Including YAML Files: A Better Way to Define Pipelines

Consice, Reusable and Refactored Definitions

30%

Let's say you have a long definition of a pipeline. This is a common scenario and can make the pipeline definition hard to read and maintain. Let's consider this example even though it is neither long nor complex but it will serve the purpose of this section:

stages:
  - build
  - test
  - deploy

build:
  stage: build
  script:
    - echo "Building the code..."

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

deploy:
  stage: deploy
  script:
    - echo "Deploying the code..."

notify:
  stage: notify
  script:
    - echo "Notifying the team..."

Another way to write the same pipeline is to split it into multiple files and include them in the main pipeline definition. Let's see how. Start by creating a new directory for our pipeline definitions:

mkdir -p $HOME/todo/app/.includes

Write the main pipeline definition:

cat <$HOME/todo/app/.gitlab-ci.yml
stages:
  - build
  - test
  - deploy
  - notify

include:
  - local: '.includes/build.yml'
  - local: '.includes/test.yml'
  - local: '.includes/deploy.yml'

notify:
  stage: notify
  script:
    - echo "Notifying the team..."
EOF

Create the first pipeline file called build.yml:

cat <$HOME/todo/app/.includes/build.yml
# build.yml
build:
  stage: build
  script:
    - echo "Building the code..."
EOF

Create the second pipeline file called test.yml:

cat <$HOME/todo/app/.includes/test.yml
# test.yml
test:
  stage: test
  script:
    - echo "Running tests..."

Cloud Native CI/CD with GitLab

From Commit to Production Ready

Enroll now to unlock all content and receive all future updates for free.

Unlock now ($29.99) Learn More

Previous Next