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How to enable or disable GitLab CI/CD

To effectively use GitLab CI/CD, you need:

  • A valid .gitlab-ci.yml file present at the root directory of your project.
  • A runner properly set up.

You can read our quick start guide to get you started.

If you are using an external CI/CD server like Jenkins or Drone CI, it is advised to disable GitLab CI/CD in order to not have any conflicts with the commits status API.

GitLab CI/CD is exposed via the /pipelines and /jobs pages of a project. Disabling GitLab CI/CD in a project does not delete any previous jobs. In fact, the /pipelines and /jobs pages can still be accessed, although it's hidden from the left sidebar menu.

GitLab CI/CD is enabled by default on new installations and can be disabled either:

  • Individually under each project's settings.
  • Site-wide by modifying the settings in gitlab.yml and gitlab.rb for source and Omnibus installations respectively.

Per-project user setting

The setting to enable or disable GitLab CI/CD can be found under your project's Settings > General > Permissions. Choose one of "Disabled", "Only team members" or "Everyone with access" and hit Save changes for the settings to take effect.

Sharing & Permissions settings

Site-wide admin setting

You can disable GitLab CI/CD site-wide, by modifying the settings in gitlab.yml and gitlab.rb for source and Omnibus installations respectively.

Two things to note:

  • Disabling GitLab CI/CD, will affect only newly-created projects. Projects that had it enabled prior to this modification, will work as before.
  • Even if you disable GitLab CI/CD, users will still be able to enable it in the project's settings.

For installations from source, open gitlab.yml with your editor and set builds to false:

## Default project features settings
default_projects_features:
  issues: true
  merge_requests: true
  wiki: true
  snippets: false
  builds: false

Save the file and restart GitLab:

sudo service gitlab restart

For Omnibus installations, edit /etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb and add the line:

gitlab_rails['gitlab_default_projects_features_builds'] = false

Save the file and reconfigure GitLab:

sudo gitlab-ctl reconfigure