Q: In general, why choose GitLab over GitHub or BitBucket or other repositories?
A: MGB's Digital Research GitLab is free for MGB Employees as well as their outside collaborators. It is hosted within the MGB secure firewall and integrates with MGB’s LDAP system. The service provides an option for private code repositories as well as container and package storage.
Q: Are there any requirements to access GitLab?
A: Yes – Internal account users must be on the MGB VPN, in order to access the site. External user accounts do not need to be on MGB VPN.
Q: Are there any limitations on the number of projects and storage space?
A: Yes – Internal user accounts can have up to a total of 100 projects and up to 10 GB per project. Users may request an increase to these limitations, for an additional cost.
Q: Does GitLab support CI/CD?
A: Yes – GitLab provides robust CI/CD capabilities as well integrations with tools like Jenkins and Travis. Some additional setup may be necessary depending on your project.
Q: Can you put PHI on GitLab?
A: No – GitLab is not a system that is approved for storage of PHI
Q: Can external users be granted access?
A: Yes – Non MGB users can be granted GitLab account access by having an internal user sponsor at Mass General Brigham.
Q: How up-to-date is the MGB instance of GitLab?
A: We run the enterprise free edition of GitLab and follow their release schedule. Software updates are scheduled to occur at least twice per quarter. If security-related releases are available, we aim to apply those as soon as possible.
With most software update cycles, there is a system downtime – we notify all users ahead of time for any upcoming downtime.
Q: I’ve seen some cool features in the cloud version of GitLab. Would there be available in the MGB GitLab instance?
A: It depends – We attempt to enable all cool and useful features in GitLab, but some features require additional setup and infrastructure, which prevents us from enabling it.
This can be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Email your specific question to us, at: gitlab@mgb.org and someone will follow-up with you, directly!
Q: What are some of the currently enabled features?
A: Some features that we can spotlight are:
- GitLab Pages
- Container Registry
- Package Registry
- Issues management
- Static Application Security Testing (SAST)
- Infrastructure as Code (IaC) Scanning
Q: Is the data backed-up?
A: Yes – The repositories are backed-up nightly via the standard MGB backup process. We do, however, encourage you to create independent backups of your repositories
Q: What kind of support can we expect to receive?
A: Given the complexity of the application and the workflows that can be setup with Git and Gitlab, you can expect to receive best-effort support with a focus on the application’s main functionality, user access, and project setup.
Q: Is there documentation on how to use the service?
A: Much of the useful documentation can be found on the GitLab Site.
Q: How do I sign up for the GitLab service?
A: Go to the MGB GitLab and sign using your MGB ID and Password!
If you receive a message saying you are blocked from the system, email: gitlab@mgb.org and request that your account be unblocked.
** If you do not see your question here or just want to know more information on the GitLab Service, please email: gitlab@mgb.org