GitLab CI

The repository ships a GitLab template, integrations/gitlab/manent.yml, included with typed inputs. It adds a deploy job that installs the client if the image does not have it, runs manent deploy --ci, fails when the deploy fails and writes the outcome to a dotenv report, so the following jobs receive deployment_id, state and version as variables.

What you need

A GitLab version that supports spec:inputs in included files · a manent server reachable from the runners · a token for CI (static token in auth.tokens_file)

1. Variables

In Settings → CI/CD → Variables of the project (or of the group):

Variable	Value	Flags
MANENT_SERVER	https://manent.example.com
MANENT_TOKEN	the CI token	Masked, Protected

Protected variables reach only pipelines on protected branches and tags: a merge request from a fork cannot read the token. Give the token a role limited to the environments CI may touch, as in Deploy from a CI pipeline.

2. Include the template

.gitlab-ci.yml

stages: [build, deploy]

build:
  stage: build
  script:
    - make dist VERSION=$CI_COMMIT_TAG
    - 'curl -fsS -u "$NEXUS_USER:$NEXUS_PASSWORD" --upload-file dist/shop-$CI_COMMIT_TAG.tgz https://nexus.example.com/repository/releases/shop/'
  rules:
    - if: $CI_COMMIT_TAG

include:
  - remote: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/manent-deployer/manent/v0.1.0/integrations/gitlab/manent.yml
    inputs:
      job: deploy-test
      stage: deploy
      descriptor: deploy/test.yml
      version: $CI_COMMIT_TAG
      source: https://nexus.example.com/repository/releases/shop/shop-$CI_COMMIT_TAG.tgz
      id: gl-$CI_PIPELINE_ID
      timeout: 30m
      manent_ref: v0.1.0

Input	Default	Meaning
job, stage	manent-deploy, deploy	Name and stage of the generated job.
descriptor		YAML descriptor in the repository.
version, source, sha256	""	Replace the artifact fields of the descriptor.
id	""	Deploy ID, the idempotency key: gl-$CI_PIPELINE_ID makes a retried job return the deploy already done.
dry_run	false	Run a dry-run on a worker.
timeout	30m	Maximum wait, approvals included.
image	golang:1.27-alpine	Job image; the client is installed with go install if missing.
manent_ref	main	Version of the client to install: pin it to a tag.

Include the template several times, with different job names, for several environments. To add rules, environment or needs to the generated job, extend it by name:

deploy-test:
  environment: {name: test}
  rules:
    - if: $CI_COMMIT_TAG

Faster jobs

The default image compiles the client at every run. An image of yours that already has manent on the PATH (and a shell, which GitLab needs to run the script) skips the installation: pass it as image. The official ghcr.io/manent-deployer/manent image is distroless, without a shell, so it is not suitable as a GitLab job image.

3. Use the outcome in later jobs

notify:
  stage: .post
  needs: [deploy-test]
  script:
    - echo "deploy $deployment_id of $version ended $state"
  when: always

The dotenv report is written even when the deploy fails, so a when: always job can report the failure.

4. Promote to production

promote-prod:
  stage: deploy
  image: golang:1.27-alpine
  needs: [deploy-test]
  environment: {name: production}
  variables:
    MANENT_TOKEN: $MANENT_PROMOTE_TOKEN       # a token allowed to submit to production
  script:
    - command -v manent >/dev/null || GOBIN=/usr/local/bin go install github.com/manent-deployer/manent/cmd/manent@v0.1.0
    - manent promote -a shop --from test --to prod --version "$CI_COMMIT_TAG" --timeout 4h
  rules:
    - if: $CI_COMMIT_TAG
      when: manual

MANENT_PROMOTE_TOKEN is a separate protected variable, with deployment.read on test and deployment.submit on production. manent's approvals still apply on top of GitLab's manual job.

5. Check environment configuration changes

In the merge request pipeline of the configuration repository:

envconfig-check:
  image: golang:1.27-alpine
  rules:
    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "merge_request_event"
      changes: ["envconfig/**/*"]
  script:
    - command -v manent >/dev/null || GOBIN=/usr/local/bin go install github.com/manent-deployer/manent/cmd/manent@v0.1.0
    - manent env validate -a shop -e prod -f envconfig/shop/shop/prod.yml

Reference: CI and infrastructure as code.