GitLab Build Pipeline | Complete CI/CD Build Guide

GitLab CI/CD build pipelines are essential for automating the compilation, testing, and packaging of your applications. This guide covers building various types of applications and managing artifacts effectively.

🅰️ Build Angular Component

Building Angular applications in GitLab CI/CD requires Node.js and npm. Here’s a comprehensive build configuration:

Basic Angular Build Configuration

.gitlab-ci.yml

stages:
  - build
  - test
  - package

variables:
  NODE_VERSION: "18"
  ANGULAR_CLI_VERSION: "16"

build_angular:
  stage: build
  image: node:${NODE_VERSION}
  before_script:
    - npm install -g @angular/cli@${ANGULAR_CLI_VERSION}
    - npm ci --cache .npm --prefer-offline
  script:
    - ng build --configuration=production
    - ng test --watch=false --browsers=ChromeHeadless
  artifacts:
    paths:
      - dist/
    expire_in: 1 hour
  cache:
    key: ${CI_COMMIT_REF_SLUG}
    paths:
      - node_modules/
      - .npm/

Advanced Angular Build with Multiple Environments

build_angular_dev:
  stage: build
  image: node:18
  script:
    - npm ci
    - ng build --configuration=development
  artifacts:
    paths:
      - dist/
    expire_in: 30 mins
  only:
    - develop

build_angular_prod:
  stage: build
  image: node:18
  script:
    - npm ci
    - ng build --configuration=production --aot
    - ng test --watch=false --code-coverage
  artifacts:
    paths:
      - dist/
      - coverage/
    expire_in: 1 week
  only:
    - main

🔷 Build .NET Core Microservices

Building .NET Core applications requires the appropriate SDK and proper configuration for microservices architecture.

Basic .NET Core Build

build_dotnet:
  stage: build
  image: mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/sdk:8.0
  before_script:
    - dotnet --version
  script:
    - dotnet restore
    - dotnet build --configuration Release --no-restore
    - dotnet test --configuration Release --no-build --verbosity normal
  artifacts:
    paths:
      - "*/bin/Release/"
      - "*/obj/"
    expire_in: 1 hour

Multi-Service Microservices Build

variables:
  DOTNET_VERSION: "8.0"

build_user_service:
  stage: build
  image: mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/sdk:${DOTNET_VERSION}
  script:
    - cd src/UserService
    - dotnet restore
    - dotnet build --configuration Release
    - dotnet publish -c Release -o ../../publish/UserService
  artifacts:
    paths:
      - publish/UserService/
    expire_in: 1 hour

build_order_service:
  stage: build
  image: mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/sdk:${DOTNET_VERSION}
  script:
    - cd src/OrderService
    - dotnet restore
    - dotnet build --configuration Release
    - dotnet publish -c Release -o ../../publish/OrderService
  artifacts:
    paths:
      - publish/OrderService/
    expire_in: 1 hour

build_api_gateway:
  stage: build
  image: mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/sdk:${DOTNET_VERSION}
  script:
    - cd src/ApiGateway
    - dotnet restore
    - dotnet build --configuration Release
    - dotnet publish -c Release -o ../../publish/ApiGateway
  artifacts:
    paths:
      - publish/ApiGateway/
    expire_in: 1 hour

Docker-based .NET Core Build

build_dotnet_docker:
  stage: build
  image: docker:20.10.16
  services:
    - docker:20.10.16-dind
  variables:
    DOCKER_TLS_CERTDIR: "/certs"
  script:
    - docker build -f Dockerfile.build -t myapp-build .
    - docker create --name temp-container myapp-build
    - docker cp temp-container:/app/publish ./publish
    - docker rm temp-container
  artifacts:
    paths:
      - publish/
    expire_in: 1 hour

🗄️ Create Database Script Compatible with Liquibase

Liquibase integration requires proper changelog management and database script generation.

Liquibase Changelog Generation

generate_liquibase_scripts:
  stage: build
  image: liquibase/liquibase:4.23
  variables:
    DB_URL: "jdbc:postgresql://localhost:5432/devdb"
    DB_USERNAME: "dbuser"
    DB_PASSWORD: "dbpass"
  script:
    # Generate changelog from existing database
    - liquibase --url=${DB_URL} --username=${DB_USERNAME} --password=${DB_PASSWORD} generateChangeLog --changeLogFile=generated-changelog.xml

    # Validate changelog
    - liquibase --url=${DB_URL} --username=${DB_USERNAME} --password=${DB_PASSWORD} validate

    # Generate SQL preview
    - liquibase --url=${DB_URL} --username=${DB_USERNAME} --password=${DB_PASSWORD} updateSQL > update-preview.sql
  artifacts:
    paths:
      - generated-changelog.xml
      - update-preview.sql
      - liquibase.properties
    expire_in: 1 week

Database Schema Validation

validate_database_schema:
  stage: build
  image: liquibase/liquibase:4.23
  services:
    - postgres:13
  variables:
    POSTGRES_DB: testdb
    POSTGRES_USER: testuser
    POSTGRES_PASSWORD: testpass
    DB_URL: "jdbc:postgresql://postgres:5432/testdb"
  script:
    - echo "Waiting for PostgreSQL to be ready..."
    - sleep 30
    - liquibase --url=${DB_URL} --username=${POSTGRES_USER} --password=${POSTGRES_PASSWORD} update
    - liquibase --url=${DB_URL} --username=${POSTGRES_USER} --password=${POSTGRES_PASSWORD} status
  artifacts:
    reports:
      junit: liquibase-test-results.xml

Multi-Database Support

build_database_scripts:
  stage: build
  image: liquibase/liquibase:4.23
  parallel:
    matrix:
      - DATABASE: [postgresql, mysql, mssql]
  script:
    - |
      case $DATABASE in
        postgresql)
          DB_URL="jdbc:postgresql://postgres:5432/testdb"
          DB_DRIVER="org.postgresql.Driver"
          ;;
        mysql)
          DB_URL="jdbc:mysql://mysql:3306/testdb"
          DB_DRIVER="com.mysql.cj.jdbc.Driver"
          ;;
        mssql)
          DB_URL="jdbc:sqlserver://mssql:1433;databaseName=testdb"
          DB_DRIVER="com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerDriver"
          ;;
      esac
    - liquibase --url=${DB_URL} --driver=${DB_DRIVER} updateSQL > ${DATABASE}-update.sql
  artifacts:
    paths:
      - "*.sql"
    expire_in: 1 week

📦 Build Artifacts and Retention Policies

Proper artifact management is crucial for efficient CI/CD pipelines and storage optimization.

Basic Artifact Configuration

build_with_artifacts:
  stage: build
  script:
    - echo "Building application..."
    - mkdir -p build/
    - echo "Application built successfully" > build/app.txt
  artifacts:
    paths:
      - build/
    expire_in: 1 week
    when: always
    reports:
      junit: test-results.xml
      coverage: coverage.xml

Advanced Artifact Management

variables:
  ARTIFACT_RETENTION_DAYS: "7"

build_production:
  stage: build
  script:
    - make build-production
  artifacts:
    name: "production-build-${CI_COMMIT_SHORT_SHA}"
    paths:
      - dist/
      - build/
    expire_in: 30 days
    when: on_success
  only:
    - main

build_development:
  stage: build
  script:
    - make build-development
  artifacts:
    name: "dev-build-${CI_COMMIT_SHORT_SHA}"
    paths:
      - dist/
    expire_in: ${ARTIFACT_RETENTION_DAYS} days
    when: always
  except:
    - main

Conditional Artifact Collection

build_with_conditional_artifacts:
  stage: build
  script:
    - make build
    - make test
  artifacts:
    paths:
      - dist/
      - logs/
    exclude:
      - "**/*.tmp"
      - "logs/debug.log"
    expire_in: 1 week
    when: on_failure
  after_script:
    - |
      if [ "$CI_JOB_STATUS" = "failed" ]; then
        echo "Build failed, collecting debug artifacts"
        cp -r debug/ artifacts/debug/
      fi

Artifact Dependencies

stages:
  - build
  - test
  - package

build_app:
  stage: build
  script:
    - make build
  artifacts:
    paths:
      - build/
    expire_in: 1 hour

test_app:
  stage: test
  dependencies:
    - build_app
  script:
    - make test
  artifacts:
    paths:
      - test-results/
    expire_in: 1 day

package_app:
  stage: package
  dependencies:
    - build_app
    - test_app
  script:
    - make package
  artifacts:
    paths:
      - packages/
    expire_in: 1 month

🔧 Additional Build Considerations

Parallel Builds

build_parallel:
  stage: build
  parallel: 3
  script:
    - echo "Running parallel build job $CI_NODE_INDEX of $CI_NODE_TOTAL"
    - make build-chunk-$CI_NODE_INDEX
  artifacts:
    paths:
      - build-chunk-$CI_NODE_INDEX/
    expire_in: 1 hour

Cache Management for Faster Builds

build_with_cache:
  stage: build
  image: node:18
  cache:
    key:
      files:
        - package-lock.json
    paths:
      - node_modules/
      - .npm/
    policy: pull-push
  script:
    - npm ci --cache .npm --prefer-offline
    - npm run build
  artifacts:
    paths:
      - dist/
    expire_in: 1 hour

Build Status Notifications

build_with_notifications:
  stage: build
  script:
    - make build
  after_script:
    - |
      if [ "$CI_JOB_STATUS" = "success" ]; then
        curl -X POST -H 'Content-type: application/json' \
          --data '{"text":"Build succeeded for '"$CI_PROJECT_NAME"'"}' \
          $SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL
      fi
  artifacts:
    paths:
      - build/
    expire_in: 1 week

This comprehensive build pipeline guide covers the essential aspects of building Angular components, .NET Core microservices, database scripts, and managing artifacts effectively in GitLab CI/CD.