Using GitLab to Manage Teams and Projects

Application Scenario

GitLab is a DevOps platform that provides a complete solution for software development and operations, aiming to help teams collaborate on project development. On GitLab, you can protect your applications, and manage, plan, create, validate, package, release, configure, and monitor project source code. Supported By FlexusL, the GitLab image uses Ubuntu 22.04 and is deployed using Docker. The Nginx and Docker have been preconfigured in the image. This section describes how to use GitLab to manage teams and projects.

Resource Planning and Costs

This practice uses the following resource planning as an example. You can adjust it as required.

Process

Step 1: Purchase a FlexusL Instance

1. Log in to the FlexusLconsole and click Buy FlexusL.
2. Specify required parameters for the FlexusL instance.
   

   Parameter	Example	Description
   Region	CN-Hong Kong	For low network latency and quick resource access, select the region nearest to your target users. After a FlexusL instance is created, the region cannot be changed. Exercise caution when selecting a region.
   Application Image	GitLab	Select the GitLab application image.
   Instance Specifications	2 vCPUs | 8 GiB memory	Select instance specifications as needed.
   Instance Name	GitLab-Example	Customize an instance name that is easy to identify, for example, GitLab-Example.
   (Optional) Associated Services	Data disk: 10 GiB Host security Cloud backup vault: 170 GiB	You can bundle any of EVS, HSS (basic edition), and CBR to your FlexusL instances as needed and set specifications as needed.
   Required Duration	1 month	The minimum duration of a purchase is one month and the maximum duration is three years. Auto-renew is enabled by default, which means the purchased FlexusL instances will be automatically renewed before they expire. If you do not enable auto-renew during the purchase process, you can still enable it later after the instances are created. For more information about auto-renewal rules, see Auto-Renewal Rules.
   Quantity	1	Set the number of FlexusL instances to be purchased.

3. Click Buy Now and complete the payment as prompted.
4. Go back to the FlexusL console and view the purchased FlexusL instance.

Step 2: Configure Security Groups

Add inbound security group rules to ensure that the application preinstalled in the image can be accessed.

1. Log in to the FlexusL console and click a resource card to go to the instance details page.
2. In the navigation pane on the left, choose Cloud Servers. Locate the server and click its name.

   

3. On the Security Groups tab, click Add Rule. In the displayed dialog box, add rules displayed in the following figure and click OK.

   The following figure only displays common rules. You can add more rules as needed.

   Table 1 Security group rules

   Priority	Action	Type	Protocol & Port	Source	Description
   1	Allow	IPv4	TCP: 80	0.0.0.0/0	Specifies the internal forwarding port of application images
   1	Allow	IPv4	TCP: 9000	0.0.0.0/0	Allows external access to the application O&M page.
   1	Allow	IPv4	TCP: 9001	0.0.0.0/0	Allows external access to the application dashboard.

Step 3: Reset a Password

A FlexusL instance does not have an initial password. After creating a FlexusL instance, set a password for the FlexusL instance. The password of the FlexusL instance is also used for logging in to the O&M page of the application.

1. In the Image area on the Overview page of the FlexusL console, click Access to go to the application dashboard and check whether the application has been up and running. If yes, go to the next step.
   NOTICE:

   Wait for several minutes until the image with the pre-installed application is up and running. Then, you can perform operations such as restarting or stopping the instance, or resetting the password. Otherwise, the initial password may become invalid and you cannot log in to the application dashboard.

   Figure 1 Entry to the application dashboard
   

   After the application is started, the initialization wizard page of the dashboard is displayed, as shown in Figure 2.

   Figure 2 Initialization wizard page of the GitLab dashboard
   
   NOTE:

   If the dashboard is not properly displayed, check the following causes:

   • The port for accessing the dashboard is not allowed. Check whether the port is allowed based on Step 2: Configure Security Groups.
   • The dashboard is being started. Try again later.
2. Locate the resource card and choose > Reset Password to reset the password.

   For details, see Resetting the Password for a FlexusL Instance.

   Figure 3 Resetting a password
   
   NOTE:

   The password for logging in to the FlexusL instance is also the password for logging in to the O&M page of the application.

Step 4: Initialize GitLab

Application images use code-based Ubuntu. They provide graphical user interfaces to make your operations easier. You need to initialize the application dashboard upon the first login. Then you can directly log in to the dashboard from the FlexusL console afterwards.

1. In the address bar of a local browser, enter http://<Server-EIP>:9000 to log in to the application O&M page.

   The initial username and password for logging in to the application dashboard are stored on the O&M page of the application. You need to log in to the O&M page first to obtain the username and password. The username for logging in to the O&M page is root, and the login password is the password reset in 2.

   NOTE:

   For details about the FlexusL instances, O&M page, and dashboard, see What Is the Relationship Among FlexusL Instances, the Dashboard, and the O&M Page?

2. On the My Apps page, click the application icon, choose Access, and click Initial Account to view the username and password for logging in to the application management page.

   The initial password is a randomly generated strong password. After the application is initialized, change the password on the dashboard for easy management. If the password is changed, the initial password will be invalid. Remember the new password.

   

3. On the Overview page, click Access in the Dashboard field in the Image area.

   

   NOTE:

   If the dashboard is not properly displayed, check the following causes:

   • The port for accessing the dashboard is not allowed. Check whether the port is allowed based on Step 2: Configure Security Groups.
   • The dashboard is being started. Try again later.
4. Enter the username and password obtained in 2.
   Figure 4 Initialization wizard page of the GitLab dashboard
   
5. Click Sign in to access the GitLab Admin Area.

   

After the GitLab application is initialized, you can create projects on the dashboard.

Step 5: Use GitLab

This section describes how to use GitLab to create a project, add project members, and integrate codes.

Step 1: Create a Project

This example demonstrates that how an administrator creates a project, initializes the project, adds a development branch dev, and hides the master branch main from developers.

1. Click in the upper left corner and choose admin to access the management center.
2. Choose Projects and click New project.

   

3. Click Create blank project.
4. Configure parameters for the project and click Create project.
   • Project name: Enter a project name that is easy to identify, for example, Project-example.
   • Project URL: It consists of the public IP address of the cloud service and the administrator account. Select root.

   Retain the default values for other parameters.

   

5. Choose Repository > Files, click > New file, add the index.html file to main, and click Commit changes.

   

6. Choose Repository > Branches, click New branch, and configure the development branch dev.
   • Branch name: dev
   • Create from: main

   

7. Click Create branch. Then you can view the created development branch dev.

   

Step 2: Add Project Members

After registering an account, users cannot directly log in to GitLab. To let them log in, the administrator needs to approve their registration, invite them to be members of the project, and assign permissions to them.

1. Register an account.
   1. Visit http://public IP address of the server or http://domain name.
   2. Click Register now, enter registration information, and click Register.

      

2. The administrator approves the registration.
   1. Click in the upper left corner and select admin.
   2. On the Users page, select Pending approval, and click Approve.

      

3. The administrator invites users to join the project team and assigns permissions to them.
   1. Click in the upper left corner, choose Projects > View all projects, and click Administrator/Project-example.
   2. Choose Project information > Members and click Invite members.
   3. Enter the username or email address, assign Developer permission to users, and click Invite.

      

      You can assign users the following five roles: Guest, Reporter, Developer, Maintainer, or Owner.

      • Guest: allows users to create issues and post comments, and denies them to read or write the repository.
      • Reporter: allows users to clone codes, and denies them to submit code.
      • Developer: allows users to clone, develop, submit, and push code.
      • Master: allows users to create projects, add tags, protect branches, add new members to the project, and edit projects.
      • Owner: allows users to assign permissions to access projects, delete or migrate projects, and manage project team members.
4. Visit http://Public IP address of the server or http://Domain name. Enter the username and password to log in to GitLab.

   When members log in to GitLab for the first time, select a role for better experience.

   

Step 3: Integrate Codes

1. The developers edit and submit code.
   1. Visit http://Public IP address of the server or http://Domain name to log in to GitLab.
   2. Choose Projects and click the target project name.

      

   3. Choose Repository > Branch and click dev.

      

   4. Click Web IED, select a file to edit. For example, edit the index.html file.

      

   5. Choose on the left navigation pane to go to the SOURCE CONTROL, and click Commit & Push.

      Click No when Commit to a new branch? is displayed.

      

   6. Choose Repository > Files on the project menu bar. You can view Update file index.html. Click Create merge request

      

   7. Set request information and click Create merge request.

      Specify the Reviewer to Administrator and retain the default values for other parameters.

      

2. The administrator reviews the merge request.
   1. Click in the upper right corner, choose Merge requests > New merge request, and click the specific request title.

      

   2. Click Merge to merge the index.html file from dev into main.