GitLab CI integration

Integrate GitLab CI with OpenText Core Software Delivery Platform, utilizing webhooks and secure credentials.

The integration enables you to receive and process pipeline events from GitLab, providing enhanced visibility and traceability for your CI/CD workflows.

Supported features

The GitLab CI integration provides the following functionality within OpenText Core Software Delivery Platform.

Pipelines and builds

  • Collect pipeline step results
  • Run pipeline
  • Run pipeline with parameters

Hierarchy in topology

  • Multi-branch pipeline
  • Multiple spaces

Test automation

  • Run on-demand automated JUnit tests
  • Run UFT One automated tests

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Prerequisites

Before starting the integration, ensure you have the following:

  • GitLab.com, GitLab dedicated, or self-managed GitLab version 18.5 and above
  • Administrator access on space and workspace
  • Administrator access to your GitLab projects
  • (Optional) Ultimate GitLab license for group/instance-level features

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Configuration parameters

Configure the following parameters to support the GitLab integration.

Parameter Default Description
CI_INTEGRATION_GITLAB_ARTIFACT_NAME N/A Name of the artifact file containing parameters and values.
CI_INTEGRATION_GITLAB_USE_PARAMETERS false Decide on whether to use inputs or variables.
CI_INTEGRATION_GITLAB_VARIABLE_SOURCES GROUP, PROJECT Where variables can be sourced from: GROUP, PROJECT, INSTANCE, or NONE.
ENABLE_CI_INTEGRATION_FOR_GITLAB false

Enables or disables GitLab integration.

Enable the parameter on the space in which the CI server is defined.
GITLAB_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT_IN_SECONDS 10 Defines a timeout (in seconds) for connection to GitLab servers.
GITLAB_READ_REQUEST_TIMEOUT_IN_SECONDS 30 Defines a timeout (in seconds) for any read request to GitLab.

For details, see Configuration parameters.

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Prepare GitLab access tokens

To allow interaction with GitLab, you need an access token. The token must be able to read repository data and variables as needed for your integration scenario. You can create of the following token types: Personal access token, Project-level token, Group/instance-level token.

Token requirements:

  • Minimum required permission: Maintainer

  • Required scopes: api and read_api

For details, refer to the GitLab documentation.

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Set up credentials

Add the GitLab token as credentials in OpenText Core Software Delivery Platform.

To add credentials:

  1. Open the global menu and select Administration > General Settings.

  2. Select a shared space or workspace.

  3. Select the Credentials tab.

  4. Click the + Credentials button.

  5. Paste the GitLab token into the password field.
  6. In the Name and User Name fields, assign descriptive values that help identify the credential, such as the associated GitLab user or purpose.

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Add a GitLab CI server

CI servers are defined at the workspace level.

To add a GitLab CI server:

  1. Select a workspace.
  2. Select the DevOps > CI Servers tab.
  3. Click the + CI Server button.
  4. Enter a name for the CI server and select GitLab as the CI Server Type.
  5. Enter the base URL for your GitLab instance. Example: http://example.gitlab.com.
  6. After the CI server is created successfully, add the Credential field to the CI server grid and assign the previously created credential.

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Create API access tokens

Create API access tokens to use in the GitLab wekhooks.

To create API access tokens:

  1. Select the shared space .
  2. Select the API Access tab.
  3. Click the + API access button.
  4. Select Token as the type.
  5. Assign the CI/CD Integration role for the relevant workspace.
  6. Copy the generated token and store it securely. It is displayed only once. If lost, the token needs to be regenerated.

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Configure GitLab webhooks

Webhooks can be defined at the project or group level (depending on your GitLab license). Go to your GitLab project or group, and add a webhook with the settings below.

  • URL: {{SDP_url}}/api/shared_spaces/{{space_id}}/analytics/ci/gitlab_ci/webhook-events
    • SDP_url: The base URL of OpenText Core Software Delivery Platform.
    • space_id: The ID of the shared space where the CI Server was added
  • Custom headers:
    • ALM-OCTANE-TECH-PREVIEW: true
    • Authorization: Bearer {{SDP_token}} (where SDP_token is the API access token generated by OpenText Core Software Delivery Platform)
  • Triggers:
    • Job Events
    • Pipeline Events

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Work with pipelines

Use the following procedures to work with GitLab pipelines in OpenText Core Software Delivery Platform.

Add a GitLab pipeline

  1. Open the global menu and select Quality Management > Pipelines > Management.
  2. Click the + Pipeline button.
  3. Select the GitLab CI server you configured, then choose the relevant job from your GitLab project.

A multi-branch pipeline is created in OpenText Core Software Delivery Platform, which serves as a reference to the corresponding GitLab project.

Manage multi-branch pipelines

Multi-branch pipelines automatically track runs from any branch in your GitLab project. Users can configure branch filters to control which branches are monitored and injected into OpenText Core Software Delivery Platform.

Note: The pipeline must be executed at least once in GitLab for it to appear in OpenText Core Software Delivery Platform.

View pipeline runs and test results

Pipeline runs are displayed in OpenText Core Software Delivery Platform from GitLab. Note the following:

  • Configure your .gitlab-ci.yml to archive XML test result files at the end of each test job.
  • Test results are automatically detected and injected if they are archived as XML artifacts.
  • After the job completes, the results are analyzed and displayed in the pipeline run.

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Run pipelines

You can run single-branch pipelines directly from OpenText Core Software Delivery Platform. Multi-branch pipelines can only be run from GitLab.

Set the CI_INTEGRATION_GITLAB_USE_PARAMETERS accordingly to support pipelines with parameters or variables. It is recommended to use input parameters rather than variables.

Pipeline configuration Run details
Pipelines without parameters or variables Run directly from OpenText Core Software Delivery Platform without any additional configuration.
Pipelines with parameters

Ensure the pipeline uses the standard gitlab-ci.yml file name. Parameters are securely fetched from a JSON file located in the root of the GitLab repository. The file name must match the value configured in the CI_INTEGRATION_GITLAB_ARTIFACT_NAME parameter.

JSON file structure: 

[
	{
	"{{param_name}}": {{param_value}}
	}
]

Where param_name is the name defined in the YAML file.
Pipelines with variables

The variables defined in GitLab are used.

To fetch current parameter values from GitLab, select Sync with CI.

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Run tests

Test runners in OpenText Core Software Delivery Platform enable users to execute automated tests through dedicated GitLab pipelines.

The corresponding pipeline for the test runner needs to be added to OpenText Core Software Delivery Platform prior to running automated tests.

Configure the following variables at the instance, group, or project level in GitLab: testsToRun, suiteId, suiteRunId, executionId, testRunnerBranch (optional)

Example (Maven): mvn clean test -DTest=$testsToRun

When creating a test runner in OpenText Core Software Delivery Platform, select the appropriate testing framework (for example, JUnit or UFT). The testsToRun parameter is generated automatically based on the selection.

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