Merge branch 'docs/refactor-review-apps-documentation' into 'master'
Add more introductory information to Review Apps page, and other refactoring. Closes #50509 See merge request gitlab-org/gitlab-ce!21632
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# Getting started with Review Apps
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# Review Apps
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> - [Introduced][ce-21971] in GitLab 8.12. Further additions were made in GitLab
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> - [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/21971) in GitLab 8.12. Further additions were made in GitLab 8.13 and 8.14.
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> 8.13 and 8.14.
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> - Inspired by [Heroku's Review Apps](https://devcenter.heroku.com/articles/github-integration-review-apps), which itself was inspired by [Fourchette](https://github.com/rainforestapp/fourchette).
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> - Inspired by [Heroku's Review Apps][heroku-apps] which itself was inspired by
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> [Fourchette].
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The basis of Review Apps is the [dynamic environments] which allow you to create
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For a video introduction to Review Apps, see [8.14 Webcast: Review Apps & Time Tracking Beta (EE) - GitLab Release](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CteZol_7pxo).
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a new environment (dynamically) for each one of your branches.
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A Review App can then be visible as a link when you visit the [merge request]
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relevant to the branch. That way, you are able to see live all changes introduced
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by the merge request changes. Reviewing anything, from performance to interface
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changes, becomes much easier with a live environment and as such, Review Apps
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can make a huge impact on your development flow.
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They mostly make sense to be used with web applications, but you can use them
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any way you'd like.
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## Overview
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## Overview
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Simply put, a Review App is a mapping of a branch with an environment as there
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Review Apps are a collaboration tool that takes the hard work out of providing an environment to showcase product changes.
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is a 1:1 relation between them.
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Here's an example of what it looks like when viewing a merge request with a
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Review Apps:
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dynamically set environment.
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- Provide an automatic live preview of changes made in a feature branch by spinning up a dynamic environment for your merge requests.
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- Allow designers and product manages to see your changes without needing to check out your branch and run your changes in a sandbox environment.
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- Are fully integrated with the [GitLab DevOps LifeCycle](../../README.md#complete-devops-with-gitlab).
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- Allow you to deploy your changes wherever you want.
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Reviewing anything, from performance to interface changes, becomes much easier with a live environment and so Review Apps can make a large impact on your development flow.
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## What are Review Apps?
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A Review App is a mapping of a branch with an [environment](../environments.md). The following is an example of a merge request with an environment set dynamically.
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In the image above you can see that the `add-new-line` branch was successfully
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In this example, you can see a branch was:
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built and deployed under a dynamic environment and can be previewed with an
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also dynamically URL.
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The details of the Review Apps implementation depend widely on your real
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- Successfully built.
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technology stack and on your deployment process. The simplest case is to
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- Deployed under a dynamic environment that can be reached by clicking on the **View app** button.
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deploy a simple static HTML website, but it will not be that straightforward
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when your app is using a database for example. To make a branch be deployed
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on a temporary instance and booting up this instance with all required software
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and services automatically on the fly is not a trivial task. However, it is
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doable, especially if you use Docker, or at least a configuration management
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tool like Chef, Puppet, Ansible or Salt.
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## Prerequisites
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## How do Review Apps work?
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To get a better understanding of Review Apps, you must first learn how
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The basis of Review Apps in GitLab is [dynamic environments](../environments.md#dynamic-environments), which allow you to dynamically create a new environment for each branch.
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environments and deployments work. The following docs will help you grasp that
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knowledge:
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1. First, learn about [environments][] and their role in the development workflow.
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Access to the Review App is made available as a link on the [merge request](../../user/project/merge_requests.md) relevant to the branch. Review Apps enable you to review all changes proposed by the merge request in live environment.
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1. Then make a small stop to learn about [CI variables][variables] and how they
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can be used in your CI jobs.
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1. Next, explore the [`environment` syntax][yaml-env] as defined in `.gitlab-ci.yml`.
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This will be your primary reference when you are finally comfortable with
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how environments work.
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1. Additionally, find out about [manual actions][] and how you can use them to
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deploy to critical environments like production with the push of a button.
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1. And as a last step, follow the [example tutorials](#examples) which will
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guide you step by step to set up the infrastructure and make use of
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Review Apps.
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## Configuration
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## Use cases
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The configuration of Review apps depends on your technology stack and your
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Some supported use cases include the:
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infrastructure. Read the [dynamic environments] documentation to understand
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how to define and create them.
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## Creating and destroying Review Apps
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- Simple case of deploying a simple static HTML website.
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- More complicated case of an application that uses a database. Deploying a branch on a temporary instance and booting up this instance with all required software and services automatically on the fly is not a trivial task. However, it is possible, especially if you use Docker or a configuration management tool like Chef, Puppet, Ansible, or Salt.
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The creation and destruction of a Review App is defined in `.gitlab-ci.yml`
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Review Apps usually make sense with web applications, but you can use them any way you'd like.
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at a job level under the `environment` keyword.
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Check the [environments] documentation how to do so.
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## Implementing Review Apps
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## A simple workflow
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Implementing Review Apps depends on your:
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The process of adding Review Apps in your workflow would look like:
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- Technology stack.
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- Deployment process.
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### Prerequisite Knowledge
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To get a better understanding of Review Apps, review documentation on how environments and deployments work. Before you implement your own Review Apps:
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1. Learn about [environments](../environments.md) and their role in the development workflow.
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1. Learn about [CI variables](../variables/README.md) and how they can be used in your CI jobs.
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1. Explore the [`environment` syntax](../yaml/README.md#environment) as defined in `.gitlab-ci.yml`. This will become a primary reference.
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1. Additionally, find out about [manual actions](../environments.md#manual-actions) and how you can use them to deploy to critical environments like production with the push of a button.
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1. Follow the [example tutorials](#examples). These will guide you through setting up infrastructure and using Review Apps.
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### Configuring dynamic environments
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Configuring Review Apps dynamic environments depends on your technology stack and infrastructure.
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For more information, see [dynamic environments](../environments.md#dynamic-environments) documentation to understand how to define and create them.
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### Creating and destroying Review Apps
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Creating and destroying Review Apps is defined in `.gitlab-ci.yml` at a job level under the `environment` keyword.
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For more information, see [Introduction to environments and deployments](../environments.md).
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### Adding Review Apps to your workflow
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The process of adding Review Apps in your workflow is as follows:
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1. Set up the infrastructure to host and deploy the Review Apps.
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1. Set up the infrastructure to host and deploy the Review Apps.
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1. [Install][install-runner] and [configure][conf-runner] a Runner that does
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1. [Install](https://docs.gitlab.com/runner/install/) and [configure](https://docs.gitlab.com/runner/commands/) a Runner to do deployment.
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the deployment.
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1. Set up a job in `.gitlab-ci.yml` that uses the predefined [predefined CI environment variable](../variables/README.md) `${CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME}` to create dynamic environments and restrict it to run only on branches.
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1. Set up a job in `.gitlab-ci.yml` that uses the predefined
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1. Optionally, set a job that [manually stops](../environments.md#stopping-an-environment) the Review Apps.
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[predefined CI environment variable][variables] `${CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME}` to
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create dynamic environments and restrict it to run only on branches.
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1. Optionally set a job that [manually stops][manual-env] the Review Apps.
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From there on, you would follow the branched Git flow:
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After adding Review Apps to your workflow, you follow the branched Git flow. That is:
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1. Push a branch and let the Runner deploy the Review App based on the `script`
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1. Push a branch and let the Runner deploy the Review App based on the `script` definition of the dynamic environment job.
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definition of the dynamic environment job.
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1. Wait for the Runner to build and deploy your web application.
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1. Wait for the Runner to build and/or deploy your web app.
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1. Click on the link that provided in the merge request related to the branch to see the changes live.
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1. Click on the link that's present in the MR related to the branch and see the
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changes live.
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## Limitations
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## Limitations
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@ -97,27 +96,9 @@ Check the [environments limitations](../environments.md#limitations).
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## Examples
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## Examples
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A list of examples used with Review Apps can be found below:
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The following are example projects that use Review Apps with:
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- [Use with NGINX][app-nginx] - Use NGINX and the shell executor of GitLab Runner
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- [NGINX](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-examples/review-apps-nginx).
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to deploy a simple HTML website.
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- [OpenShift](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-examples/review-apps-openshift).
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And below is a soon to be added examples list:
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See also the video [Demo: Cloud Native Development with GitLab](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfIyQEwrocw), which includes a Review Apps example.
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- Use with Amazon S3
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- Use on Heroku with dpl
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- Use with OpenShift/kubernetes
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[app-nginx]: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-examples/review-apps-nginx
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[ce-21971]: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/21971
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[dynamic environments]: ../environments.md#dynamic-environments
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[environments]: ../environments.md
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[fourchette]: https://github.com/rainforestapp/fourchette
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[heroku-apps]: https://devcenter.heroku.com/articles/github-integration-review-apps
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[manual actions]: ../environments.md#manual-actions
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[merge request]: ../../user/project/merge_requests.md
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[variables]: ../variables/README.md
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[yaml-env]: ../yaml/README.md#environment
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[install-runner]: https://docs.gitlab.com/runner/install/
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[conf-runner]: https://docs.gitlab.com/runner/commands/
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[manual-env]: ../environments.md#stopping-an-environment
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