So, You need to upgrade your GitLab…but would rather have coffee

The only constant is change!

Recently one of our Oxidecloud customers highlighted to me the not insignificant process of upgrading your private custom deployment of GitLab.  GitLab is a great platform for building your DevOps CI/CD pipeline, source code repository and version control system just to mention a few of the feature rich platform geared for application development and code delivery.

As with any software platform the constant is change, changes to security, new features and bugfixes are part and parcel of the software game. The same goes for a DevOps platform such as GitLab.

Depending on how you have deployed GitLab you will most likely have to use a manual process to upgrade. Such as this one: https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/update/#installation-using-docker

There are numerous checks and process that need to be done to ensure a smooth and successful update.  This is usually a relatively smooth process but dependant on the complexity of the GitLab install and the version you are on it can very quickly become a significant process that may is a bit less smooth.

Let’s not forget that manual process is subject to human error, and no matter how much we try to mitigate that portion of the process the risk is always there for a finger error to slip in and make a turn what should have been a quick upgrade, into a journey that requires a full fellowship to be established and resembles a hike to Mordor.

What if we could upgrade GitLab like a mobile App?

Well, if you host your GitLab platform on OXIDE Cloud powered by Jelastic, you can do just that. Upgrade your GitLab environment with the click of a single button, just like you may do on your mobile device.

You see not only can OXIDE deploy a fully functional GitLab environment faster than you can say “Automated Installation of Pre-Configured GitLab!” (Ok, maybe a few minutes longer…).

But, once the 2 containers preinstalled with Docker has generated and installed Gitlab server, a self-signed SSL certificate and shared the certs with the Runners via a NFS volume, registered the Runners with the GitLab server and deployed a separate container registry via docker-compose.yml, you have a working GitLab platform in under 10min.

This usually, in many cloud platforms, is the easy part and almost everybody can do this.

I’d rather have coffee

Where the work comes in is to automate the upgrade process. Yes, this one:

https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/update/#installation-using-docker

Have a look at the link above and then you will understand the value of having a button like this one which you get if you run GitLab on OXIDE Cloud powered by Jelastic.

In the words of our customer:

“Oxide took this https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/update/#installation-using-docker, and turned it into a button. Click the Button.” “It does each step required on version jumps and one at a time, but I still needed some features and I clicked this, made coffee, came back and I had the new version. I had to click the button 3 times (3 Version jumps) but, I mean, I guess I can live with that.”