Workshop

Getting Started with Embedded DevOps using Gitlab CI/CD Pipelines

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01:47:27

EOC 2024

Workshop

Getting Started with Embedded DevOps using Gitlab CI/CD Pipelines

Jacob Beningo

01:47:27 EOC 2024

Jacob Beningo

01:47:27

Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) have become critical tools to IoT edge device developers. In this workshop, participants will delve into the fundamentals of Embedded DevOps by designing and implementing their own CI/CD pipeline using Gitlab.

Attendees will gain practical experience in configuring build systems, designing a CI/CD pipeline, and implementing it. (At least as much as can be done in a few hours). We’ll explore how to containerize your build environment in Docker, so that you can easily integrate it into an embedded CI/CD pipeline. You’ll also learn how to use Visual Studio Code to seamlessly integrate your build processes within a single environment.

Attendees will walk away with a basic, but functional CI pipeline that they can easily scale to meet their needs.

Key topics covered in this workshop include:

The role of DevOps in Edge and embedded system development
CI/CD pipeline design for embedded systems
Containerizing your build system in Docker
Set up and deployment of CI/CD solutions
Best practices and steps to go further

1 / 6

Please log in or create an account to test your knowledge and see the answers.

What primary benefit did Jacob Beningo emphasize for containerizing your embedded build system with Docker?

A It guarantees the smallest possible firmware binary size.

B It enforces that every developer must stop using vendor IDEs.

C It provides a consistent build environment so everyone uses the exact same tools and versions.

D It eliminates all software licensing and legal concerns for toolchains.

E It allows running containers without any Docker daemon or runtime.

Jacob listed five build types embedded teams need to support. Which of the following is NOT one of the five he mentioned?

A Release build for on-target execution

B Debug build for on-target execution

C Build for a simulator or emulator

D Build specifically optimized for web deployment

E Builds for testing and builds for analysis

According to Jacob, what is the recommended first step when starting to integrate CI/CD for embedded projects?

A Immediately deploy a full hardware-in-the-loop farm before any CI work.

B Start by using containers (e.g., Docker) to package the build environment.

C Replace all existing build scripts with vendor-provided IDE procedures.

D Focus solely on changing company culture before touching toolchains.

E Begin by migrating everything to Kubernetes clusters for orchestration.

In GitLab CI, what is the purpose of marking build outputs as artifacts?

A To automatically publish the source code repository to external websites.

B To store build outputs so later pipeline stages or releases can use them.

C To prevent other team members from pulling the Docker image.

D To run unit tests only on the developer's local machine.

E To replace the need for any Git history or branching.

What workflow regarding local testing versus pipeline testing did Jacob recommend for developers?

A Never run tests locally; always push changes and let the pipeline do all debugging.

B Run some local checks (e.g., unit tests) first, then push and let CI run longer, comprehensive tests.

C Run exhaustive eight-hour regression suites locally before each commit.

D Avoid CI entirely and rely solely on manual QA testing after release.

E Only test on hardware and never run unit tests in CI.

What key point did Jacob make about Dockerfile RUN commands and image layers?

A Each individual package installed via apt-get creates its own Docker layer.

B The invocation of RUN creates a layer, so grouping related commands into a single RUN reduces layer count.

C More layers always improve build performance and should be maximized.

D Docker layers have no effect on rebuilds or caching behavior.

E You must use a separate RUN for each command to ensure proper functionality.

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Upvotes Newest Oldest

Phil_Kasiecki

Score: 0 | 2 years ago | no reply

I like the point about Agile and DevOps - I think of DevOps as the full realization of Agile, or the endgame of it.

IanRasmussen

Score: 0 | 2 years ago | 1 reply

So finishing working through this workshop now that I have a bit of time. In part 2, where we set up the CI/CD pipeline, noticed some minor bugs:

The gitlab-ci.txt file has the line image: beningo/embedded-dev:latest in the default section. The beningo should be beningojw. Otherwise this causes a build failure when looking for the image on gitlab.
The unit-test-job stage in the .gitlab-ci.txt file calls make tests instead of make unit_tests.
There is already a completed .gitlab-ci-yml file present in the /00-Starters/LAB_2/controller/, not sure if that got left over from the solutions folder.

Not sure if you're going to use these files again for another workshop or not, but wanted to let you know.

Enjoyed the workshop and it's great to see how all this works. Will be hoping to work more with CI/CD in the future for my projects! (seems like my markdown code highlighting might not display properly on the website comments)

Jacob_BeningoSpeaker

Score: 0 | 2 years ago | no reply

Thanks for letting me know. I’ll double check if these changes have already been made in my full course.

I’m glad to hear that you were able to take away several actions to apply in your projects!

SimonSmith

Score: 0 | 2 years ago | 1 reply

It's been reported in an Ars Technica article this week that GitLab has a critical security vulnerability.
https://arstechnica.com/security/2024/05/0-click-gitlab-hijacking-flaw-under-active-exploit-with-thousands-still-unpatched/

Jacob_BeningoSpeaker

Score: 1 | 2 years ago | no reply

Thanks for letting us know!

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