The config.toml file is what configures a runner. You wouldn’t have one unless you’re running your own gitlab-runners, in which case it would be in /etc/gitlab/config.toml on the host running the runner.
You can change the behavior of GitLab Runner and of individual registered runners.
To do this, you modify a file called config.toml, which uses the TOML format.
GitLab Runner does not require a restart when you change most options. This includes parameters in the [[runners]] section and most parameters in the global section, except for listen_address. If a runner was already registered, you don’t need to register it again.
GitLab Runner checks for configuration modifications every 3 seconds and reloads if necessary. GitLab Runner also reloads the configuration in response to the SIGHUP signal.
You can find the config.toml file in:
- /etc/gitlab-runner/ on *nix systems when GitLab Runner is executed as root (this is also the path for service configuration)
- ~/.gitlab-runner/ on *nix systems when GitLab Runner is executed as non-root
- ./ on other systems
The executors
The following executors are available.
| Executor | Required configuration | Where jobs run |
|---|---|---|
shell | Local shell. The default executor. | |
docker | [runners.docker] and Docker Engine | A Docker container. |
docker-windows | [runners.docker] and Docker Engine | A Windows Docker container. |
docker-ssh | [runners.docker], [runners.ssh], and Docker Engine | A Docker container, but connect with SSH. The Docker container runs on the local machine. This setting changes how the commands are run inside that container. If you want to run Docker commands on an external machine, change the host parameter in the runners.docker section. |
ssh | [runners.ssh] | SSH, remotely. |
parallels | [runners.parallels] and [runners.ssh] | Parallels VM, but connect with SSH. |
virtualbox | [runners.virtualbox] and [runners.ssh] | VirtualBox VM, but connect with SSH. |
docker+machine | [runners.docker] and [runners.machine] | Like docker, but use auto-scaled Docker machines. |
docker-ssh+machine | [runners.docker] and [runners.machine] | Like docker-ssh, but use auto-scaled Docker machines. |
kubernetes | [runners.kubernetes] | Kubernetes pods. |
The shells
The available shells can run on different platforms.
| Shell | Description |
|---|---|
bash | Generate Bash (Bourne-shell) script. All commands executed in Bash context. Default for all Unix systems. |
sh | Generate Sh (Bourne-shell) script. All commands executed in Sh context. The fallback for bash for all Unix systems. |
powershell | Generate PowerShell script. All commands are executed in PowerShell Desktop context. In GitLab Runner 12.0-13.12, this is the default for Windows. |
pwsh | Generate PowerShell script. All commands are executed in PowerShell Core context. In GitLab Runner 14.0 and later, this is the default for Windows. |
Example
$ more /etc/gitlab-runner/config.toml
concurrent = 1
check_interval = 0
[session_server]
session_timeout = 1800
[[runners]]
name = "rajeshkumar"
url = "http://43.205.228.212/"
id = 3
token = "AKrp1HueGK1DxaHxjNmD"
token_obtained_at = 2022-09-06T06:40:14Z
token_expires_at = 0001-01-01T00:00:00Z
executor = "shell"
[runners.custom_build_dir]
[runners.cache]
[runners.cache.s3]
[runners.cache.gcs]
[runners.cache.azure]
[[runners]]
name = "raju123"
url = "http://43.205.228.212/"
id = 16
token = "aZ9zvKntG8-PKsm8s1HN"
token_obtained_at = 2022-09-06T07:13:53Z
token_expires_at = 0001-01-01T00:00:00Z
executor = "shell"
[runners.custom_build_dir]
[runners.cache]
[runners.cache.s3]
[runners.cache.gcs]
[runners.cache.azure]
[[runners]]
name = "gitlab-test"
url = "https://gitlab.com/"
id = 17373720
token = "sJp-fyfCvj-K1M-yysfj"
token_obtained_at = 2022-09-06T09:09:09Z
token_expires_at = 0001-01-01T00:00:00Z
executor = "shell"
[runners.custom_build_dir]
[runners.cache]
[runners.cache.s3]
[runners.cache.gcs]
[runners.cache.azure]
[[runners]]
name = "docker"
url = "https://gitlab.com/"
id = 17388862
token = "RDoZpsR8XzyuipDHzYsz"
token_obtained_at = 2022-09-07T04:31:53Z
token_expires_at = 0001-01-01T00:00:00Z
executor = "docker"
[runners.custom_build_dir]
[runners.cache]
[runners.cache.s3]
[runners.cache.gcs]
[runners.cache.azure]
[runners.docker]
tls_verify = false
image = "alpine"
privileged = false
disable_entrypoint_overwrite = false
oom_kill_disable = false
disable_cache = false
volumes = ["/cache"]
shm_size = 0
[[runners]]
name = "group"
url = "https://gitlab.com/"
id = 17389806
token = "ES9VZQ4eZx_yfEyxVeqm"
token_obtained_at = 2022-09-07T05:09:40Z
token_expires_at = 0001-01-01T00:00:00Z
executor = "shell"
[runners.custom_build_dir]
[runners.cache]
[runners.cache.s3]
[runners.cache.gcs]
[runners.cache.azure]
[[runners]]
name = "linux-runner"
url = "https://gitlab.com/"
id = 17390444
token = "UHdwAw3MXnyf-C1NgwMR"
token_obtained_at = 2022-09-07T05:49:15Z
token_expires_at = 0001-01-01T00:00:00Z
executor = "shell"
[runners.custom_build_dir]
[runners.cache]
[runners.cache.s3]
[runners.cache.gcs]
[runners.cache.azure]
[[runners]]
name = "docker-runner"
url = "https://gitlab.com/"
id = 17390576
token = "_nHBeXQVrwj8V-xxq899"
token_obtained_at = 2022-09-07T05:57:22Z
token_expires_at = 0001-01-01T00:00:00Z
executor = "docker"
[runners.custom_build_dir]
[runners.cache]
[runners.cache.s3]
[runners.cache.gcs]
[runners.cache.azure]
[runners.docker]
tls_verify = false
image = "alpine"
privileged = false
disable_entrypoint_overwrite = false
oom_kill_disable = false
disable_cache = false
volumes = ["/cache"]
shm_size = 0
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)Reference
- https://docs.gitlab.com/runner/configuration/advanced-configuration.html
I’m Rajesh Kumar, a DevOps, SRE, DevSecOps, Cloud, and Platform Engineering expert passionate about sharing practical knowledge, real-world experiences, and industry best practices. I have worked at Cotocus and regularly write about technology, travel, investing, health, product reviews, and digital marketing through my various platforms.
I publish technical articles at DevOps School, travel stories at Holiday Landmark, stock market insights at Stocks Mantra, health and fitness guidance at My Medic Plus, product reviews at TrueReviewNow, and SEO and digital marketing strategies at Wizbrand.
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Thank you very much for sharing this.
I have a problem in my Gitlab pipeline. I am using windows (docker installed) and I select windows-docker as a executor. I am getting this error (although I already have cache folder inside the c drive):
Preparing the “docker-windows” executor
ERROR: Failed to remove network for build
ERROR: Job failed: invalid volume specification: “c:\\cache”