[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":788},["ShallowReactive",2],{"/en-us/blog/ssg-overview-gitlab-pages-part-2":3,"navigation-en-us":33,"banner-en-us":433,"footer-en-us":443,"blog-post-authors-en-us-Marcia Ramos":685,"blog-related-posts-en-us-ssg-overview-gitlab-pages-part-2":699,"assessment-promotions-en-us":739,"next-steps-en-us":778},{"id":4,"title":5,"authorSlugs":6,"body":8,"categorySlug":9,"config":10,"content":14,"description":8,"extension":22,"isFeatured":12,"meta":23,"navigation":24,"path":25,"publishedDate":20,"seo":26,"stem":30,"tagSlugs":31,"__hash__":32},"blogPosts/en-us/blog/ssg-overview-gitlab-pages-part-2.yml","Ssg Overview Gitlab Pages Part 2",[7],"marcia-ramos",null,"engineering",{"slug":11,"featured":12,"template":13},"ssg-overview-gitlab-pages-part-2",false,"BlogPost",{"title":15,"description":16,"authors":17,"heroImage":19,"date":20,"body":21,"category":9},"SSGs Part 2: What are modern static site generators","This is Part 2: Modern Static Site Generators, where we provide you with an overview on the subject.",[18],"Marcia Ramos","https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1749684846/Blog/Hero%20Images/ssg-overview-gitlab-pages-cover.jpg","2016-06-10","\nWhat are Static Site Generators? What are they for? Why should I use them? Do they have\nlimitations? How can I use them with **GitLab Pages**?\n\nIf these questions ring a bell, this **series of posts** is for you! We are preparing\nthree articles around the same theme \"**Static Site Generators (SSGs)**\".\n\nThis is **Part 2: Modern Static Site Generators**, where we provide you with an overview on\nthe subject.\n\nThe previous post was [**Part 1: Dynamic x Static Websites**][part-1], where we briefly explained\nthe differences between them, and their pros and cons.\n\nStay tuned for the next post: **[Part 3: Build any SSG site with GitLab Pages][part-3]**!\n\n**Note:** For this series, we assume you are familiar with web development, curious about\nStatic Site Generators, and excited to see your site getting deployed with GitLab Pages.\n\n\n\u003C!-- more -->\n\n----------\n\n### What's in this overview?\n{:.no_toc}\n\n- TOC\n{: toc}\n\n----\n\n## Benefits of Modern Static Site Generators\n\nStatic Site Generators (**[SSGs]**) are software created to automate web development to\n**output** static sites from **dynamic** writing. So, we code dynamically and publish\nstatically. No pain, all gain.\n\nThe most fascinating thing of any SSG is the ability to code fast, save money (on web\nhosting), and incredibly [decrease the page loading time][page-load]\n(compared to server-side dynamic webpages). Also, if we have a lot of visitors at the same\ntime, our [static sites have less chance to crash][server-crash] due to server overload\n[than dynamic ones][site-down].\n\n**Note:** if you want to know more about it, read the introductory article for this series:\n\"[SSGs Part 1: Static x Dynamic Websites][part-1]\".\n\n\n## Structure of SSGs\n\nThe structure of SSGs is a combination of features to make static sites development faster\nand less repetitive. Let's take a quick look at the list below, then describe them one by one.\n\n- Environment\n- Template engine\n- Markup language\n- Preprocessors\n- Directory structure\n\n### \u003Ci class=\"fas fa-terminal fa-fw\" style=\"color:rgb(226,67,41); font-size:.85em\">\u003C/i> Environment\n{: #environment}\n\nThe **environment**, also called **platform**, consists essentially on the [programming language]\nthe SSG was written in. It will make difference on the configuration, customization, and performance\nof the SSG. Examples: [Ruby], [Python], [Node JS][node].\n\n\u003Ca name=\"template-engine\">\u003C/a>\n\n### \u003Ci class=\"fas fa-cogs fa-flip-horizontal fa-fw\" style=\"color:rgb(107,79,187); font-size:.85em\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\u003C/i> Template engine\n{: #template_engine}\n\nThe **template engine** is very important we understand, since all the dynamic structure of our sites\nwill depend on that. It's essential that we choose an SSG with a [templating system][template-sys]\nthat we can use comfortably. Examples: [Liquid], [Haml] and [Slim]  (Ruby), [Twig]  (PHP),\n[Swig]  (JavaScript).\n\nTo give you a picture, let's see an example for an HTML file, in which we are using the\n[Liquid Templating Engine][liquid]:\n\n```html\n\u003C!DOCTYPE html>\n\u003Chtml lang=\"en\">\n\t{% include head.html %}\n\u003Cbody>\n\t{% include header.html %}\n\t\u003Cmain class=\"content\">\n\t\t{{ content }}\n\t\u003C/main>\n\t{% include footer.html %}\n\u003C/body>\n\u003C/html>\n```\n\nAs you may have guessed, we have three files for the content that **repeats** sitewide (head, header\nand footer), which are included to every page using this template. The only thing that is different\nis the `{{ content }}` of that page, which is written in a separate file, and also included\ndynamically to the template with this tag. Finally, all the files will be **compiled** to regular\nHTML pages **before** being stored in the web server. This process is called **build**. GitLab Pages\n**builds** any SSG.\n\n_Advantages over flat HTML_\n\n- Minimize typography errors (\"typos\"): all files are considerably reduced, improving readability\n- Avoid repetition: every block repeated sitewide would be included to every page, equivalently\n- Update faster: if we change something in the file `footer.html`, it will affect the entire site\n\n### \u003Ci class=\"fas fa-pencil-alt fa-flip-horizontal fa-fw\" style=\"color:rgb(226,67,41); font-size:.85em\">\u003C/i> Markup language\n{: #markup-language}\n\n**[Markup language]** is a system to write documents making them somehow syntactically distinguishable\nfrom text. [Lightweight markup languages][wiki-markup] have a simplified and unobtrusive syntax, designed to be\neasily written within any text editor. That's what we'll use to write our content.\n\nThe majority of SSGs use **markdown engines** for this purpose. But there are many more\nlightweight markup languages used likely, such as [AsciiDoc], [Textile] and [ReStructuredText].\n\nAmong those SSGs which use markdown markup, generally we are allowed to choose which markdown engine\nwe want to use. It is set up on the site configuration.\nFor example, in Ruby there are a handful of Markdown implementations:\n[Kramdown], [RDiscount], [Redcarpet], [RedCloth].\n\nA blog **post** or a **page** written in [markdown] will most likely start with a **front matter**\nsection containing information about that page or post, and then comes the content just below it.\nThis is an `example.md` file used in a [Jekyll] site, and also an `example.html.md` file for\na [Middleman] site:\n\n```markdown\n---\n# front matter (between three-dashes block)\ntitle: \"Hello World\" # post or page title\ndate: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS # date and time, e.g. \"2016-04-30 11:00:00\"\nauthor: \"Foo Bar\" # a common variable to exemplify\n---\n\n# An h1 heading\n\nSome text.\n```\n\nThe front matter variables, which are `title`, `date` and `author` for our example above,\ncan be called with template tags all over the site. With Liquid, if we write:\n\n```liquid\n\u003Ch2>Title: {{ page.title }}\u003C/h2>\n\u003Cp>Date: {{ page.date }}\u003C/p>\t \u003Cp>By {{ page.author }}\u003C/p>\n```\n\nThe output would be:\n\n```xml\n\u003Ch2>Title: Hello World\u003C/h2>\n\u003Cp>Date: 2016-04-30 11:00:00\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>By Foo Bar\u003C/p>\n```\n\nThe content for our example would output simply:\n\n```html\n\u003Ch1>An h1 heading\u003C/h1>\n\u003Cp>Some text.\u003C/p>\n```\n\n### \u003Ci class=\"fas fa-puzzle-piece fa-fw\" style=\"color:rgb(107,79,187); font-size:.85em\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\u003C/i> Preprocessors\n{: #preprocessors}\n\nThe **preprocessors** are made to speed up our development process too. They simplify\nthe way we code, and then compile their own files into standard ones. Examples: [Sass]\nand [Stylus] for CSS, [CoffeeScript] for JavaScript.\n\nAgain, just to give you a picture, check a CSS code block written in CSS directly, and\nthe other written in Sass:\n\nCSS:\n\n```css\nh1 {\n  color: #333;\n  padding-top: 30px;\n}\np {\n  color: #333;\n}\n```\n\nSass:\n\n```sass\n$clr = #333\nh1\n  color: $clr\n  padding-top: 30px\np\n  color: $clr\n```\n\nIn a large-scale styling, saving all curly brackets `{ }` and semi-colons `;` makes a lot\nof difference for who is typing. Also, with Sass variables (e.g., `$clr` above), we can\ndefine some standards and apply them all over our stylesheets. In the end, everything\nwill be compiled to regular CSS. There are more interesting features and advantages of preprocessors, but that's not in focus on this post.\nBy the way, the given Sass example will be compiled exactly to the CSS code above it.\n\n### \u003Ci class=\"far fa-folder-open fa-fw\" style=\"color:rgb(226,67,41); font-size:.85em\">\u003C/i> Directory structure\n{: #directory-structure}\n\nThe **directory structure** is different for each SSG. It's important to study the file\ntree before we start working with an SSG, otherwise we might face odd build errors that\nwe won't understand solely because we didn't use its structure accordingly.\nExamples: [Hexo structure][hexo-struc], [Middleman structure][middle-struc],\n[Jekyll structure][jekyll-struc]. So, just make sure you add new files to the correct directories.\n\n## SSGs built-in features\n\nIn addition to their standard components, there are also a number of built-in features\nthat make building and previewing static sites easier - and faster. For example:\n\n- Most of SSGs have a pre-installed server for previewing the sites locally\n- Some of them also contain in their installation package a LiveReload plugin, so we\ndon't need to refresh the page in our browser every time we save it\n- Most of them provide us with built-in compilers for their supported preprocessors\n\n## Blog-Aware SSGs\n\nOne of the most attractive features for the majority of modern SSGs is the ability to manage\nblog content without the need of storing posts, or post contents,\nin databases or in server-side-only processed files.\n\nA blog-aware website generator will create blog-style content, such as lists of content in\nreverse chronological order, archive lists, and other common blog-style features.\nHow would an SSG do that?\n\nWith their file tree and their template engine. The file tree defines the specific\ndirectory for `posts` and the template engine calls the posts dynamically.\n\nWith a `for` loop through the posts, they can be displayed in a single page, as\nillustrated below (with [Liquid]):\n\n```liquid\n  \u003Cul>\n    {% for post in site.posts %}\n      \u003Cli>\n        \u003Cspan>{{ post.date }}\u003C/span>\n        \u003Ch2>\n          \u003Ca class=\"post-link\" href=\"{{ post.url }}\">{{ post.title }}\u003C/a>\n        \u003C/h2>\n      \u003C/li>\n    {% endfor %}\n  \u003C/ul>\n```\n\nThis code means that, **for each post** within the **site posts**\n(`{% for post in site.posts %}`), all of them would be displayed as items of an\nunordered list of posts, within links for their respective paths.\n\nOf course, we can adapt the HTML structure according to our needs. Also, we can use\nthe blog-aware structure to create different kinds of dynamic insertion. For example,\nwe could use them to display multiple things within the same category, as a collection\nof photos, books, etc. So, each time we add a new item, the SSG uses it's template\nengine to bring our collections together.\n\n## Supported content\n\nStatic servers fully support any language or script interpreted by browsers, known as\n[**client-side** processing][part-1]. Let's just remember that a static site is essentially\ncomposed of three components: the structure (HTML), the layout and styles (CSS),\nand the behavior (JavaScript).\n\n_Supported languages and file extensions_\n\n- Common file extensions: `.html` / `.css` / `.js` / `.xml` / `.pdf` / `.txt`\n- Common media files: [images], [audio], [video], [SVG]\n\n_Supported interactive services (examples)_\n\n- Commenting Systems (e.g., [Disqus], [Facebook Comments], and [many others][comment-systems])\n- Live Chat (e.g., [JivoChat], [Tawk.to])\n- [PayPal Payments Standard]\n- [Facebook Social Plugins]\n- [Twitter Kit]\n- Google Apps (e.g., [Analytics], [Adwords], [AdSense], etc)\n- Site Search Engine (e.g., [Google Search][google-cse], [Swiftype], [Tipue])\n- Mailing lists and blog subscriptions (e.g., [MailChimp])\n\n_Supported utilities (examples)_\n\n- HTML/CSS/JS frameworks and libraries. E.g, [Bootstrap], [Foundation], [Normalize], [Modernizr], [Skeleton], [jQuery], [HTML5 Boilerplate][html5-boiler], [Animate.css]\n- [Schema.org] markup, making [search engines][schema-seo] to understand our site content better. This is [one of the numerous SEO][seo] techniques\n- [Sitemaps], important for [SEO][seo-sitemaps] too. E.g., [Jekyll Sitemap plugin][jek-sitemap], [Middleman Sitemap][middle-sitemap], [Hexo Sitemap plugin][hexo-sitemap]\n\n## Limitations of SSGs\n\nWe've just described what we **can do** with SSGs. Now let's see what we **cannot**.\n\n- Register users\n- Have admin access\n- Send emails via `mail()` function\n- Use any server-side language or script\n\nThese kinds of actions depend necessarily on server-side processing, which are not handled\nby static-only web servers, as we explained in the [first post of this series][part-1].\n\n### Overcoming the limitations\n\n_User Authentication_\n\nDespite not having the ability to register users, nor having admin access for ourselves,\nwith tools like [Firebase] we can power-up our static site with\n[user authentication][firebase-user-auth]. Find more [cool stuff][firebase-cool-stuff] here,\nfrom the same source.\n\n_Content management_\n\nWe can edit the content of our SSGs directly from the web browser with [Teletext.io]. We can't\ncreate new pages, but we can edit pages' content easily. Follow the [Teletext.io tutorial] to learn\nhow to implement this for your own website.\n\n_Contact Forms_\n\nYes, we can offer contact forms in our static websites. We can't process the **server-side**\nscript in our static-server, but there are some third-party services we can use for that.\nFor example, you can try [Formspree], [FormKeep], [Wufoo], [FoxyForm], [Google Forms] or any\nother related service . However, if you want to take control over your mail script, you can\ntry the [parse method with SendGrid][sendgrid-parse].\n\n_JavaScript disabled_\n\nEverything based on JavaScript is allowed to be added to our static sites. However, if\nJavaScript is disabled on the user's browser, those scripts will not work. But there is\nsomething we can do to minimize this issue. We can add a [`\u003Cnoscript>`][no-script] tag\nto our web pages, containing a message that will be displayed only if JavaScript disabled:\n\n```html\n\u003Cnoscript>Please enable JavaScript on your browser for a better experience with this website!\u003C/noscript>\n```\n\n## Conclusion\n\nHopefully now you understand the logic of Static Site Generators, how we can use them wisely,\nand what we can and cannot do with them. Dynamic websites are great, for sure. But if we don't need all their functionality, SSGs are certainly wonderful alternatives.\n\nIn the [third post][part-3], which is the last chapter of this series, we will bring you a lot of examples\nfor SSGs already running on GitLab Pages. Therefore, we're confident you'll be able to see and understand different GitLab CI configurations, and create your own.\n\nWe already have prepared a bunch of SSGs example projects, you'll find them in the\n[GitLab Pages][ci-examples] official group. You are very welcome to [contribute][pages-contribute]\nwith new SSGs.\n\nDon't you have an account on [GitLab.com][sign-up] yet? Let's create one! Remember, we can\nuse GitLab Pages to [build any SSG][post-pages] for us and host it for free!\n\nFollow [@GitLab][twitter] on Twitter and stay tuned for updates!\n\n### Useful links\n\n- [GitLab Pages Quick Start][pages] - learn how to get started with GitLab Pages by forking an existing project\n- [GitLab Pages on GitLab.com][post-pages] - learn how to set up a GitLab Pages project from strach\n- [GitLab Pages Docs][pages-ee] - the official documentation with all the details you might be interested in\n- [SSGs Part 1: Static vs Dynamic Websites][part-1] - the first post of this series\n- [SSGs Part 3: Build any SSG site with GitLab Pages][part-3] - the third post of this series\n\n\u003C!-- Cover image: https://unsplash.com/photos/6g0KJWnBhxg -->\n\n\u003C!-- IDENTIFIERS -->\n\n\u003C!-- Alphabetical, miscellaneous -->\n\n[part-1]: /blog/ssg-overview-gitlab-pages-part-1-dynamic-x-static/\n[part-3]: /blog/ssg-overview-gitlab-pages-part-3-examples-ci/\n\n[AdSense]: https://support.google.com/adsense/answer/181950\n[Adwords]: https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/6331314\n[Analytics]: https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/collection/analyticsjs/\n[AsciiDoc]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AsciiDoc\n[audio]: http://www.w3schools.com/html/html5_audio.asp\n[comment-systems]: http://brianshim.com/webtricks/add-a-comment-wall-to-your-website/\n[Disqus]: https://disqus.com/\n[Facebook Comments]: https://developers.facebook.com/docs/plugins/comments\n[Facebook Social Plugins]: https://developers.facebook.com/docs/plugins\n[firebase]: https://www.firebase.com/\n[firebase-cool-stuff]: https://www.firebase.com/docs/web/examples.html\n[firebase-user-auth]: http://jsfiddle.net/firebase/a221m6pb/\n[FormKeep]: https://formkeep.com/\n[Formspree]: https://formspree.io/\n[foxyform]: http://www.foxyform.com/\n[google-cse]: https://support.google.com/customsearch/answer/4513751?hl=en&ref_topic=4513742&rd=1\n[Google Forms]: https://www.google.com/forms/about/\n[HTML5]: http://www.w3schools.com/html/html5_intro.asp\n[images]: http://vormplus.be/blog/article/using-images-in-your-html5-document\n[Jekyll]: https://jekyllrb.com\n[JivoChat]: https://www.jivochat.com/\n[MailChimp]: http://mailchimp.com/\n[Markup language]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markup_language\n[no-script]: http://www.w3schools.com/tags/tag_noscript.asp\n[page-load]: https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2015/11/modern-static-website-generators-next-big-thing/#dynamic-websites-and-caching\n[PayPal Payments Standard]: https://developer.paypal.com/docs/classic/button-manager/integration-guide/SOAP/ButtonMgrOverview\n[programming language]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programming_language\n[Schema.org]: http://schema.org/\n[schema-seo]: http://schema.org/docs/gs.html\n[sendgrid-parse]: https://sendgrid.com/blog/send-email-static-websites-using-parse/\n[SEO]: http://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2014/03/20/schema-seo\n[seo-sitemaps]: http://www.webconfs.com/importance-of-sitemaps-article-17.php\n[server-crash]: http://noahveltman.com/static-dynamic/\n[sitemaps]: https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/156184?hl=en\n[site-down]: http://www.sitepoint.com/wordpress-vs-jekyll-might-want-make-switch/#2-wordpress-struggles-under-heavy-load\n[SSGs]: https://www.staticgen.com/\n[svg]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scalable_Vector_Graphics\n[swiftype]: https://swiftype.com/\n[Tawk.to]: https://www.tawk.to/\n[teletext.io]: https://teletext.io/\n[teletext.io tutorial]: https://medium.com/teletext-io-blog/empower-your-static-generated-jekyll-site-with-instant-content-management-capabilities-82ce5569d7fb#.v2vo6pp2n\n[template-sys]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_template_system\n[tipue]: http://www.tipue.com/\n[Twitter Kit]: https://dev.twitter.com/web/overview\n[video]: http://www.w3schools.com/html/html5_video.asp\n[wiki-markup]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightweight_markup_language\n[Wufoo]: http://www.wufoo.com/\n\n\u003C!-- GitLab -->\n\n[get-help]: /get-help/\n[gitlab-com]: /gitlab-com/\n[pages]: https://pages.gitlab.io\n[pages-ee]: http://doc.gitlab.com/ee/pages/README.html\n[pages-issues]: https://gitlab.com/pages/pages.gitlab.io/issues\n[post-pages]: /blog/gitlab-pages-setup/\n[sign-up]: https://gitlab.com/users/sign_in \"Sign Up!\"\n[twitter]: https://twitter.com/gitlab\n\n\u003C!-- SSGs -->\n\n[hexo-struc]: https://hexo.io/docs/setup.html\n[jekyll-struc]: https://jekyllrb.com/docs/structure/\n[Middleman]: https://middlemanapp.com/\n[middle-struc]: https://middlemanapp.com/basics/directory-structure/\n\n[jek-sitemap]: https://github.com/jekyll/jekyll-sitemap\n[middle-sitemap]: https://middlemanapp.com/advanced/sitemap/\n[hexo-sitemap]: https://github.com/hexojs/hexo-generator-sitemap\n\n\u003C!-- Languages, preprocessors, libraries and frameworks -->\n\n[animate.css]: https://daneden.github.io/animate.css/\n[Bootstrap]: http://getbootstrap.com\n[CoffeeScript]: http://coffeescript.org/\n[Foundation]: http://foundation.zurb.com/\n[go]: https://golang.org/\n[haml]: http://haml.info/\n[html5-boiler]: https://html5boilerplate.com/\n[jquery]: http://code.jquery.com/\n[kramdown]: http://kramdown.gettalong.org/\n[liquid]: https://shopify.github.io/liquid/\n[markdown]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markdown\n[modernizr]: https://modernizr.com/\n[node]: https://nodejs.org/en/\n[normalize]: https://necolas.github.io/normalize.css/\n[Python]: https://www.python.org/\n[rdiscount]: http://dafoster.net/projects/rdiscount/\n[redcarpet]: https://github.com/vmg/redcarpet\n[redcloth]: http://redcloth.org/\n[restructuredtext]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReStructuredText\n[Ruby]: https://www.ruby-lang.org/\n[Sass]: http://sass-lang.com/\n[skeleton]: http://getskeleton.com/\n[Slim]: http://slim-lang.com/\n[Stylus]: http://stylus-lang.com/\n[textile]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Textile_(markup_language)\n[twig]: http://twig.sensiolabs.org/\n\n\u003C!-- 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to use GitLab Container Virtual Registry with Docker Hardened Images","Learn how to simplify container image management with this step-by-step guide.",[705],"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/)",[710,711,712],"tutorial","product","features",{"featured":12,"template":13,"slug":714},"using-gitlab-container-virtual-registry-with-docker-hardened-images",{"content":716,"config":726},{"title":717,"description":718,"authors":719,"heroImage":721,"date":722,"category":9,"tags":723,"body":725},"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.",[720],"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",[255,607,724],"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":727,"featured":12,"template":13},"how-iit-bombay-students-code-future-with-gitlab",{"content":729,"config":737},{"title":730,"description":731,"authors":732,"heroImage":733,"date":734,"category":9,"tags":735,"body":736},"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.",[720],"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",[607,255,711],"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":738,"featured":24,"template":13},"artois-university-elevates-curriculum-with-gitlab-ultimate-for-education",{"promotions":740},[741,755,766],{"id":742,"categories":743,"header":745,"text":746,"button":747,"image":752},"ai-modernization",[744],"ai-ml","Is AI achieving its promise at scale?","Quiz will take 5 minutes or less",{"text":748,"config":749},"Get your AI maturity score",{"href":750,"dataGaName":751,"dataGaLocation":237},"/assessments/ai-modernization-assessment/","modernization assessment",{"config":753},{"src":754},"https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1772138786/qix0m7kwnd8x2fh1zq49.png",{"id":756,"categories":757,"header":758,"text":746,"button":759,"image":763},"devops-modernization",[711,553],"Are you just managing tools or shipping innovation?",{"text":760,"config":761},"Get your DevOps maturity score",{"href":762,"dataGaName":751,"dataGaLocation":237},"/assessments/devops-modernization-assessment/",{"config":764},{"src":765},"https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1772138785/eg818fmakweyuznttgid.png",{"id":767,"categories":768,"header":770,"text":746,"button":771,"image":775},"security-modernization",[769],"security","Are you trading speed for security?",{"text":772,"config":773},"Get your security maturity score",{"href":774,"dataGaName":751,"dataGaLocation":237},"/assessments/security-modernization-assessment/",{"config":776},{"src":777},"https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1772138786/p4pbqd9nnjejg5ds6mdk.png",{"header":779,"blurb":780,"button":781,"secondaryButton":786},"Start building faster today","See what your team can do with the intelligent orchestration platform for DevSecOps.\n",{"text":782,"config":783},"Get your free trial",{"href":784,"dataGaName":44,"dataGaLocation":785},"https://gitlab.com/-/trial_registrations/new?glm_content=default-saas-trial&glm_source=about.gitlab.com/","feature",{"text":489,"config":787},{"href":48,"dataGaName":49,"dataGaLocation":785},1773350826117]