GitLab-hosted runners (Pilot)

GitLab-hosted runners will be available as a pilot from 01 August 2025 for SHIP-HATS projects classified as Restricted / Sensitive-Normal and below.

Why use GitLab-hosted runners?

• Improve performance: Reduce queue and build times
• Enable advanced CI pipelines: Supports Docker-in-Docker (DinD)
• Simplify runner maintenance: Hosted and managed by GitLab

What’s next?

We encourage you to start using GitLab-hosted runners for projects that are classified as Restricted / Sensitive-Normal and below and share your feedback during this pilot phase.

Refer to Types of shared runners to know the tags required for GitLab-hosted runners and update your CI pipeline configurations.

Heads-up for CStack runner users

If your projects currently use CStack runners, especially those explicitly tagged to use CStack runners:

• CStack runners are planned for decommissioning (decommissioning date to be confirmed soon), depending on this pilot outcome.
• If you’ve explicitly tagged jobs to use CStack runners, you may need to update the tags to prevent pipeline failures.
• Projects not explicitly tagged will be auto-migrated when GitLab-hosted runners become generally available.

Refer to Known issues after migrating to GitLab-hosted runners.