My most common use cases for GitLab are development and managing repositories, primarily focused on code development work.
GitLab Ultimate
GitLab | GitLab Ultimate 18.2.1 ReleaseLinux/Unix, Ubuntu 24.04 - 64-bit Amazon Machine Image (AMI)
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As a DevOps Engineer for personal project gitlab is easy to use and has a smooth deployment process.
What do you like best about the product?
Automate the CI/CD pipelines. All in one-platform
What do you dislike about the product?
Limited features on free plan. UI is slow
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
To automate the deployment to the cloud. Providing the smooth and easy to use experience. Also have a strong permission control.
Project management integration and development simplicity drive efficiency
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
The features that are really useful for my use case generally include pulling, merging, and ensuring the pipeline is upright, which are very intuitive.
It helped me personally and my team to save time and money.
In terms of impact from using GitLab as an all-in-one DevOps platform, it helped with my project development life cycle.
What needs improvement?
Regarding improvements, making task management is something that GitLab can potentially make easier, similar to what DevOps or Jira does.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with GitLab for about two years.
What was my experience with deployment of the solution?
The deployment and initial setup were not difficult for me to complete. The pipeline management was easy.
The setup process took less than an hour.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
In terms of project management overall, I haven't faced any issues such as downtimes or losing the repository.
How are customer service and support?
I haven't contacted technical support of GitLab.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
When comparing GitLab with GitHub, I haven't really seen any noticeable difference.
What other advice do I have?
I have worked with Azure DevOps before and found it really intuitive to use.
I have used GitHub and GitLab as well, and I find that they've been fairly intuitive to use.
Regarding GitLab, I purchased an enterprise license, though I'm not aware whether I or my company bought this license from AWS Marketplace or elsewhere.
I'm not aware of any integration with other tools or third-party applications.
I haven't faced any difficulties with user interface or deployment.
On a scale of 1-10, I rate GitLab an 8.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Private Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Other
I have a great experience in GitLab Friendly Use
What do you like best about the product?
I find GitLab CI/CD pipelines very intuitive and powerful. Setting up automated tests, deployments, or even custom jobs feels seamless.
What do you dislike about the product?
Compared to GitHub, community and third-party integration support can sometimes feel somewhat limited. That said, once you're familiar with it, the benefits often outweigh the initial learning curve.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
GitLab solves the problem of tool fragmentation by providing an all-in-one DevOps platform. Instead of using separate tools for version control, CI/CD, code review, issue tracking, and security scans, GitLab brings everything into one unified interface
Development workflows improve with effective code reviews and user-friendly interface
What is our primary use case?
Our primary use case for GitLab involves software development, such as storing sources, automation, and pipelines.
What is most valuable?
The features I find most useful for our development workflows include Git, merges, branches, code reviews, and pipelines. The code review tool is pretty good, and its general usability is commendable when compared to GitHub. It is user-friendly, easy to use, and easy to administer. GitLab handles a significant amount of repositories, sources, and users effectively without data loss, even though it may slow down occasionally.
What needs improvement?
One significant feature we lack is the configuration that enforces code reviews, which simplifies the development life cycle. Unfortunately, this is available only at a higher license level than we currently use. Additionally, improvements are needed for stability, as the system tends to degrade over a few days and often requires a restart.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with GitLab for approximately six years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The self-hosted version of GitLab is not very stable when under load. It slows down and requires restarts every few days. The updates are frequent and demanding, happening at least once a week due to security reasons. While understandable, this often breaks running pipelines.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
In terms of scalability, GitLab in the cloud is easy to scale, but the self-hosted version is moderately easy, requiring some skills.
How are customer service and support?
We have contacted support in a couple of situations, and they were responsive and okay.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We have used Subversion, GitHub, and GitLab.
How was the initial setup?
The cloud-based setup is straightforward and easy. However, self-hosted setup is complex, requiring good DevOps and significant orchestration.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing and cost are on par with other tools and are neither too expensive nor cheap.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I have evaluated Subversion, GitHub, and GitLab.
What other advice do I have?
For those wanting to use GitLab, I recommend going with the cloud version as self-hosting is problematic. I rate GitLab an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Private Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Other
Streamlined collaboration with room for better project planning features
What is our primary use case?
The broad use of GitLab is for code check-ins, but I also use it for issue management and backlog management. It has integration with testing tools as well, and I utilize those features. GitLab supports code collaboration alongside issue and backlog management. Everyone within my team or pod, as we call it, can see each other's issues. The scrum master can look at the velocity and the burn-down charts.
What is most valuable?
I find all the CICD pipelines valuable, along with the simplicity it offers developers. When comparing it, certain features available in Jira are not present. Specifically, the ability to have weights at the milestone and epic levels does not exist. However, the security features are good and restrictive.
What needs improvement?
Certain features in Jira are not available in GitLab, such as the functionality to have weights at the milestone and epic levels. Hopefully, these features will be resolved with work items in GitLab. Also, if the child items are open in GitLab, closing the parent should not be allowed. While GitLab is a great tool for developers, it lacks project planner features. Roadmaps and Gantt charts in GitLab are not as advanced as in Jira, and changing start and end dates is more laborious in GitLab. Bridging the gap for project planners would make GitLab a more complete tool.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using it for about a year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I have not really encountered stability issues. I would rate it probably an eight.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I would say the solution is easy to scale.
How are customer service and support?
I do not have direct contact with customer service. We have relationship managers who deal with GitLab directly.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was relatively easy.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
In my company, the number of users is around ten thousand. If we are talking about my project, the figure is probably more around the three hundred mark, but it will grow to about six hundred users. In my company, that figure would be anything between five and ten thousand people.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate it an eight out of ten. Also, maybe, if GitLab is supporting any AI-driven projects or if it has any automation elements, it supports them. We have AI-driven projects where the code is stored in GitLab. GitLab Copilot is something we are looking to introduce soon. If you want to maintain your issues in GitLab and raise your book of work and features, then GitLab is a great tool for collaboration and integration with code deployment and CICD pipelines.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Other
Deployment time is reduced significantly with improved security features
What is our primary use case?
We use CI/CD for producing a Docker image. Afterward, we use Argo CD with Helm for deployment on OpenShift. Initially, we had the open-source version, however, we upgraded to the Ultimate version for security scanning and other features.
What is most valuable?
The CI/CD pipeline with Helm has significantly improved deployment speed and efficiency. Before using this solution, our deployments took four to five hours. Now, we can deploy applications in ten minutes. The Ultimate version offers enhanced features for security scanning through DAST and SAST analysis, which have greatly benefitted our project workflow.
What needs improvement?
The licensing model could be improved to be more accommodating in terms of user numbers and costs. This would serve more users better.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with GitLab for three years.
How are customer service and support?
We use a partner, and they are very competent. We have not had the need to open a support ticket directly with GitLab.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Before GitLab, we used Jenkins. We used GitLab as a Git repository and Jenkins for pipelines. With Jenkins, we produce Docker images and conduct tests and compile Java projects.
What was our ROI?
We have saved time significantly, reducing deployment time from four hours to five minutes per deployment.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The price is high, and it limits user accessibility. When we shifted from the open-source to the Ultimate version, we had to reduce the number of users due to the licensing model.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We did not evaluate other options as we are currently satisfied with GitLab.
What other advice do I have?
I recommend GitLab for security features and rate it eight out of ten.
However, the licensing model could be more flexible to accommodate a broader user base. I especially recommend it for public companies and government-related entities.
Time saving for the better deployment
What do you like best about the product?
We not need to install any addition Pipeline softwear like jenkins , ansible the git lab will take care of pipeline and deployment with it yaml file
What do you dislike about the product?
The computer minutes
it will take the small linux machine to deploy where the compute minutes will consume more
it will take the small linux machine to deploy where the compute minutes will consume more
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
with gitlab you can build the pipeline by default even though it has some compute minutes limitation, but it was useful for the freshers and startup business
Works as a source code manager or version control manager
What is our primary use case?
We use the solution as a source code manager or version control manager.
What is most valuable?
In our software development lifecycle, GitLab is used as a component for code repository management. We use GitLab for several projects to handle code repositories. For other software projects, we use Bitbucket, but the use case for both is very similar.
Many global users prefer GitLab for its enhanced pipeline automation for CI/CD features. It stands out among source code managers due to its parent-child pipeline feature. If users want to leverage this feature, they should consider using it. It’s not the only platform with this capability, but GitLab excels in automating many operations and offers integration with other platforms.
The solution supports platforms like Azure, GCP, and AWS. This capability makes it a preferred choice, even though other platforms also offer similar integration features. Additionally, GitLab’s tendency to be independent of ownership by another major company makes it an attractive option for many developers who prefer cloud usage
The tool's UI is good.
What needs improvement?
In the next release, I would like to see GitLab expand its integration capabilities to include platforms like DigitalOcean, which developers widely use for cloud infrastructure. Enhancing CI/CD automation features specifically tailored for DigitalOcean would be beneficial.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with the product for more than six months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The product is scalable.
How are customer service and support?
The tool's technical support is great.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution is free.
What other advice do I have?
I rate the overall product an eight out of ten.
Useful for source code management and security purposes
What is our primary use case?
When a developer checks in code, it is automatically built and deployed, and automated test cases are also run. We have extensive integration with GitLab, which helps us with source code management. We run the static code analysis using SonarQube.
What needs improvement?
Technologies are always changing. Nowadays, new things like serverless computing and workload management have emerged. We have noticed a few gap items for faster service delivery. For example, we do user interface testing in the latest team and automate it using some tools. Recently, we integrated a tool with user interface testing, which can simulate a multi-user environment. So, we would like to see more integration with different platforms.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We normally do load testing for an hour, extending that load with two or three different use cases. We increase the load by two or three times to check how the application responds. This helps us see if the application can withstand increased load, though it may reject messages or requests when it can't handle two to three times the normal load.
We do endurance or soak testing by leaving the system at the rated load, like 300 requests per second, for 12-16 hours to observe stability. We monitor for CPU leakage, memory leakage, queue building, and similar issues. If there are any problems, we fine-tune and fix them. For performance testing, we test at multiple levels: one at the service level and two at the system level. We normally don't test at the integration level.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
My company has 90 users.
How was the initial setup?
The solution's deployment is straightforward. We have containerized applications that are deployed to the environment.
What about the implementation team?
GitLab was deployed in-house.
What was our ROI?
The main value and impact of using the product are significant. We create and maintain vulnerability-free software by integrating tools like ManageEngine, which periodically patches our runtime environments, including operating systems, kernels, and software. Additionally, we run automated Nessus scans periodically, every week and day, to identify new vulnerabilities even after applying patches.
What other advice do I have?
I rate the overall solution an eight out of ten.
We do two levels of security scanning. One is at the build level, where we integrate with security packages and use tools like OWASP for top vulnerability compliance. This ensures that all third-party tools, like Tomcat and JBoss, are scanned as part of the build.
The second level is a reactive scan at runtime. We scan Oracle clients, JDKs, JBoss, Tomcat, Log4j, and other components during runtime. We also consider the operating system's security. Before we complete software testing, we use Nessus to perform a runtime security scan.
Gitlab- a web based project management repository
What do you like best about the product?
It is very easy to configure and does not require any extra space on the computer. One just need to configure it and it is ready to use.
Alongside, this is also a reliable way to process, maintain and manage the code with minimum extra effort.
It's accuracy is another added advantage
Alongside, this is also a reliable way to process, maintain and manage the code with minimum extra effort.
It's accuracy is another added advantage
What do you dislike about the product?
It has its own limitations like very little or no customisation. . Also, though easy to configure but it can only be used for native application and it doesn't have compliance license
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Got lab is helpful in areas wheee you need continuous integration and continuous deployment. In such areas,it is configured easily. It is a secure way to maintain code as well
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