Day 6: MicroK8s Integration with GitLab Runner using Helm

📌 This document is prepared with the help of official GitLab and Helm documentation.

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✅ Step 1: Install Helm

Install Helm using Snap:

snap install helm --classic

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✅ Step 2: Add the GitLab Helm Repository

helm repo add gitlab https://charts.gitlab.io

Update the repository:

helm repo update gitlab

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✅ Step 3: Check Available GitLab Runner Chart Versions

helm search repo -l gitlab/gitlab-runner

Sample output:

NAME                    CHART VERSION   APP VERSION     DESCRIPTION
gitlab/gitlab-runner    0.74.0          17.9.0          GitLab Runner
gitlab/gitlab-runner    0.73.3          17.8.3          GitLab Runner
gitlab/gitlab-runner    0.73.2          17.8.2          GitLab Runner
gitlab/gitlab-runner    0.73.1          17.8.1          GitLab Runner
gitlab/gitlab-runner    0.73.0          17.8.0          GitLab Runner
gitlab/gitlab-runner    0.72.1          17.7.1          GitLab Runner
gitlab/gitlab-runner    0.72.0          17.7.0          GitLab Runner

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✅ Step 4: Prepare the helm_values.yaml for Runner Configuration

Create a file named helm_values.yaml with the following content:

concurrent: 5
logFormat: json

rbac:
  create: true
  rules:
    - apiGroups: [""]
      resources: ["configmaps", "events", "pods", "pods/attach", "pods/exec", "secrets", "services"]
      verbs: ["get", "list", "watch", "create", "patch", "update", "delete"]

runners:
  config: |
    [[runners]]
      [runners.kubernetes]
        namespace = "{{.Release.Namespace}}"
        image = "alpine"

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✅ Step 5: Register the GitLab Runner

Go to GitLab Admin > Runners and get your GitLab URL and Registration Token.

Register the runner:

gitlab-runner register \
  --url https://<Your-GitLab-URL> \
  --token <Your-Token>

🔎 Note: Save the URL and token. You'll need them in the next step.

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✅ Step 6: Install the GitLab Runner using Helm

Apply the Helm chart with the following command:

microk8s.helm install \
  --namespace gitlab-runner \
  --create-namespace \
  --atomic \
  --timeout 120s \
  --set gitlabUrl=https://<Your-GitLab-URL> \
  --set runnerToken=<Your-Token> \
  --values helm_values.yaml \
  gitlab-runner gitlab/gitlab-runner \
  --version 0.74.0

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✅ Step 7: Verify the GitLab Runner Pod in MicroK8s

Check the deployed runner pod:

microk8s.kubectl get pod -n gitlab-runner

Sample Output:

NAME                             READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
gitlab-runner-7f957d884f-frb59   1/1     Running   0          5m51s

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🎉 GitLab Runner successfully integrated with MicroK8s!

Your GitLab Runner is now up and running, ready to execute your CI/CD pipelines within your MicroK8s Kubernetes cluster. ✅