World-class CI/CD comes as a part of the GitLab DevOps Platform to help streamline how development teams build, test, and deploy their apps. GitLab Runner is the execution engine that "does the work," enabling you, as a developer, to run fast, scalable CI/CD pipelines on your on-premises infrastructure or the cloud. Historically, Apple developers on GitLab SaaS had to set up runners on their own macOS systems to execute CI/CD workflows, introducing additional cost and operational overhead. As organizations and teams develop more apps for the Apple ecosystem, the need to create and deploy quickly becomes more important.
Introducing GitLab SaaS Runners on macOS Beta
Today, you can say goodbye to that Mac mini under your desk! We are pleased to announce the GitLab SaaS Runners on macOS macOS Beta, which provides an on-demand platform for building Apple products and is integrated with GitLab SaaS CI/CD.
To ensure the best possible service to our open source community and customers, access to the Beta is limited.
So, what does the Beta experience look like? We have worked very closely with a leading provider of hosted Apple infrastructure, MacStadium, to deliver a reliable, performant, and secure build platform for the Beta release.
Beta user experience and specs
- For the Beta, customers who host their project repositories on GitLab.com (SaaS) will be able to execute a macOS build job by including a tag in the
.gitlab-ci.ymlfile. This tag identifies that the job requires a macOS build environment. - The GitLab Runner on the macOS VM will be configured to use the shell executor.
- For the beta, each macOS VM will be pre-installed with the tooling required to build apps for the Apple ecosystem. Refer to this documentation for additional details regarding the image contents.
- The job will have full access to the macOS virtual machine.
- For the beta, only one standard VM type will be offered. The specs for the VM offered at beta launch = 4 vCPUs, 10 GB RAM, 14 GB storage available for builds.
Timing and availability
The GitLab SaaS Runners on macOS Beta program begins August 22, 2021 with the release of GitLab 14.2. The current target for Limited Availability is GitLab 15.0 in May 2022, but is subject to change as we gather user feedback during the beta phase.
Beta program availability is limited to ensure that GitLab Runner remains performant and reliable for all of our customers and the wider GitLab community that relies on the Gitlab Runner as their build agent.
To request access to the GitLab SaaS Runners on macOS Beta program, you’ll need to be an existing GitLab SaaS customer as of August 22, 2021. Existing GitLab customers interested in joining the beta can open an issue and request access. We will do our best to service all requests but availability will depend on demand over the course of the beta period.
For specific inquiries or questions that aren't covered in this blog, please leave a comment in the GitLab product epic relevant to the Beta program.
How much does it cost for the Beta?
There will not be any added cost for customers or Open Source projects accepted into the Beta program. CI minutes for the GitLab SaaS Runners on macOS Beta will not count towards a customer's usage quota during the Beta period.
Additional pricing details for our Build Cloud for macOS will be available with Limited Availability, which is targeted to ship in GitLab 15.0.
We welcome your feedback
As we iterate and progress toward General Availability, remember that everyone can contribute here at Gitlab and we value your feedback. Please let us know what you think of the Beta experience and/or suggest improvements!
Resources and helpful links
- GitLab SaaS Runners on macOS Beta) documentation
- Roadmap information
- Beta signup details and onboarding instructions
“GitLab Build Cloud for macOS Beta: Build apps for Apple products without administrative overhead” – Parker Ennis
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