GitLab Runner: 4. Create the service

This documentation is part of the Automate with the CLI guide. You can view the complete guide here: Start GitLab-Runner, retrieve its credentials, and modify its configuration programmatically using the Stackhero CLI.

👋 Welcome to the Stackhero documentation!

Stackhero offers you an easy-to-use GitLab Runner cloud solution, designed to efficiently run your GitLab CI/CD jobs. Here’s what you can expect:

• Unlimited CI/CD minutes: there’s no per-minute billing, so your pipelines can run whenever you need them.
• Concurrent jobs: run multiple jobs in parallel to speed up your entire pipeline.
• The Docker executor with Docker-in-Docker support: simplify building and pushing your container images.
• Compatible with GitLab.com as well as any self-managed GitLab instance.
• A private, dedicated VM powered by fast NVMe/SSD disks for consistent, reliable builds.
• Available in both 🇪🇺 Europe and 🇺🇸 USA regions.

Save time: connect your first GitLab Runner and start running pipelines in just a few minutes!

Below is a sample script that creates a stack, adds your GitLab-Runner service to it, waits for it to start, retrieves its configuration (including generated credentials), and then applies a new configuration.

#!/bin/bash
set -e

export STACKHERO_TOKEN="usr-xxxxxx:your-token"

serviceStore="gitlab-runner"   # The GitLab-Runner service store name (see step 2)
instance="..."                # An instance size from step 3
region="europe"               # A region name from step 3

# Create a stack for your service (uses your default organization; add --organization if needed)
stackId=$(stackhero --format=script stack-create \
  --name="My GitLab-Runner stack")
echo "Stack created: ${stackId}"

# Add GitLab-Runner to the stack (names are resolved automatically)
serviceId=$(stackhero --format=script service-add \
  --stack="My GitLab-Runner stack" \
  --service-store="${serviceStore}" \
  --instance="${instance}" \
  --region="${region}")
echo "Service added: gitlab-runner"

# Wait for the service to be fully operational (this may take a few minutes)
stackhero service-wait-for --service="gitlab-runner"

# Retrieve the service configuration, including generated credentials
stackhero service-configuration-get --service="gitlab-runner" --format=json