gitlab-ci-artifacts-caching

# GitLab CI - Artifacts & Caching Configure artifacts and caching for efficient pipeline execution. ## Artifacts ### Basic Artifact Configuration ```yaml build: script: - npm run build artifacts: paths: - dist/ expire_in: 1 week ``` ### Artifact Reports ```yaml test: script: - npm test -- --coverage artifacts: reports: junit: junit.xml coverage_report: coverage_format: cobertura path: coverage/cobertura-coverage.xml ``` ### Conditional Artifacts ```yaml build: artifacts: paths: - dist/ when: on_success # on_success, on_failure, always exclude: - dist/**/*.map ``` ### Artifact Dependencies ```yaml build: artifacts: paths: - dist/ test: dependencies: - build # Downloads build artifacts script: - npm test deploy: dependencies: [] # Skip all artifact downloads script: - ./deploy.sh ``` ## Caching ### Basic Cache Configuration ```yaml default: cache: key: ${CI_COMMIT_REF_SLUG} paths: - node_modules/ - .npm/ ``` ### Cache Key Strategies ```yaml # Per-branch cache cache: key: ${CI_COMMIT_REF_SLUG} paths: - node_modules/ # Lock file based cache cache: key: files: - package-lock.json paths: - node_modules/ # Combined key cache: key: prefix: ${CI_JOB_NAME} files: - package-lock.json paths: - node_modules/ ``` ### Cache Policy ```yaml install: cache: key: ${CI_COMMIT_REF_SLUG} paths: - node_modules/ policy: push # Only upload cache script: - npm ci test: cache: key: ${CI_COMMIT_REF_SLUG} paths: - node_modules/ policy: pull # Only download cache script: - npm test ``` ### Fallback Keys ```yaml cache: key: ${CI_COMMIT_REF_SLUG} fallback_keys: - ${CI_DEFAULT_BRANCH} - main paths: - node_modules/ ``` ## Distributed Cache (S3) Configure in GitLab Runner: ```toml [runners.cache] Type = "s3" Shared = true [runners.cache.s3] ServerAddress = "s3.amazonaws.com" BucketName = "gitlab-runner-cache" BucketLocation = "us-east-1" ``` ## Artifacts vs Cache | Feature | Artifacts | Cache | |---------|-----------|-------| | Purpose | Pass data between jobs | Speed up job execution | | Storage | GitLab server | Runner local or S3 | | Reliability | Guaranteed | Best effort | | Expiration | Configurable | Configurable | | Cross-pipeline | Yes (with dependencies) | Yes (with keys) | ## Best Practices 1. Use cache for dependencies (node_modules, vendor) 2. Use artifacts for build outputs 3. Set appropriate expiration times 4. Use lock file-based cache keys 5. Exclude source maps and unnecessary files 6. Use `policy: pull` for jobs that only read cache