[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":792},["ShallowReactive",2],{"/en-us/blog/gitops-with-gitlab-infrastructure-provisioning":3,"navigation-en-us":39,"banner-en-us":439,"footer-en-us":449,"blog-post-authors-en-us-Viktor Nagy":689,"blog-related-posts-en-us-gitops-with-gitlab-infrastructure-provisioning":703,"assessment-promotions-en-us":743,"next-steps-en-us":782},{"id":4,"title":5,"authorSlugs":6,"body":8,"categorySlug":9,"config":10,"content":14,"description":8,"extension":26,"isFeatured":12,"meta":27,"navigation":28,"path":29,"publishedDate":20,"seo":30,"stem":34,"tagSlugs":35,"__hash__":38},"blogPosts/en-us/blog/gitops-with-gitlab-infrastructure-provisioning.yml","Gitops With Gitlab Infrastructure Provisioning",[7],"viktor-nagy",null,"engineering",{"slug":11,"featured":12,"template":13},"gitops-with-gitlab-infrastructure-provisioning",false,"BlogPost",{"title":15,"description":16,"authors":17,"heroImage":19,"date":20,"body":21,"category":9,"tags":22},"GitOps with GitLab: Infrastructure provisioning with GitLab and Terraform","In part two of our GitOps series, we set up the infrastructure using GitLab and Terraform. Here's everything you need to know.",[18],"Viktor Nagy","https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1749663397/Blog/Hero%20Images/logoforblogpost.jpg","2021-11-04","\n\n_It is possible to use GitLab as a best-in-class GitOps tool, and this blog post series is going to show you how. These easy-to-follow tutorials will focus on different user problems, including provisioning, managing a base infrastructure, and deploying various third-party or custom applications on top of them. You can find the entire \"Ultimate guide to GitOps with GitLab\" tutorial series [here](/blog/the-ultimate-guide-to-gitops-with-gitlab/)._\n\nThis post focuses on setting up the underlying infrastructure using GitLab and Terraform. \n\nThe first step is to have a network and some computing instances that we can use as our Kubernetes cluster. In this project, I’ll use [Civo](https://www.civo.com) to host the infrastructure as it has the most minimal setup, but the same can be achieved using any of the hyperclouds. GitLab documentation provides examples on how to set up a [cluster on AWS](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/infrastructure/clusters/connect/new_eks_cluster.html) or [GCP](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/infrastructure/clusters/connect/new_gke_cluster.html).\n\nWe want to have a project that describes our [infrastructure as code (IaC)](/topics/gitops/infrastructure-as-code/). As Terraform is today the de facto standard in infrastructure provisioning, we’ll use Terraform for the task. Terraform requires a state storage backend; We will use the GitLab managed Terraform state that is very easy to get started. Moreover, we will set up a pipeline to run the infrastructure changes automatically if they are merged to the main branch.\n\n## What infrastructure related steps are we going to codify?\n\n1. Create a VPC\n2. Set up a Kubernetes cluster\n\nActually, we will create separate Terraform projects for these 3 steps under a single GitLab project. We split the infrastructure because in a real world scenario, these projects will likely be a bit bigger, and Terraform slows down quite a lot if it has to deal with big projects. In general, it is a good practice to have small Terraform projects, and think about the infrastructure in a layered way, where higher layers can reference the output of lower layers. There are [many ways to access the output of another Terraform project](https://www.terraform.io/docs/language/state/remote-state-data.html#alternative-ways-to-share-data-between-configurations), and we leave it up to the reader to learn more about these. In this case, we will use simple data resources.\n\nAfter this long intro, let’s get started!\n\n## Creating the network\n\nFirst, let’s create a new GitLab project. You can use either an empty project or any of the project templates. If you plan to do all these tutorials, I recommend starting with the [Cluster Management Project template](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/clusters/management_project_template.html). Once the project is ready, let’s create the following files:\n\n- A `terraform/network/main.tf` file:\n\n```hcl\nterraform {\n  required_providers {\n    civo = {\n      source = \"civo/civo\"\n      version = \"0.10.10”\n    }\n  }\n  backend \"http\" {\n  }\n}\n\n# Configure the Civo Provider\nprovider \"civo\" {\n  token = var.civo_token\n  region = local.region\n}\n\nresource \"civo_network\" \"network\" {\n    label = \"development\"\n}\n```\n\nThis file describes almost everything we want this project to do. The first block configures Terraform to use the `civo/civo` provider and a simple `http` backend for state storage. As I mentioned above, we will use [the GitLab managed Terraform state](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/infrastructure/iac/terraform_state.html), that acts like an `http` backend from Terraform’s point of view. The GitLab backend is versioned and encrypted by default, and GitLab CI/CD contains all the environment variables needed to access it. I will demonstrate later how you can access the backend either from the local command line or from GitLab CI/CD.\n\nNext we configure the `Civo` provider. You can see that here we use two variables, an input and a local variable. These will be defined in separate files below. Finally, we describe a network and give it the “development” label.\n\n- A `terraform/network/outputs.tf` file:\n\n```hcl\noutput \"network\" {\n  value = civo_network.network.id\n}\n```\n\nThis file just provides the network id as an output variable from Terraform. Other projects could consume it. We won’t use this, but I consider it a good practice as it might help to debug issues.\n\n- A `terraform/network/locals.tf` file:\n\n```hcl\nlocals {\n  region = \"LON1\"\n}\n```\n\nHere we define the `region` local as mentioned under the description of the `main.tf` file. Why aren’t we making it an input variable? Because this is closely related to our infrastructure and for this reason we want to keep it in code. It should be version controlled and changes should be reviewed following the team’s processes. We could write the values into a `.tfvars` file also to achieve versioning and have it as a variable. I prefer to keep it in `hcl` to have it closer to the rest of the code.\n\n- A `terraform/network/variables.tf` file:\n\n```hcl\nvariable \"civo_token\" {\n  type = string\n  sensitive = true\n}\n```\n\nFinally, we define the Civo access token as an input variable.\n\nNow, we are ready with the Terraform code, but we cannot access the GitLab state backend yet. For that we either need to configure our local environment or GitLab CI/CD. Let’s see both setups.\n\n## Running Terraform locally\n\nYou can run Terraform either locally or using GitLab CI/CD. The following two sections present both approaches.\n\n### Accessing the GitLab Terraform state backend locally\n\nThe simplest way to configure the “http” backend is using environment variables. There are many environment variables needed though! For this reason, I prefer to use a collection of [direnv](https://direnv.net/) files. We will need all these environment variables configured:\n\n```text\nTF_HTTP_PASSWORD\nTF_HTTP_USERNAME\nTF_HTTP_ADDRESS\nTF_HTTP_LOCK_ADDRESS\nTF_HTTP_LOCK_METHOD\nTF_HTTP_UNLOCK_ADDRESS\nTF_HTTP_UNLOCK_METHOD\nTF_HTTP_RETRY_WAIT_MIN\n```\n\nDirenv enables us to add a few files to our repository to describe the above environment variables in a nice and scalable way. Clearly, there are some variables that are sensitive, like `TF_HTTP_PASSWORD`, so this should not be stored in git. Moreover, we could reuse most of these variables in the other two Terraform projects we are going to create. With these considerations in mind, let’s create the following 3 files:\n\n- Create `terraform/network/.envrc`: \n\n```shell\nexport TF_STATE_NAME=civo-${PWD##*terraform/}\nsource_env ../../.main.env\n```\n\nThis sets the `TF_STATE_NAME` variable to `civo-network` using some bash magic and loads the `.main.env` file from the root of the repository using the `source_env` method provided by `direnv`. This can be added to version control safely.\n\n- Create `.main.env`:\n\n```shell\nsource_env_if_exists ./.local.env\n\nCI_PROJECT_ID=28431043\nexport TF_HTTP_PASSWORD=\"${CI_JOB_TOKEN:-$GITLAB_ACCESS_TOKEN}\"\nexport TF_HTTP_USERNAME=\"${GITLAB_USER_LOGIN}\"\nexport GITLAB_URL=https://gitlab.com\n\nexport TF_VAR_remote_address_base=\"${GITLAB_URL}/api/v4/projects/${CI_PROJECT_ID}/terraform/state\"\nexport TF_HTTP_ADDRESS=\"${TF_VAR_remote_address_base}/${TF_STATE_NAME}\"\nexport TF_HTTP_LOCK_ADDRESS=\"${TF_HTTP_ADDRESS}/lock\"\nexport TF_HTTP_LOCK_METHOD=\"POST\"\nexport TF_HTTP_UNLOCK_ADDRESS=\"${TF_HTTP_LOCK_ADDRESS}\"\nexport TF_HTTP_UNLOCK_METHOD=\"DELETE\"\nexport TF_HTTP_RETRY_WAIT_MIN=5\n\n# export TF_LOG=\"TRACE\"\n```\n\nThis file contains the bulk of the environment variables we need, and can be added to version control safely as no secrets are stored there. The first line loads the `.local.env` file that will contain the sensitive values, again using a `direnv` method. The second line contains the GitLab project ID. This is shown under the project name of your GitLab project. The next three lines configure access to GitLab. The username and password will be populated from the `local.env` file, while the `GITLAB_URL` variable is there to help you if you are on a self-managed GitLab instance.\n\n- Create `.local.env` and add it to `.gitignore`:\n\n```shell\nGITLAB_ACCESS_TOKEN=\u003Cyour GitLab personal access token>\nGITLAB_USER_LOGIN=\u003Cyour GitLAb username>\nexport TF_VAR_civo_token=\u003Cyour Civo access token>\n```\n\nClearly, I cannot provide the values for this file. Please fill them out with your credentials. You can generate a GitLab personal access token under your settings. To access the GitLab managed Terraform state using a personal access token, the token should have the `api` scope enabled.\n\nWarning: **Don’t forget to add this file to `.gitignore`**. Actually, I have it in my global gitignore file to avoid accidental commits.\n\nAs the environment variables are set up, you should make direnv to start using these variables. When you `cd` into the `terraform/network` directory a warning should appear asking you to run `direnv allow`. Enable the environment variables:\n\n```shell\ncd terraform/network\ndirenv allow\n```\n\n### Creating the network - finally\n\nLet’s see if we managed to set up everything right!\n\n```shell\nterraform init\nterraform plan\n```\n\nThe first command just initializes Terraform, downloads the Civo plugin and does some sanity checks. The second command on the other hand connects to the remote state backend, and computes the necessary changes to provide the infrastructure we described in this project.\n\nIf we like the changes, we can apply them with\n\n```shell\nterraform apply\n```\n\n_Nota bene_, in a real world setup, you would likely output a plan file from `terraform plan` and feed it into `terraform apply`, just like the CI/CD setup will do it later. Anyway, this is good enough for us, so let’s create the cluster next.\n\n### Running Terraform using GitLab CI/CD\n\nNote: This section assumes that you have access to GitLab Runners to run the CI/CD jobs.\n\nGiven the flexibility of GitLab CI/CD it can be set up in many different ways. Here we will build a pipeline that incorporates the most important aspects of a Terraform-oriented pipeline, without restricting you to require merge requests or any other processes. The only restriction we'll place on it is that changes should only be applied on the main branch and this should be a manual action.\n\nCopy the following code into `.gitlab-ci.yml` in the root of your project:\n\n```yaml\ninclude:\n  - template: \"Terraform/Base.latest.gitlab-ci.yml\"\n\nstages:\n- init\n- build\n- deploy\n\nnetwork:init:\n  extends: .terraform:init\n  stage: init\n  variables:\n    TF_ROOT: terraform/network\n    TF_STATE_NAME: network\n  only:\n    changes:\n      - \"terraform/network/*\"\n\nnetwork:review:\n  extends: .terraform:build\n  stage: build\n  variables:\n    TF_ROOT: terraform/network\n    TF_STATE_NAME: network\n  resource_group: tf:network\n  only:\n    changes:\n      - \"terraform/network/*\"\n\nnetwork:deploy:\n  extends: .terraform:deploy\n  stage: deploy\n  variables:\n    TF_ROOT: terraform/network\n    TF_STATE_NAME: network\n  resource_group: tf:network\n  environment:\n    name: dns\n  when: manual\n  only:\n    changes:\n      - \"terraform/network/*\"\n    variables:\n      - $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == $CI_DEFAULT_BRANCH\n\n```\n\nThis CI pipeline re-uses [the latest base Terraform CI template](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/lib/gitlab/ci/templates/Terraform) shipped with GitLab, and runs the jobs by simply parameterizing them as function calls. Let's review quickly the keys used:\n\n- the [`stages`](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ci/yaml/#stages) keyword provides a list of stages to compose the pipeline\n- the [`extends`](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ci/yaml/#extends) keyword refers to the job defined in [the base Terraform template](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/blob/master/lib/gitlab/ci/templates/Terraform/Base.latest.gitlab-ci.yml)\n- the [`variables`](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ci/yaml/#variables) keywords parameterizes the job for our requirements\n- the [`resource_group`](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ci/yaml/#resource_group) keyword assures that always only one potentially conflicting job is run\n- the [`only`](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ci/yaml/#only--except) keyword restricts runs to specific situations\n\nIf you commit this file and push it to GitLab, a new pipeline will be created that as a last step provides you a manual job to create your network. We will extend this file later throughout this tutorial series.\n\n## Create a Kubernetes cluster\n\nThe code required for the cluster will be very similar to the code for the network.\n\n- Add `terraform/cluster/outputs.tf` file:\n\n```hcl\nterraform {\n  required_providers {\n    civo = {\n      source = \"civo/civo\"\n      version = \"0.10.4\"\n    }\n  }\n  backend \"http\" {\n  }\n}\n\n# Configure the Civo Provider\nprovider \"civo\" {\n  token = var.civo_token\n  region = local.region\n}\n\nresource \"civo_kubernetes_cluster\" \"dev-cluster\" {\n    name = \"dev-cluster\"\n    // tags = \"gitlab demo\"  // Do not add tags! There is a bug in the civo-provider :(\n    network_id = data.civo_network.network.id\n    applications = \"\"\n    num_target_nodes = 3\n    target_nodes_size = element(data.civo_instances_size.small.sizes, 0).name\n}\n```\n\nThe only difference compared to `terraform/network/outputs.tf` is the last resource as that describes the cluster. You can see how we reference the network created before. Of course, we'll need a `data` resource for this and the instance sizes.\n\n- Add `terraform/cluster/data.tf` file:\n\n```hcl\ndata \"civo_instances_size\" \"small\" {\n    filter {\n        key = \"name\"\n        values = [\"g3.small\"]\n        match_by = \"re\"\n    }\n\n    filter {\n        key = \"type\"\n        values = [\"instance\"]\n    }\n\n}\n\ndata \"civo_network\" \"network\" {\n    label = \"development\"\n}\n```\n\n\n- The `terraform/cluster/locals.tf` file outputs some useful details. We won't use them now, but they often come in handy in the longer term.\n\n```hcl\noutput \"cluster\" {\n  value = {\n    status = civo_kubernetes_cluster.dev-cluster.status\n    master_ip = civo_kubernetes_cluster.dev-cluster.master_ip\n    dns_entry = civo_kubernetes_cluster.dev-cluster.dns_entry\n  }\n}\n```\n\n- The `terraform/cluster/locals.tf` file is the same as for the network project:\n\n```hcl\nlocals {\n  region = \"LON1\"\n}\n```\n\n- The `terraform/cluster/variables.tf` file is the same as for the network project:\n\n```hcl\nvariable \"civo_token\" {\n  type = string\n  sensitive = true\n}\n```\n\n### Provision the cluster\n\nLet's see how can we extend the previous local and CI/CD setups to run this Terraform project!\n\n#### Running locally\n\n- Create `terraform/cluster/.envrc`  as you did for the network project:\n\n```shell\nexport TF_STATE_NAME=civo-${PWD##*terraform/}\nsource_env ../../.main.env\n```\n\nNow run Terraform:\n\n```bash\nterraform init\nterraform plan\nterraform apply\n```\n\n#### Running from CI/CD\n\nExtend the `.gitlab-ci.yaml` file with the following 3 jobs:\n\n```hcl\ncluster:init:\n  extends: .terraform:init\n  stage: init\n  variables:\n    TF_ROOT: terraform/cluster\n    TF_STATE_NAME: cluster\n  only:\n    changes:\n      - \"terraform/cluster/*\"\n\ncluster:review:\n  extends: .terraform:build\n  stage: build\n  variables:\n    TF_ROOT: terraform/cluster\n    TF_STATE_NAME: cluster\n  resource_group: tf:cluster\n  only:\n    changes:\n      - \"terraform/cluster/*\"\n\ncluster:deploy:\n  extends: .terraform:deploy\n  stage: deploy\n  variables:\n    TF_ROOT: terraform/cluster\n    TF_STATE_NAME: cluster\n  resource_group: tf:cluster\n  environment:\n    name: dev-cluster\n  when: manual\n  only:\n    changes:\n      - \"terraform/cluster/*\"\n    variables:\n      - $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == $CI_DEFAULT_BRANCH\n\n```\n\nAs you can see these are the same jobs that we saw already, they are just parameterized for the 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statement",{"items":679},[680,683,686],{"text":681,"config":682},"Terms",{"href":509,"dataGaName":510,"dataGaLocation":457},{"text":684,"config":685},"Cookies",{"dataGaName":519,"dataGaLocation":457,"id":520,"isOneTrustButton":28},{"text":687,"config":688},"Privacy",{"href":514,"dataGaName":515,"dataGaLocation":457},[690],{"id":691,"title":18,"body":8,"config":692,"content":694,"description":8,"extension":26,"meta":698,"navigation":28,"path":699,"seo":700,"stem":701,"__hash__":702},"blogAuthors/en-us/blog/authors/viktor-nagy.yml",{"template":693},"BlogAuthor",{"name":18,"config":695},{"headshot":696,"ctfId":697},"https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1749662918/Blog/Author%20Headshots/nagy-headshot.jpg","nagyvgitlab",{},"/en-us/blog/authors/viktor-nagy",{},"en-us/blog/authors/viktor-nagy","rM3QZ5iaPa1fk9rDH9Dq-owlsuuFm699I03jWP1dUY4",[704,719,732],{"content":705,"config":717},{"title":706,"description":707,"authors":708,"heroImage":710,"date":711,"body":712,"category":9,"tags":713},"How to use GitLab Container Virtual Registry with Docker Hardened Images","Learn how to simplify container image management with this step-by-step guide.",[709],"Tim Rizzi","https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1772111172/mwhgbjawn62kymfwrhle.png","2026-03-12","If you're a platform engineer, you've probably had this conversation:\n  \n*\"Security says we need to use hardened base images.\"*\n\n*\"Great, where do I configure credentials for yet another registry?\"*\n\n*\"Also, how do we make sure everyone actually uses them?\"*\n\nOr this one:\n\n*\"Why are our builds so slow?\"*\n\n*\"We're pulling the same 500MB image from Docker Hub in every single job.\"*\n\n*\"Can't we just cache these somewhere?\"*\n\nI've been working on [Container Virtual Registry](https://docs.gitlab.com/user/packages/virtual_registry/container/) at GitLab specifically to solve these problems. It's a pull-through cache that sits in front of your upstream registries — Docker Hub, dhi.io (Docker Hardened Images), MCR, and Quay — and gives your teams a single endpoint to pull from. Images get cached on the first pull. Subsequent pulls come from the cache. Your developers don't need to know or care which upstream a particular image came from.\n\nThis article shows you how to set up Container Virtual Registry, specifically with Docker Hardened Images in mind, since that's a combination that makes a lot of sense for teams concerned about security and not making their developers' lives harder.\n\n## What problem are we actually solving?\n\nThe Platform teams I usually talk to manage container images across three to five registries:\n\n* **Docker Hub** for most base images\n* **dhi.io** for Docker Hardened Images (security-conscious workloads)\n* **MCR** for .NET and Azure tooling\n* **Quay.io** for Red Hat ecosystem stuff\n* **Internal registries** for proprietary images\n\nEach one has its own:\n\n* Authentication mechanism\n* Network latency characteristics\n* Way of organizing image paths\n\nYour CI/CD configs end up littered with registry-specific logic. Credential management becomes a project unto itself. And every pipeline job pulls the same base images over the network, even though they haven't changed in weeks.\n\nContainer Virtual Registry consolidates this. One registry URL. One authentication flow (GitLab's). Cached images are served from GitLab's infrastructure rather than traversing the internet each time.\n\n## How it works\n\nThe model is straightforward:\n\n```text\nYour pipeline pulls:\n  gitlab.com/virtual_registries/container/1000016/python:3.13\n\nVirtual registry checks:\n  1. Do I have this cached? → Return it\n  2. No? → Fetch from upstream, cache it, return it\n\n```\n\nYou configure upstreams in priority order. When a pull request comes in, the virtual registry checks each upstream until it finds the image. The result gets cached for a configurable period (default 24 hours).\n\n```text\n┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐\n│                    CI/CD Pipeline                       │\n│                          │                              │\n│                          ▼                              │\n│   gitlab.com/virtual_registries/container/\u003Cid>/image   │\n└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘\n                           │\n                           ▼\n┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐\n│            Container Virtual Registry                   │\n│                                                         │\n│  Upstream 1: Docker Hub ────────────────┐               │\n│  Upstream 2: dhi.io (Hardened) ────────┐│               │\n│  Upstream 3: MCR ─────────────────────┐││               │\n│  Upstream 4: Quay.io ────────────────┐│││               │\n│                                      ││││               │\n│                    ┌─────────────────┴┴┴┴──┐            │\n│                    │        Cache          │            │\n│                    │  (manifests + layers) │            │\n│                    └───────────────────────┘            │\n└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘\n```\n\n## Why this matters for Docker Hardened Images\n\n[Docker Hardened Images](https://docs.docker.com/dhi/) are great because of the minimal attack surface, near-zero CVEs, proper software bills of materials (SBOMs), and SLSA provenance. If you're evaluating base images for security-sensitive workloads, they should be on your list.\n\nBut adopting them creates the same operational friction as any new registry:\n\n* **Credential distribution**: You need to get Docker credentials to every system that pulls images from dhi.io.\n* **CI/CD changes**: Every pipeline needs to be updated to authenticate with dhi.io.\n* **Developer friction**: People need to remember to use the hardened variants.\n* **Visibility gap**: It's difficulat to tell if teams are actually using hardened images vs. regular ones.\n\nVirtual registry addresses each of these:\n\n**Single credential**: Teams authenticate to GitLab. The virtual registry handles upstream authentication. You configure Docker credentials once, at the registry level, and they apply to all pulls.\n\n**No CI/CD changes per-team**: Point pipelines at your virtual registry. Done. The upstream configuration is centralized.\n\n**Gradual adoption**: Since images get cached with their full path, you can see in the cache what's being pulled. If someone's pulling `library/python:3.11` instead of the hardened variant, you'll know.\n\n**Audit trail**: The cache shows you exactly which images are in active use. Useful for compliance, useful for understanding what your fleet actually depends on.\n\n## Setting it up\n\nHere's a real setup using the Python client from this demo project.\n\n### Create the virtual registry\n\n```python\nfrom virtual_registry_client import VirtualRegistryClient\n\nclient = VirtualRegistryClient()\n\nregistry = client.create_virtual_registry(\n    group_id=\"785414\",  # Your top-level group ID\n    name=\"platform-images\",\n    description=\"Cached container images for platform teams\"\n)\n\nprint(f\"Registry ID: {registry['id']}\")\n# You'll need this ID for the pull URL\n```\n\n### Add Docker Hub as an upstream\n\nFor official images like Alpine, Python, etc.:\n\n```python\ndocker_upstream = client.create_upstream(\n    registry_id=registry['id'],\n    url=\"https://registry-1.docker.io\",\n    name=\"Docker Hub\",\n    cache_validity_hours=24\n)\n```\n\n### Add Docker Hardened Images (dhi.io)\n\nDocker Hardened Images are hosted on `dhi.io`, a separate registry that requires authentication:\n\n```python\ndhi_upstream = client.create_upstream(\n    registry_id=registry['id'],\n    url=\"https://dhi.io\",\n    name=\"Docker Hardened Images\",\n    username=\"your-docker-username\",\n    password=\"your-docker-access-token\",\n    cache_validity_hours=24\n)\n```\n\n### Add other upstreams\n\n```python\n# MCR for .NET teams\nclient.create_upstream(\n    registry_id=registry['id'],\n    url=\"https://mcr.microsoft.com\",\n    name=\"Microsoft Container Registry\",\n    cache_validity_hours=48\n)\n\n# Quay for Red Hat stuff\nclient.create_upstream(\n    registry_id=registry['id'],\n    url=\"https://quay.io\",\n    name=\"Quay.io\",\n    cache_validity_hours=24\n)\n```\n\n### Update your CI/CD\n\nHere's a `.gitlab-ci.yml` that pulls through the virtual registry:\n\n```yaml\nvariables:\n  VIRTUAL_REGISTRY_ID: \u003Cyour_virtual_registry_ID>\n\n  \nbuild:\n  image: docker:24\n  services:\n    - docker:24-dind\n  before_script:\n    # Authenticate to GitLab (which handles upstream auth for you)\n    - echo \"${CI_JOB_TOKEN}\" | docker login -u gitlab-ci-token --password-stdin gitlab.com\n  script:\n    # All of these go through your single virtual registry\n    \n    # Official Docker Hub images (use library/ prefix)\n    - docker pull gitlab.com/virtual_registries/container/${VIRTUAL_REGISTRY_ID}/library/alpine:latest\n    \n    # Docker Hardened Images from dhi.io (no prefix needed)\n    - docker pull gitlab.com/virtual_registries/container/${VIRTUAL_REGISTRY_ID}/python:3.13\n    \n    # .NET from MCR\n    - docker pull gitlab.com/virtual_registries/container/${VIRTUAL_REGISTRY_ID}/dotnet/sdk:8.0\n```\n\n### Image path formats\n\nDifferent registries use different path conventions:\n\n| Registry | Pull URL Example |\n|----------|------------------|\n| Docker Hub (official) | `.../library/python:3.11-slim` |\n| Docker Hardened Images (dhi.io) | `.../python:3.13` |\n| MCR | `.../dotnet/sdk:8.0` |\n| Quay.io | `.../prometheus/prometheus:latest` |\n\n### Verify it's working\n\nAfter some pulls, check your cache:\n\n```python\nupstreams = client.list_registry_upstreams(registry['id'])\nfor upstream in upstreams:\n    entries = client.list_cache_entries(upstream['id'])\n    print(f\"{upstream['name']}: {len(entries)} cached entries\")\n\n```\n\n## What the numbers look like\n\nI ran tests pulling images through the virtual registry:\n\n| Metric | Without Cache | With Warm Cache |\n|--------|---------------|-----------------|\n| Pull time (Alpine) | 10.3s | 4.2s |\n| Pull time (Python 3.13 DHI) | 11.6s | ~4s |\n| Network roundtrips to upstream | Every pull | Cache misses only |\n\n\n\n\nThe first pull is the same speed (it has to fetch from upstream). Every pull after that, for the cache validity period, comes straight from GitLab's storage. No network hop to Docker Hub, dhi.io, MCR, or wherever the image lives.\n\nFor a team running hundreds of pipeline jobs per day, that's hours of cumulative build time saved.\n\n## Practical considerations\nHere are some considerations to keep in mind:\n\n### Cache validity\n\n24 hours is the default. For security-sensitive images where you want patches quickly, consider 12 hours or less:\n\n```python\nclient.create_upstream(\n    registry_id=registry['id'],\n    url=\"https://dhi.io\",\n    name=\"Docker Hardened Images\",\n    username=\"your-username\",\n    password=\"your-token\",\n    cache_validity_hours=12\n)\n```\n\nFor stable, infrequently-updated images (like specific version tags), longer validity is fine.\n\n### Upstream priority\n\nUpstreams are checked in order. If you have images with the same name on different registries, the first matching upstream wins.\n\n### Limits\n\n* Maximum of 20 virtual registries per group\n* Maximum of 20 upstreams per virtual registry\n\n## Configuration via UI\n\nYou can also configure virtual registries and upstreams directly from the GitLab UI—no API calls required. Navigate to your group's **Settings > Packages and registries > Virtual Registry** to:\n\n* Create and manage virtual registries\n* Add, edit, and reorder upstream registries\n* View and manage the cache\n* Monitor which images are being pulled\n\n## What's next\n\nWe're actively developing:\n\n* **Allow/deny lists**: Use regex to control which images can be pulled from specific upstreams.\n\nThis is beta software. It works, people are using it in production, but we're still iterating based on feedback.\n\n## Share your feedback\n\nIf you're a platform engineer dealing with container registry sprawl, I'd like to understand your setup:\n\n* How many upstream registries are you managing?\n* What's your biggest pain point with the current state?\n* Would something like this help, and if not, what's missing?\n\nPlease share your experiences in the [Container Virtual Registry feedback issue](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/work_items/589630).\n## Related resources\n- [New GitLab metrics and registry features help reduce CI/CD bottlenecks](https://about.gitlab.com/blog/new-gitlab-metrics-and-registry-features-help-reduce-ci-cd-bottlenecks/#container-virtual-registry)\n- [Container Virtual Registry documentation](https://docs.gitlab.com/user/packages/virtual_registry/container/)\n- [Container Virtual Registry API](https://docs.gitlab.com/api/container_virtual_registries/)",[714,715,716],"tutorial","product","features",{"featured":12,"template":13,"slug":718},"using-gitlab-container-virtual-registry-with-docker-hardened-images",{"content":720,"config":730},{"title":721,"description":722,"authors":723,"heroImage":725,"date":726,"category":9,"tags":727,"body":729},"How IIT Bombay students are coding the future with GitLab","At GitLab, we often talk about how software accelerates innovation. But sometimes, you have to step away from the Zoom calls and stand in a crowded university hall to remember why we do this.",[724],"Nick Veenhof","https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1750099013/Blog/Hero%20Images/Blog/Hero%20Images/blog-image-template-1800x945%20%2814%29_6VTUA8mUhOZNDaRVNPeKwl_1750099012960.png","2026-01-08",[261,611,728],"open source","The GitLab team recently had the privilege of judging the **iHack Hackathon** at **IIT Bombay's E-Summit**. The energy was electric, the coffee was flowing, and the talent was undeniable. But what struck us most wasn't just the code — it was the sheer determination of students to solve real-world problems, often overcoming significant logistical and financial hurdles to simply be in the room.\n\n\nThrough our [GitLab for Education program](https://about.gitlab.com/solutions/education/), we aim to empower the next generation of developers with tools and opportunity. Here is a look at what the students built, and how they used GitLab to bridge the gap between idea and reality.\n\n## The challenge: Build faster, build securely\n\nThe premise for the GitLab track of the hackathon was simple: Don't just show us a product; show us how you built it. We wanted to see how students utilized GitLab's platform — from Issue Boards to CI/CD pipelines — to accelerate the development lifecycle.\n\nThe results were inspiring.\n\n## The winners\n\n### 1st place: Team Decode — Democratizing Scientific Research\n\n**Project:** FIRE (Fast Integrated Research Environment)\n\nTeam Decode took home the top prize with a solution that warms a developer's heart: a local-first, blazing-fast data processing tool built with [Rust](https://about.gitlab.com/blog/secure-rust-development-with-gitlab/) and Tauri. They identified a massive pain point for data science students: existing tools are fragmented, slow, and expensive.\n\nTheir solution, FIRE, allows researchers to visualize complex formats (like NetCDF) instantly. What impressed the judges most was their \"hacker\" ethos. They didn't just build a tool; they built it to be open and accessible.\n\n**How they used GitLab:** Since the team lived far apart, asynchronous communication was key. They utilized **GitLab Issue Boards** and **Milestones** to track progress and integrated their repo with Telegram to get real-time push notifications. As one team member noted, \"Coordinating all these technologies was really difficult, and what helped us was GitLab... the Issue Board really helped us track who was doing what.\"\n\n![Team Decode](https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1767380253/epqazj1jc5c7zkgqun9h.jpg)\n\n### 2nd place: Team BichdeHueDost — Reuniting to Solve Payments\n\n**Project:** SemiPay (RFID Cashless Payment for Schools)\n\nThe team name, BichdeHueDost, translates to \"Friends who have been set apart.\" It's a fitting name for a group of friends who went to different colleges but reunited to build this project. They tackled a unique problem: handling cash in schools for young children. Their solution used RFID cards backed by a blockchain ledger to ensure secure, cashless transactions for students.\n\n**How they used GitLab:** They utilized [GitLab CI/CD](https://about.gitlab.com/topics/ci-cd/) to automate the build process for their Flutter application (APK), ensuring that every commit resulted in a testable artifact. This allowed them to iterate quickly despite the \"flaky\" nature of cross-platform mobile development.\n\n![Team BichdeHueDost](https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1767380253/pkukrjgx2miukb6nrj5g.jpg)\n\n### 3rd place: Team ZenYukti — Agentic Repository Intelligence\n\n**Project:** RepoInsight AI (AI-powered, GitLab-native intelligence platform)\n\nTeam ZenYukti impressed us with a solution that tackles a universal developer pain point: understanding unfamiliar codebases. What stood out to the judges was the tool's practical approach to onboarding and code comprehension: RepoInsight-AI automatically generates documentation, visualizes repository structure, and even helps identify bugs, all while maintaining context about the entire codebase.\n\n**How they used GitLab:** The team built a comprehensive CI/CD pipeline that showcased GitLab's security and DevOps capabilities. They integrated [GitLab's Security Templates](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/lib/gitlab/ci/templates/Security) (SAST, Dependency Scanning, and Secret Detection), and utilized [GitLab Container Registry](https://docs.gitlab.com/user/packages/container_registry/) to manage their Docker images for backend and frontend components. They created an AI auto-review bot that runs on merge requests, demonstrating an \"agentic workflow\" where AI assists in the development process itself.\n\n![Team ZenYukti](https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1767380253/ymlzqoruv5al1secatba.jpg)\n\n## Beyond the code: A lesson in inclusion\n\nWhile the code was impressive, the most powerful moment of the event happened away from the keyboard.\n\nDuring the feedback session, we learned about the journey Team ZenYukti took to get to Mumbai. They traveled over 24 hours, covering nearly 1,800 kilometers. Because flights were too expensive and trains were booked, they traveled in the \"General Coach,\" a non-reserved, severely overcrowded carriage.\n\nAs one student described it:\n\n*\"You cannot even imagine something like this... there are no seats... people sit on the top of the train. This is what we have endured.\"*\n\nThis hit home. [Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging](https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/company/culture/inclusion/) are core values at GitLab. We realized that for these students, the barrier to entry wasn't intellect or skill, it was access.\n\nIn that moment, we decided to break that barrier. We committed to reimbursing the travel expenses for the participants who struggled to get there. It's a small step, but it underlines a massive truth: **talent is distributed equally, but opportunity is not.**\n\n![hackathon class together](https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1767380252/o5aqmboquz8ehusxvgom.jpg)\n\n### The future is bright (and automated)\n\nWe also saw incredible potential in teams like Prometheus, who attempted to build an autonomous patch remediation tool (DevGuardian), and Team Arrakis, who built a voice-first job portal for blue-collar workers using [GitLab Duo](https://about.gitlab.com/gitlab-duo/) to troubleshoot their pipelines.\n\nTo all the students who participated: You are the future. Through [GitLab for Education](https://about.gitlab.com/solutions/education/), we are committed to providing you with the top-tier tools (like GitLab Ultimate) you need to learn, collaborate, and change the world — whether you are coding from a dorm room, a lab, or a train carriage. **Keep shipping.**\n\n> :bulb: Learn more about the [GitLab for Education program](https://about.gitlab.com/solutions/education/).\n",{"slug":731,"featured":12,"template":13},"how-iit-bombay-students-code-future-with-gitlab",{"content":733,"config":741},{"title":734,"description":735,"authors":736,"heroImage":737,"date":738,"category":9,"tags":739,"body":740},"Artois University elevates research and curriculum with GitLab Ultimate for Education","Artois University's CRIL leveraged the GitLab for Education program to gain free access to Ultimate, transforming advanced research and computer science curricula.",[724],"https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1750099203/Blog/Hero%20Images/Blog/Hero%20Images/blog-image-template-1800x945%20%2820%29_2bJGC5ZP3WheoqzlLT05C5_1750099203484.png","2025-12-10",[611,261,715],"Leading academic institutions face a critical challenge: how to provide thousands of students and researchers with industry-standard, **full-featured DevSecOps tools** without compromising institutional control. Many start with basic version control, but the modern curriculum demands integrated capabilities for planning, security, and advanced CI/CD.\n\nThe **GitLab for Education program** is designed to solve this by providing access to **GitLab Ultimate** for qualifying institutions, allowing them to scale their operations and elevate their academic offerings. \n\nThis article showcases a powerful success story from the **Centre de Recherche en Informatique de Lens (CRIL)**, a joint laboratory of **Artois University** and CNRS in France. After years of relying solely on GitLab Community Edition (CE), the university's move to GitLab Ultimate through the GitLab for Education program immediately unlocked advanced capabilities, transforming their teaching, research, and contribution workflows virtually overnight. This story demonstrates why GitLab Ultimate is essential for institutions seeking to deliver advanced computer science and research curricula.\n\n## GitLab Ultimate unlocked: Managing scale and driving academic value\n\n**Artois University's** self-managed GitLab instance is a large-scale operation, supporting nearly **3,000 users** across approximately **19,000 projects**, primarily serving computer science students and researchers. While GitLab Community Edition was robust, the upgrade to GitLab Ultimate provided the sophisticated tooling necessary for managing this scale and facilitating advanced university-level work.\n\n***\"We can see the difference,\" says Daniel Le Berre, head of research at CRIL and the instance maintainer. \"It's a completely different product. Each week reveals new features that directly enhance our productivity and teaching.\"***\n\nThe institution joined the GitLab for Education program specifically because it covers both **instructional and non-commercial research use cases** and offers full access to Ultimate's features, removing significant cost barriers.\n\n### Key GitLab Ultimate benefits for students and researchers\n\n* **Advanced project management at scale:** Master's students now benefit from **GitLab Ultimate's project planning features**. This enables them to structure, track, and manage complex, long-term research projects using professional methodologies like portfolio management and advanced issue tracking that seamlessly roll up across their thousands of projects.\n\n* **Enhanced visibility:** Features like improved dashboards and code previews directly in Markdown files dramatically streamline tracking and documentation review, reducing administrative friction for both instructors and students managing large project loads.\n\n## Comprehensive curriculum: From concepts to continuous delivery\n\nGitLab Ultimate is deeply integrated into the computer science curriculum, moving students beyond simple `git` commands to practical **DevSecOps implementation**.\n\n* **Git fundamentals:** Students begin by visualizing concepts using open-source tools to master Git concepts.\n\n* **Full CI/CD implementation:** Students use GitLab CI for rigorous **Test-Driven Development (TDD)** in their software projects. They learn to build, test, and perform quality assurance using unit and integration testing pipelines—core competency made seamless by the integrated platform.\n\n* **DevSecOps for research and documentation:** The university teaches students that DevSecOps principles are vital for all collaborative work. Inspired by earlier work in Delft, students manage and produce critical research documentation (PDFs from Markdown files) using GitLab, incorporating quality checks like linters and spell checks directly in the CI pipeline. This ensures high-quality, reproducible research output.\n\n* **Future-proofing security skills:** The GitLab Ultimate platform immediately positions the institution to incorporate advanced DevSecOps features like SAST and DAST scanning as their research and development code projects grow, ensuring students are prepared for industry security standards.\n\n## Accelerating open source contributions with GitLab Duo\n\nAccess to the full GitLab platform, including our AI capabilities, has empowered students to make impactful contributions to the wider open source community faster than ever before.\n\nTwo Master's students recently completed direct contributions to the GitLab product, adding the **ORCID identifier** into user profiles. Working on GitLab.com, they leveraged **GitLab Duo's AI chat and code suggestions** to navigate the codebase efficiently.\n\n***\"This would not have been possible without GitLab Duo,\" Daniel Le Berre notes. \"The AI features helped students, who might have lacked deep codebase knowledge, deliver meaningful contributions in just two weeks.\"***\n\nThis demonstrates how providing students with cutting-edge tools **accelerates their learning and impact**, allowing them to translate classroom knowledge into real-world contributions immediately.\n\n## Empowering open research and institutional control\n\nThe stability of the self-managed instance at Artois University is key to its success. This model guarantees **institutional control and stability** — a critical factor for long-term research preservation.\n\nThe institution's expertise in this area was recently highlighted in a major 2024 study led by CRIL, titled: \"[Higher Education and Research Forges in France - Definition, uses, limitations encountered and needs analysis](https://hal.science/hal-04208924v4)\" ([Project on GitLab](https://gitlab.in2p3.fr/coso-college-codes-sources-et-logiciels/forges-esr-en)). The research found that the vast majority of public forges in French Higher Education and Research relied on **GitLab**. This finding underscores the consensus among academic leaders that self-hosted solutions are essential for **data control and longevity**, especially when compared to relying on external, commercial forges.\n\n## Unlock GitLab Ultimate for your institution today\n\nThe success story of **Artois University's CRIL** proves the transformative power of the GitLab for Education program. By providing **free access to GitLab Ultimate**, we enable large-scale institutions to:\n\n1.  **Deliver a modern, integrated DevSecOps curriculum.**\n\n2.  **Support advanced, collaborative research projects with Ultimate planning features.**\n\n3.  **Empower students to make AI-assisted open source contributions.**\n\n4.  **Maintain institutional control and data longevity.**\n\nIf your academic institution is ready to equip its students and researchers with the complete DevSecOps platform and its most advanced features, we invite you to join the program.\n\nThe program provides **free access to GitLab Ultimate** for qualifying instructional and non-commercial research use cases.\n\n**Apply now [online](https://about.gitlab.com/solutions/education/join/).**\n",{"slug":742,"featured":28,"template":13},"artois-university-elevates-curriculum-with-gitlab-ultimate-for-education",{"promotions":744},[745,759,770],{"id":746,"categories":747,"header":749,"text":750,"button":751,"image":756},"ai-modernization",[748],"ai-ml","Is AI achieving its promise at scale?","Quiz will take 5 minutes or less",{"text":752,"config":753},"Get your AI maturity score",{"href":754,"dataGaName":755,"dataGaLocation":243},"/assessments/ai-modernization-assessment/","modernization assessment",{"config":757},{"src":758},"https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1772138786/qix0m7kwnd8x2fh1zq49.png",{"id":760,"categories":761,"header":762,"text":750,"button":763,"image":767},"devops-modernization",[715,557],"Are you just managing tools or shipping innovation?",{"text":764,"config":765},"Get your DevOps maturity score",{"href":766,"dataGaName":755,"dataGaLocation":243},"/assessments/devops-modernization-assessment/",{"config":768},{"src":769},"https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1772138785/eg818fmakweyuznttgid.png",{"id":771,"categories":772,"header":774,"text":750,"button":775,"image":779},"security-modernization",[773],"security","Are you trading speed for security?",{"text":776,"config":777},"Get your security maturity score",{"href":778,"dataGaName":755,"dataGaLocation":243},"/assessments/security-modernization-assessment/",{"config":780},{"src":781},"https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1772138786/p4pbqd9nnjejg5ds6mdk.png",{"header":783,"blurb":784,"button":785,"secondaryButton":790},"Start building faster today","See what your team can do with the intelligent orchestration platform for DevSecOps.\n",{"text":786,"config":787},"Get your free trial",{"href":788,"dataGaName":50,"dataGaLocation":789},"https://gitlab.com/-/trial_registrations/new?glm_content=default-saas-trial&glm_source=about.gitlab.com/","feature",{"text":495,"config":791},{"href":54,"dataGaName":55,"dataGaLocation":789},1773350819119]