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---
comments: false
description: "Learn how to use GitLab CI/CD, the GitLab built-in Continuous Integration, Continuous Deployment, and Continuous Delivery toolset to build, test, and deploy your application."
---
# GitLab Continuous Integration (GitLab CI/CD)
**GitLab CI/CD** is GitLab's built-in tool for software development using the Continuous Methodology (Continuous Integration, Continuous Delivery, Continuous Deployment).
## Overview
CI/CD is a vast area, so GitLab provides documentation for all levels of expertise. Consult the following table to find the right documentation for you:
| Level of expertise | Resource |
|:------------------------------------|:--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| New to the concepts of CI and CD | For a high-level overview, read an [introduction to CI/CD with GitLab](introduction/index.md). |
| Familiar with GitLab CI/CD concepts | After getting familiar with GitLab CI/CD, let us walk you through a simple example in our [quick start guide](quick_start/README.md). |
| A GitLab CI/CD expert | Jump straight to our [`.gitlab.yml`](yaml/README.md) reference. |
NOTE: **Note:**
Within the [DevOps lifecycle](../README.md#the-entire-devops-lifecycle), GitLab CI/CD spans
the [Verify (CI)](../README.md#verify) and [Release (CD)](../README.md#release) stages.
## Essentials
The following documentation provides the minimum required knowledge for making use of GitLab CI/CD:
| Topic | Description |
|:------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|:----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| [Getting started with GitLab CI/CD](quick_start/README.md) | Outlines the first steps for configuring GitLab CI/CD. |
| [Introduction to pipelines and jobs](pipelines.md) | Provides an overview of GitLab CI/CD and jobs. |
| [Configuration of your pipelines with `.gitlab-ci.yml`](yaml/README.md) | A comprehensive reference for the `.gitlab-ci.yml` file. |
| [`.gitlab-ci.yml` introduction](../user/project/pages/getting_started_part_four.md) | A step-by-step introduction to writing a GitLab CI/CD configuration file (`.gitlab-ci.yml`) for the first time. |
NOTE: **Note:**
Familiarity with [GitLab Runner](https://docs.gitlab.com/runner/) is useful because it is
responsible for running the jobs in your CI/CD pipeline. On GitLab.com, shared Runners are enabled
by default so you don't need to set up anything to get started.
### Auto DevOps
An alternative to manually configuring CI/CD, GitLab supports [Auto DevOps](../topics/autodevops/index.md),
which:
- Provides simplified setup and execution of CI/CD.
- Allows GitLab to automatically detect, build, test, deploy, and monitor your applications.
## Basic usage
With basic knowledge of how GitLab CI/CD works, the following documentation extends your knowledge
into more features:
| Topic | Description |
|:-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|:---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| [CI/CD Variables](variables/README.md) | How environment variables can be configured and made available in pipelines. |
| [Where variables can be used](variables/where_variables_can_be_used.md) | A deeper look into where and how CI/CD variables can be used. |
| [User](../user/permissions.md#gitlab-ci) and [job](../user/permissions.md#job-permissions) permissions | Learn about the access levels a user can have for performing certain CI actions. |
| [Configuring GitLab Runners](runners/README.md) | Documentation for configuring [GitLab Runner](https://docs.gitlab.com/runner/). |
## Advanced usage
Once you get familiar with the basics of GitLab CI/CD, consult the following documentation to make
use of advanced features:
| Topic | Description |
|:---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|:-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| [Introduction to environments and deployments](environments.md) | Learn how to separate your jobs into environments and use them for different purposes like testing, building and, deploying. |
| [Job artifacts](../user/project/pipelines/job_artifacts.md) | Learn about the output of jobs. |
| [Cache dependencies in GitLab CI/CD](caching/index.md) | Discover how to speed up pipelines using caching. |
| [Using Git submodules with GitLab CI](git_submodules.md) | How to run your CI jobs when using Git submodules. |
| [Pipelines for merge requests](merge_request_pipelines/index.md) | Create pipelines specifically for merge requests. |
| [Using SSH keys with GitLab CI/CD](ssh_keys/README.md) | Use SSH keys in your build environment. |
| [Triggering pipelines through the API](triggers/README.md) | Use the GitLab API to trigger a pipeline. |
| [Pipeline schedules](../user/project/pipelines/schedules.md) | Trigger pipelines on a schedule. |
| [Connecting GitLab with a Kubernetes cluster](../user/project/clusters/index.md) | Integrate one or more Kubernetes clusters to your project. |
| [ChatOps](chatops/README.md) | Trigger CI jobs from chat, with results sent back to the channel. |
| [Interactive web terminals](interactive_web_terminal/index.md) | Open an interactive web terminal to debug the running jobs. |
### GitLab Pages
GitLab CI/CD can be used to build and host static websites. For more information, see the
documentation on [GitLab Pages](../user/project/pages/index.md),
or dive right into the [CI/CD step-by-step guide for Pages](../user/project/pages/getting_started_part_four.md).
## Examples
GitLab provides examples of configuring GitLab CI/CD in the form of:
- A collection of [examples and other resources](examples/README.md).
- Example projects, available at the [`gitlab-examples`](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-examples) group. For example, see:
- [`multi-project-pipelines`](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-examples/multi-project-pipelines) for examples of implementing multi-project-pipelines.
- [`review-apps-nginx`](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-examples/review-apps-nginx/) provides an example of using Review Apps.
## Administration
As a GitLab administrator, you can change the default behavior of GitLab CI/CD for:
- An [entire GitLab instance](../user/admin_area/settings/continuous_integration.md).
- Specific projects, using [pipelines settings](../user/project/pipelines/settings.md).
See also:
- [How to enable or disable GitLab CI/CD](enable_or_disable_ci.md).
- Other [CI administration settings](../administration/index.md#continuous-integration-settings).
## Using Docker
Docker is commonly used with GitLab CI/CD. Learn more about how to to accomplish this with the following
documentation:
| Topic | Description |
|:-------------------------------------------------------------------------|:-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| [Using Docker images](docker/using_docker_images.md) | Use GitLab and GitLab Runner with Docker to build and test applications. |
| [Building Docker images with GitLab CI/CD](docker/using_docker_build.md) | Maintain Docker-based projects using GitLab CI/CD. |
Related topics include:
- [Docker integration](docker/README.md).
- [CI services (linked Docker containers)](services/README.md).
## Why GitLab CI/CD?
The following articles explain reasons to use GitLab CI/CD for your CI/CD infrastructure:
- [Why we chose GitLab CI for our CI/CD solution](https://about.gitlab.com/2016/10/17/gitlab-ci-oohlala/).
- [Building our web-app on GitLab CI](https://about.gitlab.com/2016/07/22/building-our-web-app-on-gitlab-ci/).
See also the [Why CI/CD?](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1OGgk2Tcxbpl7DJaIOzCX4Vqg3dlwfELC3u2jEeCBbDk) presentation.
## Breaking changes
As GitLab CI/CD has evolved, certain breaking changes have been necessary. These are:
- [CI variables renaming for GitLab 9.0](variables/README.md#gitlab-90-renaming). Read about the
deprecated CI variables and what you should use for GitLab 9.0+.
- [New CI job permissions model](../user/project/new_ci_build_permissions_model.md).
See what changed in GitLab 8.12 and how that affects your jobs.
There's a new way to access your Git submodules and LFS objects in jobs.
|
