[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":794},["ShallowReactive",2],{"/en-us/blog/how-to-continously-test-web-apps-apis-with-hurl-and-gitlab-ci-cd":3,"navigation-en-us":39,"banner-en-us":439,"footer-en-us":449,"blog-post-authors-en-us-Michael Friedrich":689,"blog-related-posts-en-us-how-to-continously-test-web-apps-apis-with-hurl-and-gitlab-ci-cd":703,"assessment-promotions-en-us":745,"next-steps-en-us":784},{"id":4,"title":5,"authorSlugs":6,"body":8,"categorySlug":9,"config":10,"content":14,"description":8,"extension":26,"isFeatured":12,"meta":27,"navigation":28,"path":29,"publishedDate":20,"seo":30,"stem":34,"tagSlugs":35,"__hash__":38},"blogPosts/en-us/blog/how-to-continously-test-web-apps-apis-with-hurl-and-gitlab-ci-cd.yml","How To Continously Test Web Apps Apis With Hurl And Gitlab Ci Cd",[7],"michael-friedrich",null,"engineering",{"slug":11,"featured":12,"template":13},"how-to-continously-test-web-apps-apis-with-hurl-and-gitlab-ci-cd",false,"BlogPost",{"title":15,"description":16,"authors":17,"heroImage":19,"date":20,"body":21,"category":9,"tags":22},"How to continuously test web apps and APIs with Hurl and GitLab CI/CD","Hurl as a CLI tool can be integrated into the DevSecOps platform to continuously verify, test, and monitor targets. It also offers integrated unit test reports in GitLab CI/CD.",[18],"Michael Friedrich","https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1749659883/Blog/Hero%20Images/post-cover-image.jpg","2022-12-14","Testing websites, web applications, or generally everything reachable with the HTTP protocol, can be a challenging exercise. Thanks to tools like `curl` and `jq`, [DevOps workflows have become more productive](/blog/devops-workflows-json-format-jq-ci-cd-lint/) and even simple monitoring tasks can be automated with CI/CD pipeline schedules. Sometimes, use cases require specialized tooling with custom HTTP headers, parsing expected responses, and building end-to-end test pipelines. Stressful incidents also need good and fast tools that help analyze the root cause and quickly mitigate and fix problems.\n\n[Hurl](https://hurl.dev) is an open-source project developed and maintained by Orange, and uses libcurl from curl to provide HTTP test capabilities. It aims to tackle complex HTTP test challenges by providing a simple plain text configuration to describe HTTP requests. It can chain requests, capture values, and evaluate queries on headers and body responses. So far, so good: Hurl does not only support fetching data, it can be used to test HTTP sessions and XML (SOAP) and JSON (REST) APIs.\n\n## Getting Started\n\nHurl comes in various package formats to [install](https://hurl.dev/docs/installation.html). On macOS, a Homebrew package is available.\n\n```sh\n$ brew install hurl\n```\n\n## First steps with Hurl\n\nHurl proposes to start with the configuration file format first, which is a great way to learn the syntax step by step. The following example creates a new `gitlab-contribute.hurl` configuration file that will do two things: execute a GET HTTP request on `https://about.gitlab.com/community/contribute/` and check whether its HTTP response contains the HTTP protocol `2` and status code `200` (OK).\n\n```sh\n$ vim gitlab-contribute.hurl\n\nGET https://about.gitlab.com/community/contribute/\n\nHTTP/2 200\n$ hurl --test gitlab-contribute.hurl\ngitlab-contribute.hurl: Running [1/1]\ngitlab-contribute.hurl: Success (1 request(s) in 413 ms)\n--------------------------------------------------------------------------------\nExecuted files:  1\nSucceeded files: 1 (100.0%)\nFailed files:    0 (0.0%)\nDuration:        415 ms\n```\n\nInstead of creating configuration files, you can also use the `echo “...” | hurl` command pattern. The following command tests against about.gitlab.com and checks whether the HTTP response protocol is 1.1 and the status is OK (200). The two newline characters `\\n` are required for separation.\n\n```sh\n$ echo \"GET https://about.gitlab.com\\n\\nHTTP/1.1 200\" | hurl --test\n```\n\n![hurl CLI run against about.gitlab.com, failed request](https://about.gitlab.com/images/blogimages/hurl-continuous-website-testing/hurl_assert_failure.png)\n\nThe command failed, and it says that the response protocol version is actually `2`. Let's adjust the test run to expect `HTTP/2`:\n\n```sh\necho \"GET https://about.gitlab.com\\n\\nHTTP/2 200\" | hurl --test\n```\n## Asserting HTTP responses\n\nHurl allows defining [assertions](https://hurl.dev/docs/asserting-response.html) to control when the tests fail. These can be defined for different HTTP response types:\n\n- Expected HTTP protocol version and status\n- Headers\n- Body\n\nThe configuration language allows users to define queries with predicates that allow to compare, chain, and execute different assertions.\n\nThis is the easiest way to verify that the HTTP response contains what is expected to be a string or sentence on the website, for example. If the string does not exist, this can indicate that it was changed unexpectedly, or that the website is down. Let's revisit the example with testing GET https://about.gitlab.com/community/contribute/ and add an expected string `Everyone can contribute` as a new assertion, `body contains \u003Cstring>` is the expected configuration syntax for [body asserts](https://hurl.dev/docs/asserting-response.html#body-assert).\n\n```sh\n$ vim gitlab-contribute.hurl\n\nGET https://about.gitlab.com/community/contribute/\n\nHTTP/2 200\n\n[Asserts]\nbody contains \"Everyone should contribute\"\n\n$ hurl --test gitlab-contribute.hurl\n```\n\n**Exercise:** Fix the test by updating the asserts line to `Everyone can contribute` and run Hurl again.\n\n### Asserting responses: JSON and XML\n\n[JSONPath](https://hurl.dev/docs/asserting-response.html#jsonpath-assert) automatically parses the JSON response (a built-in `jq with curl` parser so to speak), and allows users to compare the value to verify the asserts (more below). The XML format can be found in an [RSS feed on about.gitlab.com](https://about.gitlab.com/atom.xml) and parsed using [XPath](https://hurl.dev/docs/asserting-response.html#xpath-assert). The following example from `atom.xml` should be verified with Hurl:\n\n```xml\n\u003Cfeed xmlns=\"http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom\">\n\u003Ctitle>GitLab\u003C/title>\n\u003Cid>https://about.gitlab.com/blog\u003C/id>\n\u003Clink href=\"https://about.gitlab.com/blog/\"/>\n\u003Cupdated>2022-11-21T00:00:00+00:00\u003C/updated>\n\u003Cauthor>\n\u003Cname>The GitLab Team\u003C/name>\n\u003C/author>\n\u003Centry>\n...\n\u003C/entry>\n\u003Centry>\n...\n\u003C/entry>\n\u003Centry>\n…\n```\n\nIt is important to note that XML namespaces need to be specified for parsing. Hurl allows users to replace the first default namespace with the `_` character to avoid adding `http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom` everywhere, the XPath is now shorter with `string(//_:feed/_:entry)` to get a list of all entries. This value is captured in the `entries` variable, which can be compared to match a specific string, `GitLab` in this example. Additionally, the feed id and author name is checked.\n\n```text\n$ vim gitlab-rss.hurl\n\nGET https://about.gitlab.com/atom.xml\n\nHTTP/2 200\n\n[Captures]\nentries: xpath \"string(//_:feed/_:entry)\"\n\n[Asserts]\nvariable \"entries\" matches \"GitLab\"\n\nxpath \"string(//_:feed/_:id)\" == \"https://about.gitlab.com/blog\"\nxpath \"string(//_:feed/_:author/_:name)\" == \"The GitLab Team\"\n\n$ hurl –test gitlab-rss.hurl\n```\n\nHurl allows users to capture the value from responses into [variables](https://hurl.dev/docs/templates.html#variables) that can be used later. This method can also be helpful to model end-to-end testing workflows: First, check the website health status and retrieve a CSRF token, and then try to log into the website by sending the token again.\n\nREST APIs that are expected to always return a specified field, or monitoring a website health state [becomes a breeze using Hurl](https://hurl.dev/docs/tutorial/chaining-requests.html#test-rest-api).\n\n## Use Hurl in GitLab CI/CD jobs\n\nThe easiest way to integrate Hurl into GitLab CI/CD is to use the official container image. The Hurl project provides a [container image on Docker Hub](https://hub.docker.com/r/orangeopensource/hurl), which did not work in CI/CD at first glance. After talking with the maintainers, the [entrypoint override](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ci/docker/using_docker_images.html#override-the-entrypoint-of-an-image) was identified as a solution for using the image in GitLab CI/CD. Note that the Alpine based image uses the libcurl library that does not support HTTP/2 yet - the test results are different to a Debian base image (follow [this issue report](https://github.com/Orange-OpenSource/hurl/issues/1082) for the problem analysis).\n\nThe following example is kept short to run the container image, override the entrypoint, and run Hurl with passing in the test using the `echo` CLI command.\n\n```yaml\nhurl-standalone:\n  image:\n    name: ghcr.io/orange-opensource/hurl:latest\n    entrypoint: [\"\"]\n  script:\n    - echo -e \"GET https://about.gitlab.com/community/contribute/\\n\\nHTTP/1.1 200\" | hurl --test --color\n\n```\n\nThe Hurl test report is printed into the CI/CD job trace log, and returns succesfully.\n\n```sh\n$ echo -e \"GET https://about.gitlab.com/community/contribute/\\n\\nHTTP/1.1 200\" | hurl --test --color\n-: Running [1/1]\n-: Success (1 request(s) in 280 ms)\n--------------------------------------------------------------------------------\nExecuted files:  1\nSucceeded files: 1 (100.0%)\nFailed files:    0 (0.0%)\nDuration:        283 ms\nCleaning up project directory and file based variables\n00:00\nJob succeeded\n```\n\nThe next iteration is to create a CI/CD job template that provides generic attributes, and allows users to dynamically run the job with an environment variable called `HURL_URL`.\n\n```yaml\n# Hurl job template\n.hurl-tmpl:\n  # Use the upstream container image and override the ENTRYPOINT to run CI/CD script\n  # https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ci/docker/using_docker_images.html#override-the-entrypoint-of-an-image\n  image:\n    name: ghcr.io/orange-opensource/hurl:1.8.0\n    entrypoint: [\"\"]\n  variables:\n    HURL_URL: \"about.gitlab.com/community/contribute/\"\n  script:\n    - echo -e \"GET https://${HURL_URL}\\n\\nHTTP/1.1 200\" | hurl --test --color\n\nhurl-about-gitlab-com:\n  extends: .hurl-tmpl\n  variables:\n    HURL_URL: \"about.gitlab.com/jobs/\"\n\n```\n\nRunning GET commands with expected HTTP results is not the only use case, and the Hurl maintainers thought about this already. The next section explains how to create a custom container image; you can skip to the [DevSecOps workflows](#devSecOps-workflows-with-hurl) section to learn more about efficient Hurl configuration use cases.\n\n### Custom container image with Hurl\n\nMaintaining and building a custom container image adds more work, but also helps with avoiding running unknown container images in CI/CD pipelines. The latter is often a requirement for compliance and security. _Since the Hurl Debian package supports detecting HTTP/2 as a protocol, this blog post will focus on building a custom image, and run all tests using this image. If you plan on using the upstream container image, make sure to review the test configuration for the HTTP protocol version detection._\n\nThe Hurl documentation provides multiple ways to install Hurl. For this example, Debian 11 Bullseye (slim) is used. Hurl comes with a package dependency on `libxml2` which can either be installed manually with then running the `dpkg` command, or by using `apt install` to install a local package and automatically resolve the dependencies.\n\nThe following CI/CD example uses a job template which defines the Hurl version as environment variable to avoid repetitive use, and downloads and installs the Hurl Debian package. The `hurl-gitlab-com` job extends the CI/CD job template and runs a one-line test against `https://gitlab.com` and expects to return `HTTP/2` as HTTP protocol version, and `200` as status.\n\n```yaml\n# CI/CD job template\n.hurl-tmpl:\n  variables:\n    HURL_VERSION: 1.8.0\n  before_script:\n    - DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt update && apt -y install jq curl ca-certificates\n    - curl -LO \"https://github.com/Orange-OpenSource/hurl/releases/download/${HURL_VERSION}/hurl_${HURL_VERSION}_amd64.deb\"\n    - DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt -y install \"./hurl_${HURL_VERSION}_amd64.deb\"\n\nhurl-gitlab-com:\n  extends: .hurl-tmpl\n  script:\n    - echo -e \"GET https://gitlab.com\\n\\nHTTP/2 200\" | hurl --test --color\n\n```\n\nThe next section describes how to optimize the CI/CD pipelines for more efficient schedules and runs to monitor websites and not waste too many resources and CI/CD minutes. You can also skip it and [scroll down to more advanced Hurl examples in GitLab CI/CD](#devsecops-workflows-with-hurl).\n\n### CI/CD efficiency: Hurl container image\n\nThe installation steps for Hurl, and its dependencies, can waste resources and increase the pipeline job runtime every time. To make the CI/CD pipelines more efficient, we want to use a container image that already provides Hurl pre-installed. The following steps are required for creating a container image:\n\n- Use Debian 11 Slim (FROM).\n- Install dependencies to download Hurl (`curl`, `ca-certificates`). `jq` is installed for convenience to access it from CI/CD commands when needed later.\n- Download the Hurl Debian package, and use `apt install` to install its dependencies automatically.\n- Clear the apt lists cache to enforce apt update again, and avoid security issues.\n- Hurl is installed into the PATH, specify the default command being run. This allows running the container without having to specify a command.\n\nThe steps to install the packages are separated for better readability; an optimization for the `docker-build` job can happen by chaining the `RUN` commands into one long command.\n\n`Dockerfile`\n```text\nFROM debian:11-slim\n\nENV DEBIAN_FRONTEND noninteractive\n\nARG HURL_VERSION=1.8.0\n\nRUN apt update && apt install -y curl jq ca-certificates\nRUN curl -LO \"https://github.com/Orange-OpenSource/hurl/releases/download/${HURL_VERSION}/hurl_${HURL_VERSION}_amd64.deb\"\n# Use apt install to determine package dependencies instead of dpkg\nRUN apt -y install \"./hurl_${HURL_VERSION}_amd64.deb\"\nRUN rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*\n\nCMD [\"hurl\"]\n```\n\nNote that the `HURL_VERSION` variable can be overridden by passing the variable and value into the container build job later. It is intentionally not using an automated script that always uses the [latest release](https://github.com/Orange-OpenSource/hurl/releases) to avoid breaking the behavior, and enforces a controlled upgrade cycle for container images in production.\n\nOn GitLab.com SaaS, you can include the `Docker.gitlab-ci.yml` CI/CD template which will automatically detect the `Dockerfile` file and start building the image using the shared runners, and push it to the [GitLab container registry](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/packages/container_registry/). For self-managed instances or own runners on GitLab.com SaaS, it is recommended to decide whether to use and setup [Docker-in-Docker](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ci/docker/using_docker_build.html) or [Kaniko](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ci/docker/using_kaniko.html), Podman, or other container image build tools.\n\n```yaml\ninclude:\n  - template: Docker.gitlab-ci.yml\n\n```\n\nTo avoid running the Docker image build job every time, the job override definition specifies to [run it manually](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ci/yaml/#when). You can also use rules to [choose when to run the job](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ci/jobs/job_control.html), only when a Git tag is pushed for example.\n\n```yaml\ninclude:\n  - template: Docker.gitlab-ci.yml\n\n# Change Docker build to manual non-blocking\ndocker-build:\n  rules:\n    - if: '$CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME == $CI_DEFAULT_BRANCH'\n      when: manual\n      allow_failure: true\n\n```\n\nOnce the container image is pushed to the registry, navigate into `Packages and Registries > Container Registries` and inspect the tagged image. Copy the image path for the latest tagged version and use it for the `image` attribute in the CI/CD job configuration.\n\n### Hurl container image in GitLab CI/CD example\n\nThe full example uses the previously built container image, and specifies the default `HURL_URL` variable. This can later be overridden by job definitions.\n\n_Please note that the image URL `registry.gitlab.com/everyonecancontribute/dev/hurl-playground:latest` is only used for demo purposes and not actively maintained or updated._\n\n```yaml\ninclude:\n  - template: Docker.gitlab-ci.yml\n\n# Change Docker build to manual non-blocking\ndocker-build:\n  rules:\n    - if: '$CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME == $CI_DEFAULT_BRANCH'\n      when: manual\n      allow_failure: true\n\n# Hurl job template\n.hurl-tmpl:\n  image: registry.gitlab.com/everyonecancontribute/dev/hurl-playground:latest\n  variables:\n    HURL_URL: gitlab.com\n\n# Hurl jobs that check websites\nhurl-dnsmichi-at:\n  extends: .hurl-tmpl\n  variables:\n    HURL_URL: dnsmichi.at\n  script:\n    - echo -e \"GET https://${HURL_URL}\\n\\nHTTP/1.1 200\" | hurl --test --color\n\nhurl-opsindev-news:\n  extends: .hurl-tmpl\n  variables:\n    HURL_URL: opsindev.news\n  script:\n    - echo -e \"GET https://${HURL_URL}\\n\\nHTTP/2 200\" | hurl --test --color\n\n```\n\nThe CI/CD configuration can further be optimized:\n\n- Create job templates that execute the same scripts and only differ in the `HURL_URL` variable.\n- Use Hurl configuration files that allow specifying variables on the CLI or as environment variables. More on this in the next section.\n\n## DevSecOps workflows with Hurl\n\nHurl allows users to describe HTTP instructions in a configuration file with the `.hurl` suffix. You can add the configuration files to Git, and review and approve changes in merge requests - with the changes run in CI/CD and reporting back any failures before merging.\n\nInspect the `use-cases/` directory in the [example project](https://gitlab.com/everyonecancontribute/dev/hurl-playground), and fork it to make changes and commit and run the CI/CD pipelines and reports. You can also clone the project and run the `tree` command in the terminal.\n\n```sh\n$ tree use-cases\nuse-cases\n├── dnsmichi.at.hurl\n├── gitlab-com-api.hurl\n├── gitlab-contribute.hurl\n└── hackernews.hurl\n```\n\nHurl supports the glob option which collects all configuration files matching a specific pattern.\n\n![Hurl configuration file run](https://about.gitlab.com/images/blogimages/hurl-continuous-website-testing/hurl_multiple_config_files_run.png)\n\n### Chaining requests\n\nSimilar to CI/CD pipelines, jobs, and stages, testing HTTP endpoints with Hurl can require multiple steps. First, ping the website for being reachable, and then try parsing expected results. Separating the requirements into two steps helps to analyze errors.\n\n- HTTP endpoint reachable, but expected string not in response - static website was changed, REST API misses a field, etc.\n- HTTP endpoint is unreachable, don’t try to understand why the follow-up tests fail.\n\nThe following example first sends a ping probe to the dev instance, and a check towards the production environment in the second request.\n\n```sh\n$ vim use-cases/everyonecancontribute-com.hurl\n\nGET https://everyonecancontribute.dev\n\nHTTP/2 200\n\nGET https://everyonecancontribute.com\n\nHTTP/2 200\n$ hurl --test use-cases/everyonecancontribute-com.hurl\n```\n\nIn this scenario, the TLS certificate of the dev instance expired, and Hurl halts the test immediately.\n\n![Hurl chained requests, failing the first test with TLS certificate problems](https://about.gitlab.com/images/blogimages/hurl-continuous-website-testing/hurl_chained_request_fail.png)\n\n### Hurl reports as JUnit test reports\n\nTreat website monitoring and web app tests as unit and end-to-end tests. The Hurl developers thought of that too - the CLI command provides different output options for the report: `--report-junit \u003Coutputpath>` integrates with [GitLab JUnit report](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ci/testing/unit_test_reports.html) support into merge requests and pipeline views.\n\nThe following configuration generates a JUnit report file into the value of the `HURL_JUNIT_REPORT` variable. It exists to avoid typing the path three times. The Hurl tests are run from the `use-cases/` directory using a glob pattern.\n\n```yaml\n# Hurl job template\n.hurl-tmpl:\n    image: registry.gitlab.com/everyonecancontribute/dev/hurl-playground:latest\n    variables:\n        HURL_URL: gitlab.com\n        HURL_JUNIT_REPORT: hurl_junit_report.xml\n\n# Hurl tests from configuration file, generating JUnit report integration in GitLab CI/CD\nhurl-report:\n    extends: .hurl-tmpl\n    script:\n      - hurl --test use-cases/*.hurl --report-junit $HURL_JUNIT_REPORT\n    after_script:\n      # Hack: Workaround for 'id' instead of 'name' in JUnit report from Hurl. https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/299086\n      - sed -i 's/id/name/g' $HURL_JUNIT_REPORT\n    artifacts:\n      when: always\n      paths:\n        - $HURL_JUNIT_REPORT\n      reports:\n        junit: $HURL_JUNIT_REPORT\n\n```\n\nThe JUnit format returned by Hurl 1.8.0 defines the `id` attribute, but the GitLab JUnit integration expects the `name` attribute to be present. While writing this blog post, [the problem was discussed](https://github.com/Orange-OpenSource/hurl/issues/1067#issuecomment-1343264751) with the maintainers, and [the `name` attribute was implemented](https://github.com/Orange-OpenSource/hurl/issues/1078) and will be available in future releases. As a workaround with Hurl 1.8.0, the CI/CD [after_script](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ci/yaml/#after_script) section uses `sed` to replace the attributes after generating the report.\n\nThe [following example](https://gitlab.com/everyonecancontribute/dev/hurl-playground/-/merge_requests/10) fails on purpose with checking a different HTTP protocol version.\n\n```text\nGET https://opsindev.news\n\n# This will fail on purpose\nHTTP/1.1 200\n\n[Asserts]\nbody contains \"Michael Friedrich\"\n```\n\n![Hurl test report in JUnit format integrated into GitLab](https://about.gitlab.com/images/blogimages/hurl-continuous-website-testing/hurl_gitlab_junit_integration_merge_request_widget_overlay.png)\n\nOnce the JUnit integration with Hurl tests from a glob pattern work, you can continue adding new `.hurl` configuration files to the GitLab repository and start testing in MRs, which will require review and approval workflows for production then.\n\n### Web review apps\n\nWebsite monitoring is only one aspect of using Hurl: Testing web applications deployed in review environments in the cloud, and in cloud-native clusters provides a native integration into [DevSecOps](https://about.gitlab.com/topics/devsecops/) workflows. The CI/CD pipelines will fail when Hurl tests are failing, and more insights are provided using merge request widgets reports.\n\n[Cloud Seed](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/cloud_seed/index.html) provides the ability to deploy a web application to a major cloud provider, for example Google Cloud. After the deployment is successful, additional CI/CD jobs can be configured that verify that the deployed web app version does not introduce a regression, and provides all required data elements, API endpoints, etc. A similar workflow can be achieved by using review app environments with [webservers (Nginx, etc.), Docker, AWS, and Kubernetes](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ci/review_apps/#review-apps-examples). The review app [environment URL](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ci/environments/#create-a-dynamic-environment) is important for instrumenting the Hurl tests dynamically. The CI/CD variable [`CI_ENVIRONMENT_URL`](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ci/variables/predefined_variables.html) is available when `environment:url` is specified in the review app configuration.\n\nThe following example tests the review app for [this blog post when written in a merge request](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/-/merge_requests/115548):\n\n```yaml\n# Test review apps with hurl for this blog post.\nhurl-review-test:\n  extends: .review-environment # inherits the environment settings\n  needs: [uncategorized-build-and-review-deploy] # waits until the website (sites/uncategorized) is deployed\n  stage: test\n  rules: # YAML anchor that runs the job only on merge requests\n    - \u003C\u003C: *if-merge-request-original-repo\n  image:\n    name: ghcr.io/orange-opensource/hurl:1.8.0\n    entrypoint: [\"\"]\n  script:\n    - echo -e \"GET ${CI_ENVIRONMENT_URL}\\n\\nHTTP/1.1 200\" | hurl --test --color\n\n```\n\nThe environment is specified in the [.review-environment job template](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/-/blob/91d6fd72a424a3d913e79ebc2aefb23bbab85863/.gitlab-ci.yml#L332) and used to [deploy the website review job](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/-/blob/91d6fd72a424a3d913e79ebc2aefb23bbab85863/.gitlab-ci.yml#L532). The relevant configuration snippet is shown here:\n\n```yaml\n.review-environment:\n  variables:\n    DEPLOY_TYPE: review\n  environment:\n    name: review/$CI_COMMIT_REF_SLUG\n    url: https://$CI_COMMIT_REF_SLUG.about.gitlab-review.app\n    on_stop: review-stop\n    auto_stop_in: 30 days\n\n```\n\nThe deployment of the www-gitlab-com project [uses buckets in Google Cloud](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/-/blob/91d6fd72a424a3d913e79ebc2aefb23bbab85863/scripts/deploy) that serve the website content in the review app. There are different types of web applications that require different deployment methods - as long as the environment URL variable is available in CI/CD and the deployment URL is accessible from the GitLab Runner executing the CI/CD job, you can continously test web apps with Hurl!\n\n![Hurl test in GitLab CI/CD for review app environments](https://about.gitlab.com/images/blogimages/hurl-continuous-website-testing/hurl_gitlab_cicd_review_app_environment_tests_www-gitlab-com.png)\n\n## Development tips\n\nUse the [`--verbose` parameter](https://hurl.dev/docs/tutorial/debug-tips.html) to see the full request and response flow. Hurl also provides tips which `curl` command could be run to fetch more data. This can be helpful when starting to use or develop a new REST API, or learning to understand the JSON structure of HTTP responses. Chaining the `curl` command with `jq` (the `curl ... | jq` pattern) can still be helpful to fetch data, and build the HTTP tests in a second terminal or editor window.\n\n```sh\n$ curl -s 'https://gitlab.com/api/v4/projects' | jq\n$ curl -s 'https://gitlab.com/api/v4/projects' | jq -c '.[]' | jq\n\n{\"id\":41375401,\"description\":\"An example project for a GitLab pipeline.\",\"name\":\"Calculator\",\"name_with_namespace\":\"Iva Tee / Calculator\",\"path\":\"calculator\",\"path_with_namespace\":\"snufkins_hat/calculator\",\"created_at\":\"2022-11-26T00:32:33.825Z\",\"default_branch\":\"master\",\"tag_list\":[],\"topics\":[],\"ssh_url_to_repo\":\"git@gitlab.com:snufkins_hat/calculator.git\",\"http_url_to_repo\":\"https://gitlab.com/snufkins_hat/calculator.git\",\"web_url\":\"https://gitlab.com/snufkins_hat/calculator\",\"readme_url\":\"https://gitlab.com/snufkins_hat/calculator/-/blob/master/README.md\",\"avatar_url\":null,\"forks_count\":0,\"star_count\":0,\"last_activity_at\":\"2022-11-26T00:32:33.825Z\",\"namespace\":{\"id\":58849237,\"name\":\"Iva Tee\",\"path\":\"snufkins_hat\",\"kind\":\"user\",\"full_path\":\"snufkins_hat\",\"parent_id\":null,\"avatar_url\":\"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a3efe834950275380d5f19c9b17c922c?s=80&d=identicon\",\"web_url\":\"https://gitlab.com/snufkins_hat\"}}\n```\n\nThe GitLab projects API returns an array of elements, where we can inspect the `id` and `name` attributes for a simple test - the first element’s name must not be empty, the second element’s id needs to be greater than 0.\n\n```sh\n$ vim gitlab-com-api.hurl\n\nGET https://gitlab.com/api/v4/projects\n\nHTTP/2 200\n\n[Asserts]\njsonpath \"$[0].name\" != \"\"\njsonpath \"$[1].id\" > 0\n\n$ hurl --test gitlab-com-api.hurl\n\ngitlab-com-api.hurl: Running [1/1]\ngitlab-com-api.hurl: Success (1 request(s) in 728 ms)\n--------------------------------------------------------------------------------\nExecuted files:  1\nSucceeded files: 1 (100.0%)\nFailed files:    0 (0.0%)\nDuration:        730 ms\n```\n\n## More use cases\n\n- Work with HTTP sessions and [cookies](https://hurl.dev/docs/request.html#cookies), test [forms with parameters](https://hurl.dev/docs/request.html#form-parameters).\n- Review existing API tests of your applications.\n- Build advanced chained workflows with GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, and more HTTP methods.\n- Integrate simple ping/HTTP monitoring health checks into the DevSecOps Platform using alerts and incident management.\n\nIf the Hurl checks cannot be integrated directly inside the project where the application is developed and deployed, another idea could be to create a standalone GitLab project that has CI/CD pipeline schedules enabled. It can continuously run the Hurl tests, and parse the reports or trigger an event when the pipeline is failing, and [create an alert](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/operations/incident_management/alerts.html) by sending a JSON payload from the Hurl results to the [HTTP endpoint](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/operations/incident_management/integrations.html#single-http-endpoint). Developers can send MRs to update the Hurl tests, and maintainers review and approve the new test suites being rolled out into production. Alternatively, move the complete CI/CD configuration into a group/project with different permissions, and specify the CI/CD configuration as remote URL in the web application project. This compliance level helps to control who can make changes to important tests and CI/CD configuration.\n\nHurl supports `--json` as parameter to only return the JSON formatted test result and build own custom reports and integrations.\n\n```sh\n$ echo -e \"GET https://about.gitlab.com/teamops/\\n\\nHTTP/2 200\" | hurl --json | jq\n```\n\nFor folks in DevRel, monitoring certain websites for keywords or checking APIs whether values increase a certain threshold can be interesting. Here is an example for monitoring Hacker News using the Algolia search API, inspired by the [Zapier integration used for GitLab Slack](https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/marketing/developer-relations/workflows-tools/zapier/#zaps-for-hacker-news). The `QueryStringParams` section allows users to define the query parameters as a readable list, which is easier to modify. The `jsonpath` checks searches for the `hits` key and its count being zero (not on the Hacker News front page means OK in this example).\n\n```text\n$ vim hackernews.hurl\n\nGET https://hn.algolia.com/api/v1/search\n[QueryStringParams]\nquery: gitlab\n#query: hurl\ntags: front_page\n\nHTTP/2 200\n\n[Asserts]\njsonpath \"$.hits\" count == 0\n\n$ hurl --test hackernews.hurl\n```\n\n## Limitations\n\nHurl works great for testing websites and web applications that serve static content, and by sending different HTTP request types, data, etc., and ensuring that responses match expectations. Compared to other end-to-end testing solutions (Selenium, etc.), Hurl does not provide a JavaScript engine and only can parse the raw DOM or JSON response. It does not support a DOM managed and rendered by JavaScript front-end frameworks. UI integration tests also need to be performed with different tools, similar to full end-to-end test workflows. Other examples are [accessibility testing](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ci/testing/accessibility_testing.html) and [browser performance testing](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ci/testing/browser_performance_testing.html). If you are curious how end-to-end testing is done for GitLab, the product, peek into the [development documentation](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/development/testing_guide/end_to_end/).\n\n## Conclusion\n\nHurl provides an easy way to test HTTP endpoints (such as websites and APIs) in a fast and reliable way. The CLI commands can be integrated into CI/CD workflows, and the configuration syntax and files provide a single source of truth for everything. Additional support for JUnit report formats ensure that website testing is fully integrated into the [DevSecOps](https://about.gitlab.com/topics/devsecops/) platform, and increases visibility and extensibility with automating tests, and monitoring. There are known limitations with dynamic JavaScript websites and advanced UI/end-to-end testing workflows.\n\nHurl is open source, [created and maintained by Orange](https://opensource.orange.com/en/open-source-orange/), and written in Rust. This blog post inspired contributions to the [Debian/Ubuntu installation documentation](https://github.com/Orange-OpenSource/hurl/pull/1084) and [default issue templates](https://github.com/Orange-OpenSource/hurl/pull/1083).\n\n**Tip:** Practice using Hurl on the command line, and remember it when the next production incident shows a strange API behavior with POST requests.\n\nThanks to [Lee Tickett](/company/team/#leetickett-gitlab) who inspired me to test Hurl in GitLab CI/CD and write this blog post after seeing huge interest in a [Twitter share](https://twitter.com/dnsmichi/status/1595820546062778369).\n\nCover image by [Aaron Burden](https://unsplash.com/@aaronburden) on 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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.",[709],"Nick Veenhof","https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1750099013/Blog/Hero%20Images/Blog/Hero%20Images/blog-image-template-1800x945%20%2814%29_6VTUA8mUhOZNDaRVNPeKwl_1750099012960.png","2026-01-08",[261,611,713],"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":716,"featured":12,"template":13},"how-iit-bombay-students-code-future-with-gitlab",{"content":718,"config":727},{"title":719,"description":720,"authors":721,"heroImage":722,"date":723,"category":9,"tags":724,"body":726},"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.",[709],"https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1750099203/Blog/Hero%20Images/Blog/Hero%20Images/blog-image-template-1800x945%20%2820%29_2bJGC5ZP3WheoqzlLT05C5_1750099203484.png","2025-12-10",[611,261,725],"product","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":728,"featured":28,"template":13},"artois-university-elevates-curriculum-with-gitlab-ultimate-for-education",{"content":730,"config":743},{"category":9,"tags":731,"body":734,"date":735,"updatedDate":736,"heroImage":737,"authors":738,"title":741,"description":742},[732,733,108],"tutorial","git","\nEnterprise teams are increasingly migrating from Azure DevOps to GitLab to gain strategic advantages and accelerate secure software delivery. \n\n\n- GitLab comes with integrated controls, policies, and [compliance frameworks](https://docs.gitlab.com/user/compliance/compliance_frameworks/) that allow organizations to implement software delivery standards at scale. This is especially important for regulated industries.\n\n- [Security testing](https://docs.gitlab.com/user/application_security/) is embedded in the pipeline and results show in the developer workflow, including static application security testing (SAST), source code analysis (SCA), dynamic application security testing (DAST), infrastructure-as-code scanning (IaC), container scanning, and API scanning.\n\n- [AI capabilities](https://about.gitlab.com/gitlab-duo-agent-platform/) across the full software delivery lifecycle include advanced agent orchestration and customizable flows to support how your organizational teams work.\n\n\nGitLab's open-source, open-core approach, flexible deployment options such as single-tenant dedicated and self-managed, and truly unified platform eliminate integration complexity and security gaps. \n\n\nFor teams facing mounting pressure to accelerate delivery while strengthening security posture and maintaining regulatory compliance, GitLab represents not just a migration but a platform evolution.\n\n\nMigrating from Azure DevOps to GitLab can seem like a daunting task, but with the right approach and tools, it can be a smooth and efficient process. This guide will walk you through the steps needed to successfully migrate your projects, repositories, and pipelines from Azure DevOps to GitLab.\n\n\n## Overview\n\nGitLab provides both [Congregate](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/professional-services-automation/tools/migration/congregate/) (maintained by [GitLab Professional Services](https://about.gitlab.com/professional-services/) organization) and [a built-in Git repository import](https://docs.gitlab.com/user/project/import/repo_by_url/) for migrating projects from Azure DevOps (ADO). These options support repository-by-repository or bulk migration and preserve git commit history, branches, and tags. With Congregate and professional services tools, we support additional assets such as wikis, work items, CI/CD variables, container images, packages, pipelines, and more (see this [feature matrix](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/professional-services-automation/tools/migration/congregate/-/blob/master/customer/ado-migration-features-matrix.md)). Use this guide to plan and execute your migration and complete post-migration follow-up tasks.\n\n\nEnterprises migrating from ADO to GitLab commonly follow a multi-phase approach:\n\n\n- Migrate repositories from ADO to GitLab using Congregate or GitLab's built-in repository migration.\n\n- Migrate pipelines from Azure Pipelines to GitLab CI/CD.\n\n- Migrate remaining assets such as boards, work items, and artifacts to GitLab Issues, Epics, and the Package and Container Registries.\n\n\nHigh-level migration phases:\n\n\n```mermaid\ngraph LR\n    subgraph Prerequisites\n        direction TB\n        A[\"Set up identity provider (IdP) and\u003Cbr/>provision users\"]\n        A --> B[\"Set up runners and\u003Cbr/>third-party integrations\"]\n        B --> I[\"Users enablement and\u003Cbr/>change management\"]\n    end\n    \n    subgraph MigrationPhase[\"Migration phase\"]\n        direction TB\n        C[\"Migrate source code\"]\n        C --> D[\"Preserve contributions and\u003Cbr/> format history\"]\n        D --> E[\"Migrate work items and\u003Cbr/>map to \u003Ca href=\"https://docs.gitlab.com/topics/plan_and_track/\">GitLab Plan \u003Cbr/>and track work\"]\n    end\n    \n    subgraph PostMigration[\"Post-migration steps\"]\n        direction TB\n        F[\"Create or translate \u003Cbr/>ADO pipelines to GitLab CI\"]\n        F --> G[\"Migrate other assets\u003Cbr/>packages and container images\"]\n        G --> H[\"Introduce \u003Ca href=\"https://docs.gitlab.com/user/application_security/secure_your_application/\">security\u003C/a> and\u003Cbr/>SDLC improvements\"]\n    end\n    \n    Prerequisites --> MigrationPhase\n    MigrationPhase --> PostMigration\n\n    style A fill:#FC6D26\n    style B fill:#FC6D26\n    style I fill:#FC6D26\n    style C fill:#8C929D\n    style D fill:#8C929D\n    style E fill:#8C929D\n    style F fill:#FFA500\n    style G fill:#FFA500\n    style H fill:#FFA500\n```\n\n\n## Planning your migration\n\n\n**To plan your migration, ask these questions:**\n\n\n- How soon do we need to complete the migration?\n\n- Do we understand what will be migrated?\n\n- Who will run the migration?\n\n- What organizational structure do we want in GitLab?\n\n- Are there any constraints, limitations, or pitfalls that need to be taken into account?\n\n\nDetermine your timeline, as it will largely dictate your migration approach. Identify champions or groups familiar with both ADO and GitLab platforms (such as early adopters) to help drive adoption and provide guidance.\n\n\n**Inventory what you need to migrate:**\n\n\n- The number of repositories, pull requests, and contributors\n\n- The number and complexity of work items and pipelines\n\n- Repository sizes and dependency relationships\n\n- Critical integrations and runner requirements (agent pools with specific capabilities)\n\n\nUse GitLab Professional Services's [Evaluate](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/professional-services-automation/tools/utilities/evaluate#beta-azure-devops) tool to produce a complete inventory of your entire Azure DevOps organization, including repositories, PR counts, contributor lists, number of pipelines, work items, CI/CD variables and more. If you're working with the GitLab Professional Services team, share this report with your engagement manager or technical architect to help plan the migration.\n\n\nMigration timing is primarily driven by pull request count, repository size, and amount of contributions (e.g. comments in PR, work items, etc). For example, 1,000 small repositories with few PRs and limited contributors can migrate much faster than a smaller set of repositories containing tens of thousands of PRs and thousands of contributors. Use your inventory data to estimate effort and plan test runs before proceeding with production migrations.\n\n\nCompare inventory against your desired timeline and decide whether to migrate all repositories at once or in batches. If teams cannot migrate simultaneously, batch and stagger migrations to align with team schedules. For example, in Professional Services engagements, we organize migrations into waves of 200-300 projects to manage complexity and respect API rate limits, both in [GitLab](https://docs.gitlab.com/security/rate_limits/) and [ADO](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/integrate/concepts/rate-limits?view=azure-devops).\n\n\nGitLab's built-in [repository importer](https://docs.gitlab.com/user/project/import/repo_by_url/) migrates Git repositories (commits, branches, and tags) one-by-one. Congregate is designed to preserve pull requests (known in GitLab as merge requests), comments, and related metadata where possible; the simple built-in repository import focuses only on the Git data (history, branches, and tags).\n\n\n**Items that typically require separate migration or manual recreation:**\n\n\n- Azure Pipelines - create equivalent GitLab CI/CD pipelines (consult with [CI/CD YAML](https://docs.gitlab.com/ci/yaml/) and/or with [CI/CD components](https://docs.gitlab.com/ci/components/)). Alternatively, consider using AI-based pipeline conversion available in Congregate.\n\n- Work items and boards - map to GitLab Issues, Epics, and Issue Boards.\n\n- Artifacts, container images (ACR) - migrate to GitLab Package Registry or Container Registry.\n\n- Service hooks and external integrations - recreate in GitLab.\n\n- [Permissions models](https://docs.gitlab.com/user/permissions/) differ between ADO and GitLab; review and plan permissions mapping rather than assuming exact preservation.\n\n\nReview what each tool (Congregate vs. built-in import) will migrate and choose the one that fits your needs. Make a list of any data or integrations that must be migrated or recreated manually.\n\n\n**Who will run the migration?**\n\n\nMigrations are typically run by a GitLab group owner or instance administrator, or by a designated migrator who has been granted the necessary permissions on the destination group/project. Congregate and the GitLab import APIs require valid authentication tokens for both Azure DevOps and GitLab.\n\n\n- Decide whether a group owner/admin will perform the migrations or whether you will grant a specific team/person delegated access.\n\n- Ensure the migrator has correctly configured personal access tokens (Azure DevOps and GitLab) with the scopes required by your chosen migration tool (for example, api/read_repository scopes and any tool-specific requirements). \n\n- Test tokens and permissions with a small pilot migration.\n\n**Note:** Congregate leverages file-based import functionality for ADO migrations and requires instance administrator permissions to run ([see our documentation](https://docs.gitlab.com/user/project/settings/import_export/#migrate-projects-by-uploading-an-export-file)). If you are migrating to GitLab.com, consider engaging Professional Services. For more information, see the [Professional Services Full Catalog](https://about.gitlab.com/professional-services/catalog/). Non-admin account cannot preserve contribution attribution!\n\n\n**What organizational structure do we want in GitLab?**\n\nWhile it's possible to map ADO structure directly to GitLab structure, it's recommended to rationalize and simplify the structure during migration. Consider how teams will work in GitLab and design the structure to facilitate collaboration and access management. Here is a way to think about mapping ADO structure to GitLab structure:\n\n\n```mermaid\ngraph TD\n    subgraph GitLab\n        direction TB\n        A[\"Top-level Group\"]\n        B[\"Subgroup (optional)\"]\n        C[\"Projects\"]\n        A --> B\n        A --> C\n        B --> C\n    end\n\n    subgraph AzureDevOps[\"Azure DevOps\"]\n        direction TB\n        F[\"Organizations\"]\n        G[\"Projects\"]\n        H[\"Repositories\"]\n        F --> G\n        G --> H\n    end\n\n    style A fill:#FC6D26\n    style B fill:#FC6D26\n    style C fill:#FC6D26\n    style F fill:#8C929D\n    style G fill:#8C929D\n    style H fill:#8C929D\n```\n\nRecommended approach:\n\n\n- Map each ADO organization to a GitLab group (or a small set of groups), not to many small groups. Avoid creating a GitLab group for every ADO team project. Use migration as an opportunity to rationalize your GitLab structure.\n\n- Use subgroups and project-level permissions to group related repositories.\n\n- Manage access to sets of projects by using GitLab groups and group membership (groups and subgroups) rather than one group per team project.\n\n- Review GitLab [permissions](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/permissions.html) and consider [SAML Group Links](https://docs.gitlab.com/user/group/saml_sso/group_sync/) to implement an enterprise RBAC model for your GitLab instance (or a GitLab.com namespace).\n\n\n**ADO Boards and work items: State of migration**\n\n\nIt's important to understand how work items migrate from ADO into GitLab Plan (issues, epics, and boards).\n\n\n- ADO Boards and work items map to GitLab Issues, Epics, and Issue Boards. Plan how your workflows and board configurations will translate.\n\n- ADO Epics and Features become GitLab Epics.\n\n- Other work item types (e.g., user stories, tasks, bugs) become project-scoped issues.\n\n- Most standard fields are preserved; selected custom fields can be migrated when supported.\n\n- Parent-child relationships are retained so Epics reference all related issues.\n\n- Links to pull requests are converted to merge request links to maintain development traceability.\n\n\nExample: Migration of an individual work item to a GitLab Issue, including field accuracy and relationships:\n\n\n![Example: Migration of an individual work item to a GitLab Issue](https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1764769188/ztesjnxxfbwmfmtckyga.png)\n\n\nBatching guidance:\n\n\n- If you need to run migrations in batches, use your new group/subgroup structure to define batches (for example, by ADO organization or by product area).\n\n- Use inventory reports to drive batch selection and test each batch with a pilot migration before scaling.\n\n\n**Pipelines migration**\n\n\nCongregate [recently introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/professional-services-automation/tools/migration/congregate/-/merge_requests/1298) AI-powered conversion for multi-stage YAML pipelines from Azure DevOps to GitLab CI/CD. This automated conversion works best for simple, single-file pipelines and is designed to provide a working starting point rather than a production-ready `.gitlab-ci.yml` file. The tool generates a functionally equivalent GitLab pipeline that you can then refine and optimize for your specific needs.\n\n\n- Converts Azure Pipelines YAML to `.gitlab-ci.yml` format automatically.\n\n- Best suited for straightforward, single-file pipeline configurations.\n\n- Provides a boilerplate to accelerate migration, not a final production artifact.\n\n- Requires review and adjustment for complex scenarios, custom tasks, or enterprise requirements.\n\n- Does not support Azure DevOps classic release pipelines — [convert these to multi-stage YAML](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/pipelines/release/from-classic-pipelines?view=azure-devops) first.\n\n\nRepository owners should review the [GitLab CI/CD documentation](https://docs.gitlab.com/ci/) to further optimize and enhance their pipelines after the initial conversion.\n\n\nExample of converted pipelines:\n\n\n```yml \n\n# azure-pipelines.yml\n\ntrigger:\n  - main\n\nvariables:\n  imageName: myapp\n\nstages:\n  - stage: Build\n    jobs:\n      - job: Build\n        pool:\n          vmImage: 'ubuntu-latest'\n        steps:\n          - checkout: self\n\n          - task: Docker@2\n            displayName: Build Docker image\n            inputs:\n              command: build\n              repository: $(imageName)\n              Dockerfile: '**/Dockerfile'\n              tags: |\n                $(Build.BuildId)\n\n  - stage: Test\n    jobs:\n      - job: Test\n        pool:\n          vmImage: 'ubuntu-latest'\n        steps:\n          - checkout: self\n\n          # Example: run tests inside the container\n          - script: |\n              docker run --rm $(imageName):$(Build.BuildId) npm test\n            displayName: Run tests\n\n  - stage: Push\n    jobs:\n      - job: Push\n        pool:\n          vmImage: 'ubuntu-latest'\n        steps:\n          - checkout: self\n\n          - task: Docker@2\n            displayName: Login to ACR\n            inputs:\n              command: login\n              containerRegistry: '\u003Cyour-acr-service-connection>'\n\n          - task: Docker@2\n            displayName: Push image to ACR\n            inputs:\n              command: push\n              repository: $(imageName)\n              tags: |\n                $(Build.BuildId)\n\n```\n\n```yaml\n\n# .gitlab-ci.yml\n\nvariables:\n  imageName: myapp\n\nstages:\n  - build\n  - test\n  - push\n\nbuild:\n  stage: build\n  image: docker:latest\n  services:\n    - docker:dind\n  script:\n    - docker build -t $imageName:$CI_PIPELINE_ID -f $(find . -name Dockerfile) .\n  only:\n    - main\n\ntest:\n  stage: test\n  image: docker:latest\n  services:\n    - docker:dind\n  script:\n    - docker run --rm $imageName:$CI_PIPELINE_ID npm test\n  only:\n    - main\n\npush:\n  stage: push\n  image: docker:latest\n  services:\n    - docker:dind\n  before_script:\n    - docker login -u $CI_REGISTRY_USER -p $CI_REGISTRY_PASSWORD $CI_REGISTRY\n  script:\n    - docker tag $imageName:$CI_PIPELINE_ID $CI_REGISTRY/$CI_PROJECT_PATH/$imageName:$CI_PIPELINE_ID\n    - docker push $CI_REGISTRY/$CI_PROJECT_PATH/$imageName:$CI_PIPELINE_ID\n  only:\n    - main\n\n```\n\n**Final checklist:**\n\n\n- Decide timeline and batch strategy.\n\n- Produce a full inventory of repositories, PRs, and contributors.\n\n- Choose Congregate or the built-in import based on scope (PRs and metadata vs. Git data only).\n\n- Decide who will run migrations and ensure tokens/permissions are configured.\n\n- Identify assets that must be migrated separately (pipelines, work items, artifacts, and hooks) and plan those efforts.\n\n- Run pilot migrations, validate results, then scale according to your plan.\n\n\n## Running your migrations\n\n\nAfter planning, execute migrations in stages, starting with trial runs. Trial migrations help surface org-specific issues early and let you measure duration, validate outcomes, and fine-tune your approach before production.\n\n\nWhat trial migrations validate:\n\n\n- Whether a given repository and related assets migrate successfully (history, branches, tags; plus MRs/comments if using Congregate)\n\n- Whether the destination is usable immediately (permissions, runners, CI/CD variables, integrations)\n\n- How long each batch takes, to set schedules and stakeholder expectations\n\n\nDowntime guidance:\n\n\n- GitLab's built-in Git import and Congregate do not inherently require downtime.\n\n- For production waves, freeze changes in ADO (branch protections or read-only) to avoid missed commits, PR updates, or work items created mid-migration.\n\n- Trial runs do not require freezes and can be run anytime.\n\n\nBatching guidance:\n\n\n- Run trial batches back-to-back to shorten elapsed time; let teams validate results asynchronously.\n\n- Use your planned group/subgroup structure to define batches and respect API rate limits.\n\n\nRecommended steps:\n\n\n1. Create a test destination in GitLab for trials:\n\n\n  - GitLab.com: create a dedicated group/namespace (for example, my-org-sandbox)\n\n  - Self-managed: create a top-level group or a separate test instance if needed\n\n\n2. Prepare authentication:\n\n\n  - Azure DevOps PAT with required scopes.\n\n  - GitLab Personal Access Token with api and read_repository (plus admin access for file-based imports used by Congregate).\n\n\n3. Run trial migrations:\n\n\n  - Repos only: use GitLab's built-in import (Repo by URL)\n\n  - Repos + PRs/MRs and additional assets: use Congregate\n\n\n4. Post-trial follow-up:\n\n\n  - Verify repo history, branches, tags; merge requests (if migrated), issues/epics (if migrated), labels, and relationships.\n\n  - Check permissions/roles, protected branches, required approvals, runners/tags, variables/secrets, integrations/webhooks.\n\n  - Validate pipelines (`.gitlab-ci.yml`) or converted pipelines where applicable.\n\n\n5. Ask users to validate functionality and data fidelity.\n\n6. Resolve issues uncovered during trials and update your runbooks.\n\n7. Network and security:\n\n\n  - If your destination uses IP allow lists, add the IPs of your migration host and any required runners/integrations so imports can succeed.\n\n\n8. Run production migrations in waves:\n\n\n  - Enforce change freezes in ADO during each wave.\n\n  - Monitor progress and logs; retry or adjust batch sizes if you hit rate limits.\n\n\n9. Optional: remove the sandbox group or archive it after you finish.\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"video_container\">\n  \u003Ciframe src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/ibIXGfrVbi4?si=ZxOVnXjCF-h4Ne0N\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"true\">\u003C/iframe>\n\u003C/figure>\n\n\n## Terminology reference for GitLab and Azure DevOps\n\n| GitLab                                                           | Azure DevOps                                 | Similarities & Key Differences                                                                                                                                          |\n| ---------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |\n| Group                                                            | Organization                                 | Top-level namespace, membership, policies. ADO org contains Projects; GitLab Group contains Subgroups and Projects.                                                   |\n| Group or Subgroup                                                | Project                                      | Logical container, permissions boundary. ADO Project holds many repos; GitLab Groups/Subgroups organize many Projects.                                                |\n| Project (includes a Git repo)                                    | Repository (inside a Project)                | Git history, branches, tags. In GitLab, a \"Project\" is the repo plus issues, CI/CD, wiki, etc. One repo per Project.                                                  |\n| Merge Request (MR)                                               | Pull Request (PR)                            | Code review, discussions, approvals. MR rules include approvals, required pipelines, code owners.                                                                     |\n| Protected Branches, MR Approval Rules, Status Checks             | Branch Policies                              | Enforce reviews and checks. GitLab combines protections + approval rules + required status checks.                                                                    |\n| GitLab CI/CD                                                     | Azure Pipelines                              | YAML pipelines, stages/jobs, logs. ADO also has classic UI pipelines; GitLab centers on .gitlab-ci.yml.                                                               |\n| .gitlab-ci.yml                                                   | azure-pipelines.yml                          | Defines stages/jobs/triggers. Syntax/features differ; map jobs, variables, artifacts, and triggers.                                                                   |\n| Runners (shared/specific)                                        | Agents / Agent Pools                         | Execute jobs on machines/containers. Target via demands (ADO) vs tags (GitLab). Registration/scoping differs.                                                         |\n| CI/CD Variables (project/group/instance), Protected/Masked       | Pipeline Variables, Variable Groups, Library | Pass config/secrets to jobs. GitLab supports group inheritance and masking/protection flags.                                                                          |\n| Integrations, CI/CD Variables, Deploy Keys                       | Service Connections                          | External auth to services/clouds. Map to integrations or variables; cloud-specific helpers available.                                                                 |\n| Environments & Deployments (protected envs)                      | Environments (with approvals)                | Track deploy targets/history. Approvals via protected envs and manual jobs in GitLab.                                                                                 |\n| Releases (tag + notes)                                           | Releases (classic or pipelines)              | Versioned notes/artifacts. GitLab Release ties to tags; deployments tracked separately.                                                                               |\n| Job Artifacts                                                    | Pipeline Artifacts                           | Persist job outputs. Retention/expiry configured per job or project.                                                                                                  |\n| Package Registry (NuGet/npm/Maven/PyPI/Composer, etc.)           | Azure Artifacts (NuGet/npm/Maven, etc.)      | Package hosting. Auth/namespace differ; migrate per package type.                                                                                                     |\n| GitLab Container Registry                                        | Azure Container Registry (ACR) or others     | OCI images. GitLab provides per-project/group registries.                                                                                                             |\n| Issue Boards                                                     | Boards                                       | Visualize work by columns. GitLab boards are label-driven; multiple boards per project/group.                                                                         |\n| Issues (types/labels), Epics                                     | Work Items (User Story/Bug/Task)             | Track units of work. Map ADO types/fields to labels/custom fields; epics at group level.                                                                              |\n| Epics, Parent/Child Issues                                       | Epics/Features                               | Hierarchy of work. Schema differs; use epics + issue relationships.                                                                                                   |\n| Milestones and Iterations                                        | Iteration Paths                              | Time-boxing. GitLab Iterations (group feature) or Milestones per project/group.                                                                                       |\n| Labels (scoped labels)                                           | Area Paths                                   | Categorization/ownership. Replace hierarchical areas with scoped labels.                                                                                              |\n| Project/Group Wiki                                               | Project Wiki                                 | Markdown wiki. Backed by repos in both; layout/auth differ slightly.                                                                                                  |\n| Test reports via CI, Requirements/Test Management, integrations  | Test Plans/Cases/Runs                        | QA evidence/traceability. No 1:1 with ADO Test Plans; often use CI reports + issues/requirements.                                                                     |\n| Roles (Owner/Maintainer/Developer/Reporter/Guest) + custom roles | Access levels + granular permissions         | Control read/write/admin. Models differ; leverage group inheritance and protected resources.                                                                          |\n| Webhooks                                                         | Service Hooks                                | Event-driven integrations. Event names/payloads differ; reconfigure endpoints.                                                                                        |\n| Advanced Search                                                  | Code Search                                  | Full-text repo search. Self-managed GitLab may need Elasticsearch/OpenSearch for advanced features.                                                                   |\n","2025-12-03","2026-01-16","https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1749658924/Blog/Hero%20Images/securitylifecycle-light.png",[739,740],"Evgeny Rudinsky","Michael Leopard","Guide: Migrate from Azure DevOps to GitLab","Learn how to carry out the full migration from Azure DevOps to GitLab using GitLab Professional Services migration tools — from planning and execution to post-migration follow-up tasks.",{"featured":28,"template":13,"slug":744},"migration-from-azure-devops-to-gitlab",{"promotions":746},[747,761,772],{"id":748,"categories":749,"header":751,"text":752,"button":753,"image":758},"ai-modernization",[750],"ai-ml","Is AI achieving its promise at scale?","Quiz will take 5 minutes or less",{"text":754,"config":755},"Get your AI maturity score",{"href":756,"dataGaName":757,"dataGaLocation":243},"/assessments/ai-modernization-assessment/","modernization assessment",{"config":759},{"src":760},"https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1772138786/qix0m7kwnd8x2fh1zq49.png",{"id":762,"categories":763,"header":764,"text":752,"button":765,"image":769},"devops-modernization",[725,557],"Are you just managing tools or shipping innovation?",{"text":766,"config":767},"Get your DevOps maturity score",{"href":768,"dataGaName":757,"dataGaLocation":243},"/assessments/devops-modernization-assessment/",{"config":770},{"src":771},"https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1772138785/eg818fmakweyuznttgid.png",{"id":773,"categories":774,"header":776,"text":752,"button":777,"image":781},"security-modernization",[775],"security","Are you trading speed for security?",{"text":778,"config":779},"Get your security maturity score",{"href":780,"dataGaName":757,"dataGaLocation":243},"/assessments/security-modernization-assessment/",{"config":782},{"src":783},"https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1772138786/p4pbqd9nnjejg5ds6mdk.png",{"header":785,"blurb":786,"button":787,"secondaryButton":792},"Start building faster today","See what your team can do with the intelligent orchestration platform for DevSecOps.\n",{"text":788,"config":789},"Get your free trial",{"href":790,"dataGaName":50,"dataGaLocation":791},"https://gitlab.com/-/trial_registrations/new?glm_content=default-saas-trial&glm_source=about.gitlab.com/","feature",{"text":495,"config":793},{"href":54,"dataGaName":55,"dataGaLocation":791},1772652077090]