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Our Gitlab journey. Migrating from Docker+Machine to Kubernetes
- GitLab is discontinuing the Docker+Machine executor, prompting many teams to migrate to Kubernetes for running CI jobs.
- GitLab SaaS's experience often falls short of its potential for teams using their platform at scale.
- Currently, GitLab CI/CD is used primarily by an e-commerce retailer with circa 1,000 tech department colleagues with over 400 active GitLab users.
- The decision to migrate wasn't difficult for them with Kubernetes as an easy fit, but the process of migrating was a challenge.
- GitLab provides documentation, but it's often high-level, fragmented, and doesn't go deep enough to address real-world scenarios.
- There are several challenges in the migration process, such as runner registration and management, handling runner tokens, and helm chart updates.
- In response to these challenges, they implemented dynamic runner configuration, token retrieval workflow, pipeline resilience, and a custom helper image.
- They suggest GitLab needs to provide migration-specific documentation, clear examples of Kubernetes-based workflows, and ensure version upgrades don't break runner registrations and other workflows.
- The migration to Kubernetes is possible, but it's important to adapt and experiment to improve developer experience.
- Improving documentation and minimizing breaking changes would help teams like theirs more effectively navigate the migration process.
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