[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":792},["ShallowReactive",2],{"/en-us/blog/teams-gitpod-integration-gitlab-speed-up-development":3,"navigation-en-us":38,"banner-en-us":437,"footer-en-us":447,"blog-post-authors-en-us-Michael Friedrich":689,"blog-related-posts-en-us-teams-gitpod-integration-gitlab-speed-up-development":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":35,"tagSlugs":36,"__hash__":37},"blogPosts/en-us/blog/teams-gitpod-integration-gitlab-speed-up-development.yml","Teams Gitpod Integration Gitlab Speed Up Development",[7],"michael-friedrich",null,"engineering",{"slug":11,"featured":12,"template":13},"teams-gitpod-integration-gitlab-speed-up-development",false,"BlogPost",{"title":15,"description":16,"authors":17,"heroImage":19,"date":20,"body":21,"category":9,"tags":22},"How teams can use the Gitpod integration in GitLab to speed up their development process","Learn about Gitpod as cloud development environment, and how its integration into Gitpod helps teams to get more efficient in their DevOps lifecycle.",[18],"Michael Friedrich","https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1749667482/Blog/Hero%20Images/cover-image-unsplash.jpg","2021-07-19","\n\nTurn back time a bit and try to remember the first project you started or joined, and the onboarding experience. How long did it take to install the development environment on your local machine?\n\nWe talked about our own onboarding experiences into software development, and thought about sharing our favorite tips with GitLab users.\n\n## A developer's tale\n\nEveryone starts fresh, and often best practices are just \"learning by doing,\" requiring documentation in the same moment. Programming languages and application architectures are also different - a C++ backend environment has different requirements than a Ruby on Rails web application.\n\nStart with defining the requirements and stages. Oftentimes they are equivalent to CI/CD pipeline stages but executed in your own environment.\n\n* Compile/build the application and verify that the source code is valid (\"build\")\n* Run linting, unit tests, code quality checks (\"test\")\n* Run the application in a dev environment (\"runtime test\")\n* Package the application, run installation tests (\"staging installation\")\n* Run the installed application (\"staging deployment\")\n* Tag, release, and deploy the application (\"release production deployment\")\n\nYou want to run the application in a development environment quickly, everything else with staging and deployments continues to run in your CI/CD pipelines. Their implementation and availability should be on your to-do list.\n\nSoftware applications can depend on existing libraries which are used by many other developers, and help speed up the development process. These dependencies need to be installed into the development environment - if that is your local macOS, Windows or Linux desktop, methods and requirements will differ.\n\n### Provision development environments\n\nCreating a development environment for many different operating systems has its disadvantages: Error messages can differ and implementation specific details do not produce the same results and require back-and-forth communication on the team. This often leads to friction and slowed down development processes.\n\nOne key learning over the past decade has been to use CI/CD extensively to test different environments and operating systems, and rely on fast feedback in Merge Requests. Developers should be able to focus on their development environment without having to worry about the many production use cases and support.\n\nVirtual machines in Vagrant, and Docker containers made the generic development environment creation easier and efficient. The documentation instructed everyone to either execute `vagrant up` or `docker-compose up -d` and have the development stack ready. The road to creating Vagrant and Docker base images, including the provisioning scripts with Bash, Ansible, Puppet, etc., was and still is a huge learning process. Opinions on \"good\" best practices differ, and adding your preferred IDE on top of a CLI only VM or container often is an adventure on its own.\n\nBandwidth and traffic can also come into play - each provision and software installation run may consume gigabytes of data. If the workloads and provisioning would run in the cloud, your local connection is not affected.\n\nOne customer mentioned a while ago that their company policy forbids installing a local IDE without a license. The Web IDE in GitLab solves this problem for them throughout the onboarding month.\n\n### Development environment in the browser\n\nThe Web IDE helps with basic programming tasks, editing the documentation or setting up the CI/CD configuration. It does not provide a fully fledged server runtime, as cloud IDE with a programming environment capable of understanding the language you are programming in would. Our vision is to explore ways to add integrated development environments into the Web IDE.\n\nThere are a variety of tools and environments following remote collaboration ideas and the cloud IDE approach. You can learn more in [this Twitter thread](https://twitter.com/sytses/status/1400134840754733059) from [GitLab co-founder and CEO, Sid Sijbrandij](/company/team/#sytses). One approach is [Gitpod](https://gitpod.io/), allowing you to spin a fresh environment in the cloud in seconds.\n\nGitpod uses Visual Studio Code (VS Code) as cloud IDE, and integrates with their marketplace to install the same extensions as you would install locally in VS Code. One of the coolest things about Gitpod is that it not only spins up a fresh environment, but also allows you to install additional software or bring your own workspace container image. That way everyone uses the same pre-provisioned environment, and pair programming and debugging becomes a breeze.\n\nNext time, the same state is booted up, secured by single sign-on.\n\n## First steps with Gitpod\n\nNavigate to [gitpod.io](https://gitpod.io) and choose to `continue with GitLab` as login.\n\nIf you are running a self-managed GitLab setup, ask your administrator to [enable the Gitpod integration](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/integration/gitpod.html).\n\nLet's start with creating a VueJS application. Fork the [learn-vuejs-gitpod](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-da/playground/learn-vuejs-gitpod) project on GitLab.com.\n\n### Alternative: Start on your CLI\n\nAlternatively to forking the project, install NodeJS, npm and the `vue-cli` package, and run `vue create learn-vuejs-gitpod`. The vue command already initializes and commits based on your local Git configuration. Add the remote origin and push to a new repository on the remote GitLab server.\n\n```shell\n$ brew install node\n$ yarn add @vue/cli\n$ vue create learn-vuejs-gitpod\n\n$ cd learn-vuejs-gitpod\n$ git remote add origin https://gitlab.com/\u003Cyourusername>/learn-vuejs-gitpod.git\n$ git push -u origin main\n```\n\nGitLab will [create a private project from the git push command](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/project/working_with_projects.html#create-a-new-project-with-git-push).\n\n### Start Gitpod\n\nStart Gitpod from the repository overview by selecting the dropdown switch from the Web IDE.\n\n![Gitpod VueJS Start](https://about.gitlab.com/images/blogimages/gitlab-gitpod-teams-development/gitpod_gitlab_start_vuejs.png)\n\nSign into your GitLab account with SSO once asked. Accept the required permissions, and wait until the Gitpod environment is booted up.\n\n![Gitpod VueJS Overview](https://about.gitlab.com/images/blogimages/gitlab-gitpod-teams-development/gitpod_vuejs_overview.png)\n\nChange to the terminal and run yarn to install the dependencies and start the development server. No worries, we'll show you how to automate this in a second!\n\n```shell\nyarn install\nyarn serve\n```\n\nGitpod detects the server listening on port 8080 and offers to make it public. Open the browser instead - it works but says `Invalid host header` because the dev server checks the host name. For running inside Gitpod containers, you need to [disable the host checks](https://github.com/gitpod-io/gitpod/issues/26#issuecomment-554058232).\n\nLet's fix this inside Gitpod in the project. Navigate into the left file tree, and add a new file called `vue.config.js` in the top level.\n\n![Gitpod VueJS Overview](https://about.gitlab.com/images/blogimages/gitlab-gitpod-teams-development/gitpod_vuejs_config_disable_host_checks_devserver.png)\n\nCopy the following code snippet into it\n\n```js\n// vue.config.js\nmodule.exports = {\n    // Rationale: https://github.com/gitpod-io/gitpod/issues/26#issuecomment-554058232\n    devServer: {\n        disableHostCheck: true\n    }\n}\n```\n\nAnd stop the running `yarn serve` command in the terminal by pressing `crtl+c`. Press `cursor up` to select the previous command, or type `!!` to repeat the last command followed by `enter` to start the devserver again. Voilà!\n\n![VueJs running app in Gitpod](https://about.gitlab.com/images/blogimages/gitlab-gitpod-teams-development/gitpod_vuejs_web_app.png)\n\nDon't forget to add and commit the new configuration file to persist the changes. Navigate into the `Source Control` section highlighting one pending change. Enter a commit message, click the check mark and approve all pending changes into the commit.\n\n![Gitpod Source Control](https://about.gitlab.com/images/blogimages/gitlab-gitpod-teams-development/gitpod_source_control_add_vuejs_config.png)\n\nSelect the `...` menu to `push` the Git history. Gitpod will ask you for `repository read/write` permissions, walk through the forms and edit them on Gitpod itself. Navigate back to the Gitpod project interface and re-do the push.\n\nFrom the first success, it is not far to your first customized VueJS application. But wait, there is more to learn about Gitpod and efficient workflows!\n\n### VS Code Extensions\n\nNavigate into the `Extensions` menu and search for `gitlab workflow`. Install the extension. We recommend installing it globally for your account and all future workspaces.\n\n![Gitpod extension: GitLab workflow for VS Code](https://about.gitlab.com/images/blogimages/gitlab-gitpod-teams-development/gitpod_extension_gitlab_workflow.png)\n\nNext, navigate into the new GitLab menu item on the left, and configure the extension. It needs a personal access token, similar to the process with a local VS Code extension configuration. Follow the steps in the [Gitlab documentation to create a personal access token](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/profile/personal_access_tokens.html#create-a-personal-access-token).\n\n![Gitpod: GitLab workflow extension config](https://about.gitlab.com/images/blogimages/gitlab-gitpod-teams-development/gitpod_gitlab_workflow_extension_config.png)\n\n## Speed up your own projects\n\nUsing Gitpod and GitLab to develop GitLab makes it easy to contribute, but what about your own DevOps lifecycle and projects? Below are a few more examples to speed up your development with Gitpod and GitLab.\n\nRemember: You can start Gitpod without any configuration, directly from a GitLab repository. If there are additional settings needed, you can develop them while learning from the examples and documentation best practices.\n\n### Hugo Pages website live review\n\nYou can use Hugo with GitLab pages to host your own private blog, for example. Hugo is a static site generator written in Go, with public Docker images already available. The deployment of [everyonecancontribute.com](https://everyonecancontribute.com/) uses the following configuration in the [.gitlab-ci.yml](https://gitlab.com/everyonecancontribute/web/everyonecancontribute.gitlab.io/-/blob/main/.gitlab-ci.yml) configuration:\n\n```yaml\n.publish: &publish\n  image: registry.gitlab.com/pages/hugo:latest\n  script:\n    - hugo\n  artifacts:\n    paths:\n    - public\n\npages:\n  stage: publish\n  \u003C\u003C: *publish\n  rules:\n    - if: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == $CI_DEFAULT_BRANCH\n      when: always\n  environment:\n    name: $CI_PROJECT_NAME\n    url: https://$CI_PROJECT_NAME/\n```\n\nA local development environment to preview the website needs the Hugo binary installed. Doing the same in the browser, running the Hugo CLI command and previewing the blog post? We've found a way to provision Gitpod in the same way, using [this .gitpod.yml configuration](https://gitlab.com/everyonecancontribute/web/everyonecancontribute.gitlab.io/-/blob/main/.gitpod.yml):\n\n```yaml\nimage: klakegg/hugo:debian\n\nports:\n  - port: 1313\n\ntasks:\n  - command: hugo server -D -b $(gp url 1313) --appendPort=false\n```\n\nThe Hugo container image gets pulled and the Gitpod workspace builder prepares the environment. Note that [Alpine based images do not work](https://github.com/gitpod-io/gitpod/issues/3356#issuecomment-877604994), use Debian variants instead. After starting the workspace, the tasks run the command, and expose a port. The port binding needs to be the external URL of the pod, not localhost. `gp url 1313` builds the exact URL, and binds the socket to the Hugo server, making the pod URL publicly accessible for reviews.\n\n![Gitpod: Hugo website](https://about.gitlab.com/images/blogimages/gitlab-gitpod-teams-development/gitpod_hugo_everyonecancontribute_com.png)\n\nFrom there, you can switch branches in Gitpod, and immediately verify the changes.\n\n### VueJS with custom container image\n\nGetting started with VueJS in a new project with the `vue-cli` package is very convenient and the Gitpod docs have a [guide](https://www.gitpod.io/docs/languages/vue/#vue-cli) ready. The default `gitpod/workspace-full` image does not provide the `vue cli` package. You can extend the container image by using your [custom .gitpod.Dockerfile](https://www.gitpod.io/docs/config-docker#configure-a-custom-dockerfile) - Gitpod takes care of building the image first, and later starts the workspace based on it.\n\n```docker\nFROM gitpod/workspace-full\n\nRUN yarn add @vue/cli\n```\n\nThe `.gitpod.yml` configuration file needs to be instructed to build and use a custom image. On startup, the `tasks` section runs the initial dependency installation, and starts the development environment with `yarn serve`. The server listens on port 5000 by default, this is what gets [exposed](https://www.gitpod.io/docs/config-ports), and instructed to open as call-to-action in the browser.\n\n\n```yaml\nimage:\n  file: .gitpod.Dockerfile\n\ntasks:\n  - init: yarn install\n    command: yarn serve\n\nports:\n  - port: 5000\n    onOpen: open-browser\n```\n\nYou can combine Gitpod for previewing the website with the production deployment using the [five minute production app deployment template](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/5-minute-production-app/deploy-template) shown in [this project](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-da/playground/5-min-prod-app-vuejs). GitLab takes care of provisioning a free AWS EC2 instance, TLS certificates and domain handling.\n\n### More Gitpod workspace images\n\nGitpod provides many [ready-to-use workspace images](https://github.com/gitpod-io/workspace-images). In order to use them, create the `.gitpod.yml` file with this content:\n\n```yaml\nimage:\n  file: .gitpod.Dockerfile\n```\n\nCreate a new `.gitpod.Dockerfile` file and add the import from the desired workspace image.\n\n```yaml\nFROM gitpod/workspace-mysql\n```\n\nIf you need to install additional software, note that the full workspace image is based on Debian and therefore you'll need to use the `apt` package manager. The following command updates the package index, and clears the cache after installation to keep the image clean.\n\n```shell\nRUN sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y PACKAGENAME && sudo rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*\n```\n\nIf you are not sure about the package name, run Docker locally and search for the package name. Fair warning: The `gitpod/workspace-full` image is huge, use the base image `debian:latest` instead.\n\n```shell\n$ docker run -ti debian:latest bash\n$ apt search POSSIBLENAME\n```\n\nYou can learn more  the [workspace image repository](https://github.com/gitpod-io/workspace-images) to learn more about the Dockerfile configuration used by the builder.\n\n## Do more with Gitpod\n\n### Merge request code reviews\n\nThe GitLab workflow extension comes with more super powers:\n\n* Access the project and Merge Requests\n* Check the CI/CD pipeline status directly in Gitpod\n* Perform MR code reviews in Gitpod and take advantage of [VS Code workflows](/blog/mr-reviews-with-vs-code/)\n\n![Gitpod: MR Code Reviews with the GitLab Workflow extension website](https://about.gitlab.com/images/blogimages/gitlab-gitpod-teams-development/gitpod_vs_code_gitlab_workflow_extension_mr_code_reviews.png)\n\n### Pre-install VS Code Extensions\n\nIn order to ensure specific [VS Code extensions](https://www.gitpod.io/docs/vscode-extensions/) are installed, you can define them in the `.gitpod.yml` configuration file in the repository. Example from the [GitLab project](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/blob/master/.gitpod.yml#L79):\n\n```yaml\nvscode:\n  extensions:\n    - rebornix.ruby@0.28.0\n    - wingrunr21.vscode-ruby@0.27.0\n    - karunamurti.haml@1.3.1\n    - octref.vetur@0.34.1\n    - dbaeumer.vscode-eslint@2.1.8\n    - gitlab.gitlab-workflow@3.24.0\n```\n\n### Learn new programming languages: Rust\n\nGitpod allows you to start a fresh pod environment, pause on idle, and continue at a later point. The default workspace environment image already includes the [Rust compiler](https://www.gitpod.io/docs/languages/rust), which means that you can immediately [start learning Rust](https://doc.rust-lang.org/rust-by-example/).\n\nCreate a new project called `learn-rust` and open Gitpod from the repository view. Add a new file on the left tree view called `hello.rs` and add the following content:\n\n```rust\nfn main() {\n\tprintln!(\"Hello from GitLab! 🦊\");\n}\n```\n\nChange into the terminal and run the following command:\n\n```shell\n$ rustc hello.rs\n```\n\nWe started learning Rust together in an [#EveryoneCanContribute cafe](https://everyonecancontribute.com/post/2020-10-07-cafe-3-gitpod-gitlab-rust/) in October 2020 including [workshop slides with exercises](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1t1FdHh04TAOg9WITqRFJHz1YFxMbsQeekN8th1UfFcI/edit). We continued with [Rocket.rs](https://everyonecancontribute.com/post/2021-06-30-cafe-36-rust-rocket-prometheus/) as web app and additional Prometheus monitoring metrics in June 2021. You can watch the recordings to follow the learning process, the mistakes we made on the way, and the first success.\n\n### How to contribute to GitLab with Gitpod\n\nA more complex development environment is GitLab itself. The [architecture](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/development/architecture.html) involves many different components, and the development environment requires you to install several dependencies in Ruby, NodeJS, Go, and backend applications. The GitLab Development Kit (GDK) describes the steps in detail - in order to get everything up and running, you need to plan for a 30 minutes to three hour process, depending on the compute power and bandwidth.\n\nEarly in the process of adopting Gitpod for GitLab team members, the groundwork with the base image and bootstrap script took the majority of the preparation time. You can learn more about the integration process in [this issue request](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-development-kit/-/issues/1076).\n\n> It's already possible to try out how the setup works by opening Gitpod, which after waiting for the setup to finish (six to eight minutes) will bring you the Gitpod UI with the GDK fully running and ready for you to make changes and commit. As soon as that setup is finished, you can switch to whatever branch you want, either from the Gitpod UI or via the terminal.\n\nThe [GDK documentation for Gitpod](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-development-kit/-/blob/main/doc/howto/gitpod.md) guides you through the required steps. **Important**: You need to start Gitpod from the [gitlab-org/gitlab](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/) project (as team member, as contributor, please fork the repository). 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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.",[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",[259,611,728],"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",[611,259,715],"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":241},"/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":241},"/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":241},"/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":49,"dataGaLocation":789},"https://gitlab.com/-/trial_registrations/new?glm_content=default-saas-trial&glm_source=about.gitlab.com/","feature",{"text":493,"config":791},{"href":53,"dataGaName":54,"dataGaLocation":789},1773350827218]