GitLab Runner: Introduction

This documentation is part of the Building Docker images guide. View the full guide here: Build and push Docker images from your GitLab CI/CD pipelines using your Stackhero runner and Docker-in-Docker.

👋 Welcome to the Stackhero documentation!

Stackhero gives you an easy-to-use GitLab Runner cloud solution designed to handle your GitLab CI/CD jobs efficiently. Here is what you can look forward to:

• Unlimited CI/CD minutes: there is no per-minute billing, so your pipelines can run whenever you need them.
• Multiple concurrent jobs: run several jobs at the same time to speed up your entire pipeline.
• The Docker executor with Docker-in-Docker support: streamline 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: you can connect your first GitLab Runner and start running pipelines in just a few minutes!

When you use a Stackhero GitLab Runner, it runs jobs with the Docker executor. This means every job starts in a fresh container based on the image you specify. If you want to build your own Docker images as part of your pipeline, you can take advantage of Docker-in-Docker (DinD). This setup lets a Docker daemon run alongside your job, so you are able to run commands like docker build and docker push directly within your pipeline.

One of the great benefits here is that your runner comes with unlimited CI/CD minutes. You are free to build images as often as you like. Plus, since your build cache lives on the runner's dedicated disk, repeated builds can reuse previous layers, helping your pipelines finish much faster.