
• Feedback and course conclusion.
• Resources for continued professional development.