GitLab CI integration

Automate deployments and server management with Alpacon in GitLab CI/CD pipelines using the official Docker container.

Quick start#

1. Create a service token#

CI and automation run on service tokens. A service token belongs to an application rather than to a person, so it survives staff changes, and its ACL bounds exactly what the pipeline may do.

1. Go to IAM → applications and open the application this pipeline belongs to, or create one.
2. Open the Tokens tab and click Create token.
3. Name the token and set its expiry, choose its permissions from an access template or one by one, prepare its servers, commands, and paths, and on the review step write the reason it is needed.
4. Copy or download the key when it is shown. It starts with alpst-, and it is shown only once.

Before issuing the token, give the application a server account and a global role covering the required scopes. The examples use ci-deploy; replace it with that application-owned account. Prepare deployment directories and Docker access for this account. A service token cannot run as root or open an interactive Websh session.

On Alpacon Cloud, service-token sudo is allowed below Critical, including unassessed commands, and refused at Critical unless the workspace is Advisory. In Advisory, it is not refused for risk at any level, and the decision is recorded. Outside Advisory, a workspace token_exec rule can tighten the risk threshold. The workspace sudo setting must be on; otherwise sudo is refused with workspace_sudo_with_mfa_disabled. A default self-hosted installation refuses every service-token sudo attempt. The command rule must match the whole submitted line, including sudo. See Service tokens.

Command and file-transfer scopes always wait for approval in the web console. Have a Superuser or an approver for the request approve the token before adding ACLs or starting the pipeline.

2. Add the ACL rules#

A new service token reaches nothing until you add ACL rules. Servers, commands, and file paths are each deny-by-default, so a token with no rules is refused everywhere.

After approval, open the token’s Access rules tab and apply the prepared rules, or add server and file rules there. On Alpacon Cloud, a Command ACL admins member adds commands under Pre-approved commands on the same tab. This access is separate from the workspace role. On self-hosted deployments, use command ACLs. Configure:

A file transfer checks the server rule first, then the file rule. Skip the Access rules tab and the pipeline fails on its first command.

3. Add CI/CD variables#

Add these variables to your GitLab project (Settings → CI/CD → Variables):

• ALPACON_WORKSPACE: Your workspace name (e.g., your-workspace)
• ALPACON_REGION: Your workspace region (us1 or ap1)
• ALPACON_SERVICE_TOKEN: The alpst- key from step 1 (mark as Masked and Protected)
• DOCKER_USERNAME: Registry username for the Docker login example (mark as Masked)
• DOCKER_PASSWORD: Registry password for the Docker login example (mark as Masked)

The CLI reads the token from alpacon login only. There is no environment-variable auth path, so every job keeps that login step before the first Alpacon command.

4. Create .gitlab-ci.yml#

IMPORTANT: The alpacax/alpacon-cli image has ENTRYPOINT ["alpacon"] set, so you must override it with entrypoint: [""] in GitLab CI.

stages:
  - deploy
 
deploy:
  stage: deploy
  image:
    name: alpacax/alpacon-cli:latest
    entrypoint: [""]
  script:
    - alpacon login --workspace $ALPACON_WORKSPACE --region $ALPACON_REGION -t $ALPACON_SERVICE_TOKEN
    - alpacon exec ci-deploy@prod-server "docker ps"
  only:
    - main

Prepare deployment directories#

Before the first deployment, have a server administrator create /opt/myapp and give ownership to the application account (ci-deploy in these examples). Also prepare Docker access for that account. The pipeline uploads and deploys into this prepared directory.

Usage examples#

Deploy with docker-compose.yml#

deploy-compose:
  stage: deploy
  image:
    name: alpacax/alpacon-cli:latest
    entrypoint: [""]
  script:
    - alpacon login --workspace $ALPACON_WORKSPACE --region $ALPACON_REGION -t $ALPACON_SERVICE_TOKEN
    - alpacon cp docker-compose.yml ci-deploy@prod-server:/opt/myapp/docker-compose.yml
    - alpacon exec ci-deploy@prod-server "docker compose -f /opt/myapp/docker-compose.yml up -d"
    - alpacon exec ci-deploy@prod-server "docker compose -f /opt/myapp/docker-compose.yml ps"
  only:
    - main

Deploy with environment file#

Have an administrator prepare /opt/myapp with the application account as its owner before running this job. See Prepare deployment directories.

deploy-with-env:
  stage: deploy
  image:
    name: alpacax/alpacon-cli:latest
    entrypoint: [""]
  script:
    - alpacon login --workspace $ALPACON_WORKSPACE --region $ALPACON_REGION -t $ALPACON_SERVICE_TOKEN
    # Upload files
    - alpacon cp docker-compose.yml ci-deploy@prod-server:/opt/myapp/
    - alpacon cp .env ci-deploy@prod-server:/opt/myapp/
    # Deploy
    - alpacon exec ci-deploy@prod-server "docker compose -f /opt/myapp/docker-compose.yml up -d"
    - alpacon exec ci-deploy@prod-server "docker compose -f /opt/myapp/docker-compose.yml ps"
  only:
    - main

Deploy with image tag#

deploy-tagged:
  stage: deploy
  image:
    name: alpacax/alpacon-cli:latest
    entrypoint: [""]
  script:
    - alpacon login --workspace $ALPACON_WORKSPACE --region $ALPACON_REGION -t $ALPACON_SERVICE_TOKEN
    - alpacon exec --env="DOCKER_USERNAME" --env="DOCKER_PASSWORD" ci-deploy@prod-server 'printf "%s\n" "$DOCKER_PASSWORD" | docker login -u "$DOCKER_USERNAME" --password-stdin'
    - alpacon cp docker-compose.yml ci-deploy@prod-server:/opt/myapp/docker-compose.yml
    - alpacon exec --env="DOCKER_USERNAME" --env="IMAGE_TAG=$CI_COMMIT_SHORT_SHA" ci-deploy@prod-server "docker compose -f /opt/myapp/docker-compose.yml pull"
    - alpacon exec --env="DOCKER_USERNAME" --env="IMAGE_TAG=$CI_COMMIT_SHORT_SHA" ci-deploy@prod-server "docker compose -f /opt/myapp/docker-compose.yml up -d"
    - alpacon exec --env="DOCKER_USERNAME" --env="IMAGE_TAG=$CI_COMMIT_SHORT_SHA" ci-deploy@prod-server "docker compose -f /opt/myapp/docker-compose.yml ps"
  only:
    - main

Multi-environment deployment#

Both jobs below use the same token, so its Server ACL has to list staging-server as well as prod-server. Issuing a token per environment instead, each scoped to its own server, keeps the staging pipeline from reaching production at all.

deploy-staging:
  stage: deploy
  image:
    name: alpacax/alpacon-cli:latest
    entrypoint: [""]
  script:
    - alpacon login --workspace $ALPACON_WORKSPACE --region $ALPACON_REGION -t $ALPACON_SERVICE_TOKEN
    - alpacon cp docker-compose.yml ci-deploy@staging-server:/opt/myapp/docker-compose.yml
    - alpacon exec ci-deploy@staging-server "docker compose -f /opt/myapp/docker-compose.yml up -d"
  only:
    - develop
  environment:
    name: staging
 
deploy-production:
  stage: deploy
  image:
    name: alpacax/alpacon-cli:latest
    entrypoint: [""]
  script:
    - alpacon login --workspace $ALPACON_WORKSPACE --region $ALPACON_REGION -t $ALPACON_SERVICE_TOKEN
    - alpacon cp docker-compose.yml ci-deploy@prod-server:/opt/myapp/docker-compose.yml
    - alpacon exec ci-deploy@prod-server "docker compose -f /opt/myapp/docker-compose.yml up -d"
  only:
    - main
  environment:
    name: production
  when: manual

Complete CI/CD pipeline#

stages:
  - build
  - deploy
 
build-image:
  stage: build
  image: docker:latest
  services:
    - docker:dind
  script:
    - printf '%s\n' "$DOCKER_PASSWORD" | docker login -u "$DOCKER_USERNAME" --password-stdin
    - docker build -t $DOCKER_USERNAME/myapp:$CI_COMMIT_SHORT_SHA .
    - docker push $DOCKER_USERNAME/myapp:$CI_COMMIT_SHORT_SHA
  only:
    - main
 
deploy:
  stage: deploy
  image:
    name: alpacax/alpacon-cli:latest
    entrypoint: [""]
  script:
    - alpacon login --workspace $ALPACON_WORKSPACE --region $ALPACON_REGION -t $ALPACON_SERVICE_TOKEN
    - alpacon exec --env="DOCKER_USERNAME" --env="DOCKER_PASSWORD" ci-deploy@prod-server 'printf "%s\n" "$DOCKER_PASSWORD" | docker login -u "$DOCKER_USERNAME" --password-stdin'
    - alpacon cp docker-compose.yml ci-deploy@prod-server:/opt/myapp/docker-compose.yml
    - alpacon exec --env="DOCKER_USERNAME" --env="IMAGE_TAG=$CI_COMMIT_SHORT_SHA" ci-deploy@prod-server "docker compose -f /opt/myapp/docker-compose.yml pull"
    - alpacon exec --env="DOCKER_USERNAME" --env="IMAGE_TAG=$CI_COMMIT_SHORT_SHA" ci-deploy@prod-server "docker compose -f /opt/myapp/docker-compose.yml up -d"
    - alpacon exec --env="DOCKER_USERNAME" --env="IMAGE_TAG=$CI_COMMIT_SHORT_SHA" ci-deploy@prod-server "docker compose -f /opt/myapp/docker-compose.yml ps"
  only:
    - main
  needs:
    - build-image

Security#

All commands executed through Alpacon are recorded in the workspace audit log, attributed to the application that owns the token rather than to a person. Sensitive values (such as passwords and tokens) passed via --env are automatically masked in command history.

Troubleshooting#

Entrypoint error#

Symptom: Error: unknown command "sh" for "alpacon"

Solution: You forgot to add entrypoint: [""] to the image configuration. Use:

image:
  name: alpacax/alpacon-cli:latest
  entrypoint: [""]

Login fails on a valid service token#

Symptom: alpacon login reports failed to verify user profile, even though the alpst- key was copied correctly

Solution: Service tokens need Alpacon CLI v1.7.4 or later. An older CLI doesn’t recognize the alpst- key and reports this misleading message instead. Check the version the job actually runs—a self-hosted runner or a pinned alpacax/alpacon-cli image tag is the usual cause—and upgrade it.

Command or file refused#

Symptom: A command or alpacon cp that works from your own terminal is refused in the pipeline

Solution: Check the token’s server and file ACLs and the account the command runs as. On Cloud, ask a Command ACL admin to review the token’s pre-approved commands; on self-hosted deployments, check its command ACL. See Automation failure modes.

Permission denied#

Symptom: permission denied when running Docker commands

Solution: Use the application’s account: alpacon exec ci-deploy@server-name "docker ps". Check that this account has the required host permissions. A service token cannot run as root; widening an ACL does not change that.

File not found after upload#

Symptom: File uploaded successfully but not found when executing commands

Solution: Have the server administrator prepare the parent directory for the application’s account. Then create the subdirectory and upload with that account:

- alpacon exec ci-deploy@server "mkdir -p /path/to/dir"
- alpacon cp file.txt ci-deploy@server:/path/to/dir/

Resources#

• Alpacon CLI documentation
• Service tokens
• GitLab CI/CD documentation
• GitLab CI/CD variables

Next steps#

• GitHub Actions integration
• Jenkins integration
• CLI reference