# Auto DevOps

> [Introduced][ce-37115] in GitLab 10.0. Generally available on GitLab 11.0.

Auto DevOps provides pre-defined CI/CD configuration which allows you to automatically detect, build, test,
deploy, and monitor your applications. Leveraging CI/CD best practices and tools, Auto DevOps aims
to simplify the setup and execution of a mature & modern software development lifecycle.

## Overview

NOTE: **Enabled by default:**
Starting with GitLab 11.3, the Auto DevOps pipeline is enabled by default for all
projects. If it has not been explicitly enabled for the project, Auto DevOps will be automatically
disabled on the first pipeline failure. Your project will continue to use an alternative
[CI/CD configuration file](../../ci/yaml/README.md) if one is found. A GitLab
administrator can [change this setting](../../user/admin_area/settings/continuous_integration.html#auto-devops)
in the admin area.

With Auto DevOps, the software development process becomes easier to set up
as every project can have a complete workflow from verification to monitoring
with minimal configuration. Just push your code and GitLab takes
care of everything else. This makes it easier to start new projects and brings
consistency to how applications are set up throughout a company.

## Quick start

If you are using GitLab.com, see the [quick start guide](quick_start_guide.md)
for how to use Auto DevOps with GitLab.com and a Kubernetes cluster on Google Kubernetes
Engine (GKE).

If you are using a self-hosted instance of GitLab, you will need to configure the
[Google OAuth2 OmniAuth Provider](../../integration/google.md) before
you can configure a cluster on GKE. Once this is set up, you can follow the steps on the
[quick start guide](quick_start_guide.md) to get started.

## Comparison to application platforms and PaaS

Auto DevOps provides functionality that is often included in an application
platform or a Platform as a Service (PaaS). It takes inspiration from the
innovative work done by [Heroku](https://www.heroku.com/) and goes beyond it
in multiple ways:

1. Auto DevOps works with any Kubernetes cluster; you're not limited to running
   on GitLab's infrastructure. (Note that many features also work without Kubernetes.)
1. There is no additional cost (no markup on the infrastructure costs), and you
   can use a self-hosted Kubernetes cluster or Containers as a Service on any
   public cloud (for example, [Google Kubernetes Engine](https://cloud.google.com/kubernetes-engine/)).
1. Auto DevOps has more features including security testing, performance testing,
   and code quality testing.
1. Auto DevOps offers an incremental graduation path. If you need advanced customizations,
   you can start modifying the templates without having to start over on a
   completely different platform. Review the [customizing](#customizing) section for more information.

## Features

Comprised of a set of stages, Auto DevOps brings these best practices to your
project in a simple and automatic way:

1. [Auto Build](#auto-build)
1. [Auto Test](#auto-test)
1. [Auto Code Quality](#auto-code-quality) **[STARTER]**
1. [Auto SAST (Static Application Security Testing)](#auto-sast) **[ULTIMATE]**
1. [Auto Dependency Scanning](#auto-dependency-scanning) **[ULTIMATE]**
1. [Auto License Management](#auto-license-management) **[ULTIMATE]**
1. [Auto Container Scanning](#auto-container-scanning)
1. [Auto Review Apps](#auto-review-apps)
1. [Auto DAST (Dynamic Application Security Testing)](#auto-dast) **[ULTIMATE]**
1. [Auto Deploy](#auto-deploy)
1. [Auto Browser Performance Testing](#auto-browser-performance-testing) **[PREMIUM]**
1. [Auto Monitoring](#auto-monitoring)

As Auto DevOps relies on many different components, it's good to have a basic
knowledge of the following:

- [Kubernetes](https://kubernetes.io/docs/home/)
- [Helm](https://docs.helm.sh/)
- [Docker](https://docs.docker.com)
- [GitLab Runner](https://docs.gitlab.com/runner/)
- [Prometheus](https://prometheus.io/docs/introduction/overview/)

Auto DevOps provides great defaults for all the stages; you can, however,
[customize](#customizing) almost everything to your needs.

For an overview on the creation of Auto DevOps, read the blog post [From 2/3 of the Self-Hosted Git Market, to the Next-Generation CI System, to Auto DevOps](https://about.gitlab.com/2017/06/29/whats-next-for-gitlab-ci/).

## Requirements

To make full use of Auto DevOps, you will need:

1. **GitLab Runner** (needed for all stages) - Your Runner needs to be
   configured to be able to run Docker. Generally this means using the
   [Docker](https://docs.gitlab.com/runner/executors/docker.html) or [Kubernetes
   executor](https://docs.gitlab.com/runner/executors/kubernetes.html), with
   [privileged mode enabled](https://docs.gitlab.com/runner/executors/docker.html#use-docker-in-docker-with-privileged-mode).
   The Runners do not need to be installed in the Kubernetes cluster, but the
   Kubernetes executor is easy to use and is automatically autoscaling.
   Docker-based Runners can be configured to autoscale as well, using [Docker
   Machine](https://docs.gitlab.com/runner/install/autoscaling.html). Runners
   should be registered as [shared Runners](../../ci/runners/README.md#registering-a-shared-runner)
   for the entire GitLab instance, or [specific Runners](../../ci/runners/README.md#registering-a-specific-runner)
   that are assigned to specific projects.
1. **Base domain** (needed for Auto Review Apps and Auto Deploy) - You will need
   a domain configured with wildcard DNS which is going to be used by all of your
   Auto DevOps applications. [Read the specifics](#auto-devops-base-domain).
1. **Kubernetes** (needed for Auto Review Apps, Auto Deploy, and Auto Monitoring) -
   To enable deployments, you will need Kubernetes 1.5+. You need a [Kubernetes cluster][kubernetes-clusters]
   for the project, or a Kubernetes [default service template](../../user/project/integrations/services_templates.md)
   for the entire GitLab installation.
    1. **A load balancer** - You can use NGINX ingress by deploying it to your
       Kubernetes cluster using the
       [`nginx-ingress`](https://github.com/kubernetes/charts/tree/master/stable/nginx-ingress)
       Helm chart.
1. **Prometheus** (needed for Auto Monitoring) - To enable Auto Monitoring, you
   will need Prometheus installed somewhere (inside or outside your cluster) and
   configured to scrape your Kubernetes cluster. To get response metrics
   (in addition to system metrics), you need to
   [configure Prometheus to monitor NGINX](../../user/project/integrations/prometheus_library/nginx_ingress.md#configuring-prometheus-to-monitor-for-nginx-ingress-metrics).
   The [Prometheus service](../../user/project/integrations/prometheus.md)
   integration needs to be enabled for the project, or enabled as a
   [default service template](../../user/project/integrations/services_templates.md)
   for the entire GitLab installation.

NOTE: **Note:**
If you do not have Kubernetes or Prometheus installed, then Auto Review Apps,
Auto Deploy, and Auto Monitoring will be silently skipped.

## Auto DevOps base domain

The Auto DevOps base domain is required if you want to make use of [Auto
Review Apps](#auto-review-apps) and [Auto Deploy](#auto-deploy). It can be defined
in three places:

- either under the project's CI/CD settings while [enabling Auto DevOps](#enabling-auto-devops)
- or in instance-wide settings in the **admin area > Settings** under the "Continuous Integration and Delivery" section
- or at the project or group level as a variable: `AUTO_DEVOPS_DOMAIN` (required if you want to use [multiple clusters](#using-multiple-kubernetes-clusters))

A wildcard DNS A record matching the base domain(s) is required, for example,
given a base domain of `example.com`, you'd need a DNS entry like:

```
*.example.com   3600     A     1.2.3.4
```

In this case, `example.com` is the domain name under which the deployed apps will be served,
and `1.2.3.4` is the IP address of your load balancer; generally NGINX
([see requirements](#requirements)). How to set up the DNS record is beyond
the scope of this document; you should check with your DNS provider.

Alternatively you can use free public services like [nip.io](http://nip.io)
which provide automatic wildcard DNS without any configuration. Just set the
Auto DevOps base domain to `1.2.3.4.nip.io`.

Once set up, all requests will hit the load balancer, which in turn will route
them to the Kubernetes pods that run your application(s).

## Using multiple Kubernetes clusters **[PREMIUM]**

When using Auto DevOps, you may want to deploy different environments to
different Kubernetes clusters. This is possible due to the 1:1 connection that
[exists between them](../../user/project/clusters/index.md#multiple-kubernetes-clusters).

In the [Auto DevOps template](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/blob/master/lib/gitlab/ci/templates/Auto-DevOps.gitlab-ci.yml)
(used behind the scenes by Auto DevOps), there are currently 3 defined environment names that you need to know:

- `review/` (every environment starting with `review/`)
- `staging`
- `production`

Those environments are tied to jobs that use [Auto Deploy](#auto-deploy), so
except for the environment scope, they would also need to have a different
domain they would be deployed to. This is why you need to define a separate
`AUTO_DEVOPS_DOMAIN` variable for all the above
[based on the environment](../../ci/variables/README.md#limiting-environment-scopes-of-variables).

The following table is an example of how the three different clusters would
be configured.

| Cluster name | Cluster environment scope | `AUTO_DEVOPS_DOMAIN` variable value | Variable environment scope | Notes |
| ------------ | -------------- | ----------------------------- | ------------- | ------ |
| review       |  `review/*`    | `review.example.com`  | `review/*`      | The review cluster which will run all [Review Apps](../../ci/review_apps/index.md). `*` is a wildcard, which means it will be used by every environment name starting with `review/`. |
| staging      |  `staging`     | `staging.example.com` | `staging`       | (Optional) The staging cluster which will run the deployments of the staging environments. You need to [enable it first](#deploy-policy-for-staging-and-production-environments). |
| production   |  `production`  | `example.com`         | `production`    | The production cluster which will run the deployments of the production environment. You can use [incremental rollouts](#incremental-rollout-to-production). |

To add a different cluster for each environment:

1. Navigate to your project's **Operations > Kubernetes** and create the Kubernetes clusters
   with their respective environment scope as described from the table above.

    ![Auto DevOps multiple clusters](img/autodevops_multiple_clusters.png)

1. After the clusters are created, navigate to each one and install Helm Tiller
   and Ingress.
1. Make sure you have [configured your DNS](#auto-devops-base-domain) with the
   specified Auto DevOps domains.
1. Navigate to your project's **Settings > CI/CD > Variables** and add
   the `AUTO_DEVOPS_DOMAIN` variables with their respective environment
   scope.

    ![Auto DevOps domain variables](img/autodevops_domain_variables.png)

Now that all is configured, you can test your setup by creating a merge request
and verifying that your app is deployed as a review app in the Kubernetes
cluster with the `review/*` environment scope. Similarly, you can check the
other environments.

## Enabling/Disabling Auto DevOps

When first using Auto Devops, review the [requirements](#requirements) to ensure all necessary components to make
full use of Auto DevOps are available. If this is your fist time, we recommend you follow the
[quick start guide](quick_start_guide.md).

GitLab.com users can enable/disable Auto DevOps at the project-level only. Self-managed users
can enable/disable Auto DevOps at either the project-level or instance-level.

### Enabling/disabling Auto DevOps at the instance-level (Administrators only)

1. Go to **Admin area > Settings > Continuous Integration and Deployment**.
1. Toggle the checkbox labeled **Default to Auto DevOps pipeline for all projects**.
1. If enabling, optionally set up the Auto DevOps [base domain](#auto-devops-base-domain) which will be used for Auto Deploy and Auto Review Apps.
1. Click **Save changes** for the changes to take effect.

NOTE: **Note:**
Even when disabled at the instance level, project maintainers are still able to enable
Auto DevOps at the project level.

### Enabling/disabling Auto DevOps at the project-level

If enabling, check that your project doesn't have a `.gitlab-ci.yml`, or if one exists, remove it.

1. Go to your project's **Settings > CI/CD > Auto DevOps**.
1. Toggle the **Default to Auto DevOps pipeline** checkbox (checked to enable, unchecked to disable)
1. When enabling, it's optional but recommended to add in the [base domain](#auto-devops-base-domain)
   that will be used by Auto DevOps to [deploy your application](#auto-deploy)
   and choose the [deployment strategy](#deployment-strategy).
1. Click **Save changes** for the changes to take effect.

When the feature has been enabled, an Auto DevOps pipeline is triggered on the default branch.

NOTE: **Note:**
For GitLab versions 10.0 - 10.2, when enabling Auto DevOps, a pipeline needs to be
manually triggered either by pushing a new commit to the repository or by visiting
`https://example.gitlab.com/<username>/<project>/pipelines/new` and creating
a new pipeline for your default branch, generally `master`.

NOTE: **Note:**
There is also a feature flag to enable Auto DevOps to a percentage of projects
which can be enabled from the console with
`Feature.get(:force_autodevops_on_by_default).enable_percentage_of_actors(10)`.

### Deployment strategy

> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/38542) in GitLab 11.0.

You can change the deployment strategy used by Auto DevOps by going to your
project's **Settings > CI/CD > Auto DevOps**.

The available options are:

- **Continuous deployment to production**: Enables [Auto Deploy](#auto-deploy)
  with `master` branch directly deployed to production.
- **Continuous deployment to production using timed incremental rollout**: Sets the
  [`INCREMENTAL_ROLLOUT_MODE`](#timed-incremental-rollout-to-production) variable
  to `timed`, and production deployment will be executed with a 5 minute delay between
  each increment in rollout.
- **Automatic deployment to staging, manual deployment to production**: Sets the
  [`STAGING_ENABLED`](#deploy-policy-for-staging-and-production-environments) and
  [`INCREMENTAL_ROLLOUT_MODE`](#incremental-rollout-to-production) variables
  to `1` and `manual`. This means:

  - `master` branch is directly deployed to staging.
  - Manual actions are provided for incremental rollout to production.

## Stages of Auto DevOps

The following sections describe the stages of Auto DevOps. Read them carefully
to understand how each one works.

### Auto Build

Auto Build creates a build of the application in one of two ways:

- If there is a `Dockerfile`, it will use `docker build` to create a Docker image.
- Otherwise, it will use [Herokuish](https://github.com/gliderlabs/herokuish)
  and [Heroku buildpacks](https://devcenter.heroku.com/articles/buildpacks)
  to automatically detect and build the application into a Docker image.

Either way, the resulting Docker image is automatically pushed to the
[Container Registry][container-registry] and tagged with the commit SHA.

CAUTION: **Important:**
If you are also using Auto Review Apps and Auto Deploy and choose to provide
your own `Dockerfile`, make sure you expose your application to port
`5000` as this is the port assumed by the default Helm chart.

### Auto Test

Auto Test automatically runs the appropriate tests for your application using
[Herokuish](https://github.com/gliderlabs/herokuish) and [Heroku
buildpacks](https://devcenter.heroku.com/articles/buildpacks) by analyzing
your project to detect the language and framework. Several languages and
frameworks are detected automatically, but if your language is not detected,
you may succeed with a [custom buildpack](#custom-buildpacks). Check the
[currently supported languages](#currently-supported-languages).

NOTE: **Note:**
Auto Test uses tests you already have in your application. If there are no
tests, it's up to you to add them.

### Auto Code Quality **[STARTER]**

Auto Code Quality uses the
[Code Quality image](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/security-products/codequality) to run
static analysis and other code checks on the current code. The report is
created, and is uploaded as an artifact which you can later download and check
out.

Any differences between the source and target branches are also
[shown in the merge request widget](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/project/merge_requests/code_quality.html).

### Auto SAST **[ULTIMATE]**

> Introduced in [GitLab Ultimate][ee] 10.3.

Static Application Security Testing (SAST) uses the
[SAST Docker image](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/security-products/sast) to run static
analysis on the current code and checks for potential security issues. Once the
report is created, it's uploaded as an artifact which you can later download and
check out.

Any security warnings are also
[shown in the merge request widget](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee//user/project/merge_requests/sast.html).

NOTE: **Note:**
The Auto SAST stage will be skipped on licenses other than Ultimate.

### Auto Dependency Scanning **[ULTIMATE]**

> Introduced in [GitLab Ultimate][ee] 10.7.

Dependency Scanning uses the
[Dependency Scanning Docker image](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/security-products/dependency-scanning)
to run analysis on the project dependencies and checks for potential security issues. Once the
report is created, it's uploaded as an artifact which you can later download and
check out.

Any security warnings are also
[shown in the merge request widget](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee//user/project/merge_requests/dependency_scanning.html).

NOTE: **Note:**
The Auto Dependency Scanning stage will be skipped on licenses other than Ultimate.

### Auto License Management **[ULTIMATE]**

> Introduced in [GitLab Ultimate][ee] 11.0.

License Management uses the
[License Management Docker image](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/security-products/license-management)
to search the project dependencies for their license. Once the
report is created, it's uploaded as an artifact which you can later download and
check out.

Any licenses are also
[shown in the merge request widget](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee//user/project/merge_requests/license_management.html).

NOTE: **Note:**
The Auto License Management stage will be skipped on licenses other than Ultimate.

### Auto Container Scanning

> Introduced in GitLab 10.4.

Vulnerability Static Analysis for containers uses
[Clair](https://github.com/coreos/clair) to run static analysis on a
Docker image and checks for potential security issues. Once the report is
created, it's uploaded as an artifact which you can later download and
check out.

Any security warnings are also
[shown in the merge request widget](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee//user/project/merge_requests/container_scanning.html).

NOTE: **Note:**
The Auto Container Scanning stage will be skipped on licenses other than Ultimate.

### Auto Review Apps

NOTE: **Note:**
This is an optional step, since many projects do not have a Kubernetes cluster
available. If the [requirements](#requirements) are not met, the job will
silently be skipped.

CAUTION: **Caution:**
Your apps should *not* be manipulated outside of Helm (using Kubernetes directly.)
This can cause confusion with Helm not detecting the change, and subsequent
deploys with Auto DevOps can undo your changes. Also, if you change something
and want to undo it by deploying again, Helm may not detect that anything changed
in the first place, and thus not realize that it needs to re-apply the old config.

[Review Apps][review-app] are temporary application environments based on the
branch's code so developers, designers, QA, product managers, and other
reviewers can actually see and interact with code changes as part of the review
process. Auto Review Apps create a Review App for each branch.

Auto Review Apps will deploy your app to your Kubernetes cluster only. When no cluster
is available, no deployment will occur.

The Review App will have a unique URL based on the project name, the branch
name, and a unique number, combined with the Auto DevOps base domain. For
example, `user-project-branch-1234.example.com`. A link to the Review App shows
up in the merge request widget for easy discovery. When the branch is deleted,
for example after the merge request is merged, the Review App will automatically
be deleted.

### Auto DAST **[ULTIMATE]**

> Introduced in [GitLab Ultimate][ee] 10.4.

Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) uses the
popular open source tool [OWASP ZAProxy](https://github.com/zaproxy/zaproxy)
to perform an analysis on the current code and checks for potential security
issues. Once the report is created, it's uploaded as an artifact which you can
later download and check out.

Any security warnings are also
[shown in the merge request widget](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee//user/project/merge_requests/dast.html).

NOTE: **Note:**
The Auto DAST stage will be skipped on licenses other than Ultimate.

### Auto Browser Performance Testing **[PREMIUM]**

> Introduced in [GitLab Premium][ee] 10.4.

Auto Browser Performance Testing utilizes the [Sitespeed.io container](https://hub.docker.com/r/sitespeedio/sitespeed.io/) to measure the performance of a web page. A JSON report is created and uploaded as an artifact, which includes the overall performance score for each page. By default, the root page of Review and Production environments will be tested. If you would like to add additional URL's to test, simply add the paths to a file named `.gitlab-urls.txt` in the root directory, one per line. For example:

```
/
/features
/direction
```

Any performance differences between the source and target branches are also
[shown in the merge request widget](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee//user/project/merge_requests/browser_performance_testing.html).

### Auto Deploy

NOTE: **Note:**
This is an optional step, since many projects do not have a Kubernetes cluster
available. If the [requirements](#requirements) are not met, the job will
silently be skipped.

CAUTION: **Caution:**
Your apps should *not* be manipulated outside of Helm (using Kubernetes directly.)
This can cause confusion with Helm not detecting the change, and subsequent
deploys with Auto DevOps can undo your changes. Also, if you change something
and want to undo it by deploying again, Helm may not detect that anything changed
in the first place, and thus not realize that it needs to re-apply the old config.

After a branch or merge request is merged into the project's default branch (usually
`master`), Auto Deploy deploys the application to a `production` environment in
the Kubernetes cluster, with a namespace based on the project name and unique
project ID, for example `project-4321`.

Auto Deploy doesn't include deployments to staging or canary by default, but the
[Auto DevOps template] contains job definitions for these tasks if you want to
enable them.

You can make use of [environment variables](#helm-chart-variables) to automatically
scale your pod replicas.

It's important to note that when a project is deployed to a Kubernetes cluster,
it relies on a Docker image that has been pushed to the
[GitLab Container Registry](../../user/project/container_registry.md). Kubernetes
fetches this image and uses it to run the application. If the project is public,
the image can be accessed by Kubernetes without any authentication, allowing us
to have deployments more usable. If the project is private/internal, the
Registry requires credentials to pull the image. Currently, this is addressed
by providing `CI_JOB_TOKEN` as the password that can be used, but this token will
no longer be valid as soon as the deployment job finishes. This means that
Kubernetes can run the application, but in case it should be restarted or
executed somewhere else, it cannot be accessed again.

> [Introduced][ce-21955] in GitLab 11.4

Database initialization and migrations for PostgreSQL can be configured to run
within the application pod by setting the project variables `DB_INITIALIZE` and
`DB_MIGRATE` respectively.

If present, `DB_INITIALIZE` will be run as a shell command within an application pod as a helm
post-install hook. Note that this means that if any deploy succeeds,
`DB_INITIALIZE` will not be processed thereafter.

If present, `DB_MIGRATE` will be run as a shell command within an application pod as
a helm pre-upgrade hook.

For example, in a Rails application:

* `DB_INITIALIZE` can be set to `cd /app && RAILS_ENV=production
  bin/setup`
* `DB_MIGRATE` can be set to `cd /app && RAILS_ENV=production bin/update`

NOTE: **Note:**
The `/app` path is the directory of your project inside the docker image
as [configured by
Herokuish](https://github.com/gliderlabs/herokuish#paths)

> [Introduced][ce-19507] in GitLab 11.0.

For internal and private projects a [GitLab Deploy Token](../../user/project/deploy_tokens/index.md###gitlab-deploy-token)
will be automatically created, when Auto DevOps is enabled and the Auto DevOps settings are saved. This Deploy Token
can be used for permanent access to the registry.

Note: **Note**
When the GitLab Deploy Token has been manually revoked, it won't be automatically created.

### Auto Monitoring

NOTE: **Note:**
Check the [requirements](#requirements) for Auto Monitoring to make this stage
work.

Once your application is deployed, Auto Monitoring makes it possible to monitor
your application's server and response metrics right out of the box. Auto
Monitoring uses [Prometheus](../../user/project/integrations/prometheus.md) to
get system metrics such as CPU and memory usage directly from
[Kubernetes](../../user/project/integrations/prometheus_library/kubernetes.md),
and response metrics such as HTTP error rates, latency, and throughput from the
[NGINX server](../../user/project/integrations/prometheus_library/nginx_ingress.md).

The metrics include:

- **Response Metrics:** latency, throughput, error rate
- **System Metrics:** CPU utilization, memory utilization

In order to make use of monitoring you need to:

1. [Deploy Prometheus](../../user/project/integrations/prometheus.md#configuring-your-own-prometheus-server-within-kubernetes) into your Kubernetes cluster
1. If you would like response metrics, ensure you are running at least version
   0.9.0 of NGINX Ingress and
   [enable Prometheus metrics](https://github.com/kubernetes/ingress-nginx/blob/master/docs/examples/customization/custom-vts-metrics-prometheus/nginx-vts-metrics-conf.yaml).
1. Finally, [annotate](https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/overview/working-with-objects/annotations/)
   the NGINX Ingress deployment to be scraped by Prometheus using
   `prometheus.io/scrape: "true"` and `prometheus.io/port: "10254"`.

To view the metrics, open the
[Monitoring dashboard for a deployed environment](../../ci/environments.md#monitoring-environments).

![Auto Metrics](img/auto_monitoring.png)

## Customizing

While Auto DevOps provides great defaults to get you started, you can customize
almost everything to fit your needs; from custom [buildpacks](#custom-buildpacks),
to [`Dockerfile`s](#custom-dockerfile), [Helm charts](#custom-helm-chart), or
even copying the complete [CI/CD configuration](#customizing-gitlab-ci-yml)
into your project to enable staging and canary deployments, and more.

### Custom buildpacks

If the automatic buildpack detection fails for your project, or if you want to
use a custom buildpack, you can override the buildpack(s) using a project variable
or a `.buildpacks` file in your project:

- **Project variable** - Create a project variable `BUILDPACK_URL` with the URL
  of the buildpack to use.
- **`.buildpacks` file** - Add a file in your project's repo called  `.buildpacks`
  and add the URL of the buildpack to use on a line in the file. If you want to
  use multiple buildpacks, you can enter them in, one on each line.

CAUTION: **Caution:**
Using multiple buildpacks isn't yet supported by Auto DevOps.

### Custom `Dockerfile`

If your project has a `Dockerfile` in the root of the project repo, Auto DevOps
will build a Docker image based on the Dockerfile rather than using buildpacks.
This can be much faster and result in smaller images, especially if your
Dockerfile is based on [Alpine](https://hub.docker.com/_/alpine/).

### Custom Helm Chart

Auto DevOps uses [Helm](https://helm.sh/) to deploy your application to Kubernetes.
You can override the Helm chart used by bundling up a chart into your project
repo or by specifying a project variable:

- **Bundled chart** - If your project has a `./chart` directory with a `Chart.yaml`
  file in it, Auto DevOps will detect the chart and use it instead of the [default
  one](https://gitlab.com/charts/auto-deploy-app).
  This can be a great way to control exactly how your application is deployed.
- **Project variable** - Create a [project variable](../../ci/variables/README.md#secret-variables)
  `AUTO_DEVOPS_CHART` with the URL of a custom chart to use.

### Customizing `.gitlab-ci.yml`

If you want to modify the CI/CD pipeline used by Auto DevOps, you can copy the
[Auto DevOps template] into your project's repo and edit as you see fit.

Assuming that your project is new or it doesn't have a `.gitlab-ci.yml` file
present:

1. From your project home page, either click on the "Set up CI/CD" button, or click
   on the plus button and (`+`), then "New file"
1. Pick `.gitlab-ci.yml` as the template type
1. Select "Auto-DevOps" from the template dropdown
1. Edit the template or add any jobs needed
1. Give an appropriate commit message and hit "Commit changes"

TIP: **Tip:** The Auto DevOps template includes useful comments to help you
customize it. For example, if you want deployments to go to a staging environment
instead of directly to a production one, you can enable the `staging` job by
renaming `.staging` to `staging`. Then make sure to uncomment the `when` key of
the `production` job to turn it into a manual action instead of deploying
automatically.

### PostgreSQL database support

In order to support applications that require a database,
[PostgreSQL][postgresql] is provisioned by default. The credentials to access
the database are preconfigured, but can be customized by setting the associated
[variables](#environment-variables). These credentials can be used for defining a
`DATABASE_URL` of the format:

```yaml
postgres://user:password@postgres-host:postgres-port/postgres-database
```

### Environment variables

The following variables can be used for setting up the Auto DevOps domain,
providing a custom Helm chart, or scaling your application. PostgreSQL can
also be customized, and you can easily use a [custom buildpack](#custom-buildpacks).

| **Variable**                 | **Description**                                                                                                                                                                                                               |
| ------------                 | ---------------                                                                                                                                                                                                               |
| `AUTO_DEVOPS_DOMAIN`         | The [Auto DevOps domain](#auto-devops-domain); by default set automatically by the [Auto DevOps setting](#enabling-auto-devops).                                                                                              |
| `AUTO_DEVOPS_CHART`          | The Helm Chart used to deploy your apps; defaults to the one [provided by GitLab](https://gitlab.com/charts/auto-deploy-app).                                                             |
| `REPLICAS`                   | The number of replicas to deploy; defaults to 1.                                                                                                                                                                              |
| `PRODUCTION_REPLICAS`        | The number of replicas to deploy in the production environment. This takes precedence over `REPLICAS`; defaults to 1.                                                                                                         |
| `CANARY_REPLICAS`            | The number of canary replicas to deploy for [Canary Deployments](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/project/canary_deployments.html); defaults to 1                                                                              |
| `CANARY_PRODUCTION_REPLICAS` | The number of canary replicas to deploy for [Canary Deployments](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/project/canary_deployments.html) in the production environment. This takes precedence over `CANARY_REPLICAS`; defaults to 1  |
| `POSTGRES_ENABLED`           | Whether PostgreSQL is enabled; defaults to `"true"`. Set to `false` to disable the automatic deployment of PostgreSQL.                                                                                                        |
| `POSTGRES_USER`              | The PostgreSQL user; defaults to `user`. Set it to use a custom username.                                                                                                                                                     |
| `POSTGRES_PASSWORD`          | The PostgreSQL password; defaults to `testing-password`. Set it to use a custom password.                                                                                                                                     |
| `POSTGRES_DB`                | The PostgreSQL database name; defaults to the value of [`$CI_ENVIRONMENT_SLUG`](../../ci/variables/README.md#predefined-variables-environment-variables). Set it to use a custom database name.                               |
| `BUILDPACK_URL`              | The buildpack's full URL. It can point to either Git repositories or a tarball URL. For Git repositories, it is possible to point to a specific `ref`, for example `https://github.com/heroku/heroku-buildpack-ruby.git#v142` |
| `SAST_CONFIDENCE_LEVEL`      | The minimum confidence level of security issues you want to be reported; `1` for Low, `2` for Medium, `3` for High; defaults to `3`.|
| `DEP_SCAN_DISABLE_REMOTE_CHECKS` | Whether remote Dependency Scanning checks are disabled; defaults to `"false"`. Set to `"true"` to disable checks that send data to GitLab central servers. [Read more about remote checks](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/security-products/dependency-scanning#remote-checks).|
| `DB_INITIALIZE`              | From GitLab 11.4, this variable can be used to specify the command to run to initialize the application's PostgreSQL database. It runs inside the application pod. |
| `DB_MIGRATE`                 | From GitLab 11.4, this variable can be used to specify the command to run to migrate the application's PostgreSQL database. It runs inside the application pod. |
| `STAGING_ENABLED`            | From GitLab 10.8, this variable can be used to define a [deploy policy for staging and production environments](#deploy-policy-for-staging-and-production-environments). |
| `CANARY_ENABLED`             | From GitLab 11.0, this variable can be used to define a [deploy policy for canary environments](#deploy-policy-for-canary-environments). |
| `INCREMENTAL_ROLLOUT_MODE`| From GitLab 11.4, this variable, if present, can be used to enable an [incremental rollout](#incremental-rollout-to-production) of your application for the production environment.<br/>Set to: <ul><li>`manual`, for manual deployment jobs.</li><li>`timed`, for automatic rollout deployments with a 5 minute delay each one.</li></ul> |
| `TEST_DISABLED`              | From GitLab 11.0, this variable can be used to disable the `test` job. If the variable is present, the job will not be created. |
| `CODE_QUALITY_DISABLED`       | From GitLab 11.0, this variable can be used to disable the `codequality` job. If the variable is present, the job will not be created. |
| `SAST_DISABLED`              | From GitLab 11.0, this variable can be used to disable the `sast` job. If the variable is present, the job will not be created. |
| `DEPENDENCY_SCANNING_DISABLED` | From GitLab 11.0, this variable can be used to disable the `dependency_scanning` job. If the variable is present, the job will not be created. |
| `CONTAINER_SCANNING_DISABLED` | From GitLab 11.0, this variable can be used to disable the `sast:container` job. If the variable is present, the job will not be created. |
| `REVIEW_DISABLED`            | From GitLab 11.0, this variable can be used to disable the `review` and the manual `review:stop` job. If the variable is present, these jobs will not be created. |
| `DAST_DISABLED`              | From GitLab 11.0, this variable can be used to disable the `dast` job. If the variable is present, the job will not be created. |
| `PERFORMANCE_DISABLED`       | From GitLab 11.0, this variable can be used to disable the `performance` job. If the variable is present, the job will not be created. |

TIP: **Tip:**
Set up the replica variables using a
[project variable](../../ci/variables/README.md#secret-variables)
and scale your application by just redeploying it!

CAUTION: **Caution:**
You should *not* scale your application using Kubernetes directly. This can
cause confusion with Helm not detecting the change, and subsequent deploys with
Auto DevOps can undo your changes.

#### Advanced replica variables setup

Apart from the two replica-related variables for production mentioned above,
you can also use others for different environments.

There's a very specific mapping between Kubernetes' label named `track`,
GitLab CI/CD environment names, and the replicas environment variable.
The general rule is: `TRACK_ENV_REPLICAS`. Where:

- `TRACK`: The capitalized value of the `track`
  [Kubernetes label](https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/overview/working-with-objects/labels/)
  in the Helm Chart app definition. If not set, it will not be taken into account
  to the variable name.
- `ENV`: The capitalized environment name of the deploy job that is set in
  `.gitlab-ci.yml`.

That way, you can define your own `TRACK_ENV_REPLICAS` variables with which
you will be able to scale the pod's replicas easily.

In the example below, the environment's name is `qa` and it deploys the track
`foo` which would result in looking for the `FOO_QA_REPLICAS` environment
variable:

```yaml
QA testing:
  stage: deploy
  environment:
    name: qa
  script:
  - deploy foo
```

The track `foo` being referenced would also need to be defined in the
application's Helm chart, like:

```yaml
replicaCount: 1
image:
  repository: gitlab.example.com/group/project
  tag: stable
  pullPolicy: Always
  secrets:
    - name: gitlab-registry
application:
  track: foo
  tier: web
service:
  enabled: true
  name: web
  type: ClusterIP
  url: http://my.host.com/
  externalPort: 5000
  internalPort: 5000
```

#### Deploy policy for staging and production environments

> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ci-yml/merge_requests/160)
in GitLab 10.8.

TIP: **Tip:**
You can also set this inside your [project's settings](#deployment-strategy).

The normal behavior of Auto DevOps is to use Continuous Deployment, pushing
automatically to the `production` environment every time a new pipeline is run
on the default branch. However, there are cases where you might want to use a
staging environment and deploy to production manually. For this scenario, the
`STAGING_ENABLED` environment variable was introduced.

If `STAGING_ENABLED` is defined in your project (e.g., set `STAGING_ENABLED` to
`1` as a secret variable), then the application will be automatically deployed
to a `staging` environment, and a  `production_manual` job will be created for
you when you're ready to manually deploy to production.

#### Deploy policy for canary environments **[PREMIUM]**

> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ci-yml/merge_requests/171)
in GitLab 11.0.

A [canary environment](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/project/canary_deployments.html) can be used
before any changes are deployed to production.

If `CANARY_ENABLED` is defined in your project (e.g., set `CANARY_ENABLED` to
`1` as a secret variable) then two manual jobs will be created:

- `canary` which will deploy the application to the canary environment
- `production_manual` which is to be used by you when you're ready to manually
  deploy to production.

#### Incremental rollout to production **[PREMIUM]**

> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ee/issues/5415) in GitLab 10.8.

TIP: **Tip:**
You can also set this inside your [project's settings](#deployment-strategy).

When you have a new version of your app to deploy in production, you may want
to use an incremental rollout to replace just a few pods with the latest code.
This will allow you to first check how the app is behaving, and later manually
increasing the rollout up to 100%.

If `INCREMENTAL_ROLLOUT_MODE` is set to `manual` in your project, then instead
of the standard `production` job, 4 different
[manual jobs](../../ci/pipelines.md#manual-actions-from-the-pipeline-graph)
will be created:

1. `rollout 10%`
1. `rollout 25%`
1. `rollout 50%`
1. `rollout 100%`

The percentage is based on the `REPLICAS` variable and defines the number of
pods you want to have for your deployment. If you say `10`, and then you run
the `10%` rollout job, there will be `1` new pod + `9` old ones.

To start a job, click on the play icon next to the job's name. You are not
required to go from `10%` to `100%`, you can jump to whatever job you want.
You can also scale down by running a lower percentage job, just before hitting
`100%`. Once you get to `100%`, you cannot scale down, and you'd have to roll
back by redeploying the old version using the
[rollback button](../../ci/environments.md#rolling-back-changes) in the
environment page.

Below, you can see how the pipeline will look if the rollout or staging
variables are defined.

Without `INCREMENTAL_ROLLOUT_MODE` and without `STAGING_ENABLED`:

![Staging and rollout disabled](img/rollout_staging_disabled.png)

Without `INCREMENTAL_ROLLOUT_MODE` and with `STAGING_ENABLED`:

![Staging enabled](img/staging_enabled.png)

With `INCREMENTAL_ROLLOUT_MODE` set to `manual` and without `STAGING_ENABLED`:

![Rollout enabled](img/rollout_enabled.png)

With `INCREMENTAL_ROLLOUT_MODE` set to `manual` and with `STAGING_ENABLED`

![Rollout and staging enabled](img/rollout_staging_enabled.png)

CAUTION: **Caution:**
Before GitLab 11.4 this feature was enabled by the presence of the
`INCREMENTAL_ROLLOUT_ENABLED` environment variable.
This configuration is deprecated and will be removed in the future.

#### Timed incremental rollout to production **[PREMIUM]**

> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ee/issues/7545) in GitLab 11.4.

TIP: **Tip:**
You can also set this inside your [project's settings](#deployment-strategy).

This configuration based on
[incremental rollout to production](#incremental-rollout-to-production).

Everything behaves the same way, except:

- It's enabled by setting the `INCREMENTAL_ROLLOUT_MODE` variable to `timed`.
- Instead of the standard `production` job, the following jobs with a 5 minute delay between each are created:
    1. `timed rollout 10%`
    1. `timed rollout 25%`
    1. `timed rollout 50%`
    1. `timed rollout 100%`

## Currently supported languages

NOTE: **Note:**
Not all buildpacks support Auto Test yet, as it's a relatively new
enhancement. All of Heroku's [officially supported
languages](https://devcenter.heroku.com/articles/heroku-ci#currently-supported-languages)
support it, and some third-party buildpacks as well e.g., Go, Node, Java, PHP,
Python, Ruby, Gradle, Scala, and Elixir all support Auto Test, but notably the
multi-buildpack does not.

As of GitLab 10.0, the supported buildpacks are:

```
- heroku-buildpack-multi     v1.0.0
- heroku-buildpack-ruby      v168
- heroku-buildpack-nodejs    v99
- heroku-buildpack-clojure   v77
- heroku-buildpack-python    v99
- heroku-buildpack-java      v53
- heroku-buildpack-gradle    v23
- heroku-buildpack-scala     v78
- heroku-buildpack-play      v26
- heroku-buildpack-php       v122
- heroku-buildpack-go        v72
- heroku-buildpack-erlang    fa17af9
- buildpack-nginx            v8
```

## Limitations

The following restrictions apply.

### Private project support

CAUTION: **Caution:** Private project support in Auto DevOps is experimental.

When a project has been marked as private, GitLab's [Container
Registry][container-registry] requires authentication when downloading
containers. Auto DevOps will automatically provide the required authentication
information to Kubernetes, allowing temporary access to the registry.
Authentication credentials will be valid while the pipeline is running, allowing
for a successful initial deployment.

After the pipeline completes, Kubernetes will no longer be able to access the
Container Registry. **Restarting a pod, scaling a service, or other actions which
require on-going access to the registry may fail**. On-going secure access is
planned for a subsequent release.

## Troubleshooting

- Auto Build and Auto Test may fail in detecting your language/framework. There
  may be no buildpack for your application, or your application may be missing the
  key files the buildpack is looking for. For example, for ruby apps, you must
  have a `Gemfile` to be properly detected, even though it is possible to write a
  Ruby app without a `Gemfile`. Try specifying a [custom
  buildpack](#custom-buildpacks).
- Auto Test may fail because of a mismatch between testing frameworks. In this
  case, you may need to customize your `.gitlab-ci.yml` with your test commands.

### Disable the banner instance wide

If an administrator would like to disable the banners on an instance level, this
feature can be disabled either through the console:

```sh
sudo gitlab-rails console
```

Then run:

```ruby
Feature.get(:auto_devops_banner_disabled).enable
```

Or through the HTTP API with an admin access token:

```sh
curl --data "value=true" --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: personal_access_token" https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/features/auto_devops_banner_disabled
```

[ce-37115]: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/37115
[kubernetes-clusters]: ../../user/project/clusters/index.md
[docker-in-docker]: ../../docker/using_docker_build.md#use-docker-in-docker-executor
[review-app]: ../../ci/review_apps/index.md
[container-registry]: ../../user/project/container_registry.md
[postgresql]: https://www.postgresql.org/
[Auto DevOps template]: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/blob/master/lib/gitlab/ci/templates/Auto-DevOps.gitlab-ci.yml
[ee]: https://about.gitlab.com/pricing/
[ce-21955]: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/merge_requests/21955
[ce-19507]: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/merge_requests/19507
