GitLab CI/CD Runner en Mac Mini M4: Guía completa

1. ¿Por qué Self-Hosted GitLab Runners en Mac?

GitLab ofrece runners compartidos en Linux, pero compilar apps iOS requiere macOS ejecutándose en hardware Apple. Los runners compartidos macOS de GitLab son limitados y costosos. Un Mac Mini M4 self-hosted runner le ofrece:

2. Instalar GitLab Runner

Conéctese por SSH a su Mac Mini M4 e instale el GitLab Runner usando Homebrew:

# Connect to your Mac Mini M4
ssh admin@your-server-ip

# Install Homebrew (if not already installed)
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"
echo 'eval "$(/opt/homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)"' >> ~/.zprofile
eval "$(/opt/homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)"

# Install GitLab Runner
brew install gitlab-runner

# Verify installation
gitlab-runner --version
# Version:      17.7.0
# Git revision:  ...
# Git branch:    17-7-stable
# GO version:    go1.22.10
# Built:         ...
# OS/Arch:       darwin/arm64

Instalar como un servicio macOS

# Install the runner as a launchd service
# This ensures it starts automatically on boot
brew services start gitlab-runner

# Verify the service is running
brew services list | grep gitlab-runner
# gitlab-runner started admin ~/Library/LaunchAgents/homebrew.mxcl.gitlab-runner.plist

# Check runner status
gitlab-runner status
# gitlab-runner: Service is running

3. Registrar el Runner

Vaya a su proyecto (o grupo) de GitLab y navegue a Settings > CI/CD > Runners > New project runner. Copie el token de registro.

Registrar con el nuevo flujo de registro de Runner (GitLab 16+)

# Register the runner using the authentication token from GitLab UI
# (GitLab 16+ uses authentication tokens instead of registration tokens)
gitlab-runner register \
  --non-interactive \
  --url "https://gitlab.com/" \
  --token "YOUR_RUNNER_AUTHENTICATION_TOKEN" \
  --executor "shell" \
  --description "mac-mini-m4-runner" \
  --tag-list "macos,apple-silicon,m4,ios,xcode"

Registrar con token de registro heredado (GitLab 15 y anterior)

# For older GitLab instances using registration tokens
gitlab-runner register \
  --non-interactive \
  --url "https://gitlab.com/" \
  --registration-token "YOUR_REGISTRATION_TOKEN" \
  --executor "shell" \
  --description "mac-mini-m4-runner" \
  --tag-list "macos,apple-silicon,m4,ios,xcode" \
  --run-untagged="false"

Verificar la configuración del Runner

# View the runner config file
cat ~/.gitlab-runner/config.toml

# Expected output:
# concurrent = 2
# check_interval = 0
#
# [session_server]
#   session_timeout = 1800
#
# [[runners]]
#   name = "mac-mini-m4-runner"
#   url = "https://gitlab.com/"
#   token = "..."
#   executor = "shell"
#   [runners.cache]
#     MaxUploadedArchiveSize = 0

# Adjust concurrency based on your hardware:
# Mac Mini M4 (16GB): concurrent = 2
# Mac Mini M4 Pro (24GB): concurrent = 3
# Mac Mini M4 Pro (48GB): concurrent = 4

Edite ~/.gitlab-runner/config.toml para ajustar la concurrencia:

# Edit the config
nano ~/.gitlab-runner/config.toml

# Set concurrent to match your hardware capacity
concurrent = 2

# Restart the runner to apply changes
gitlab-runner restart

El runner debería aparecer ahora como Online en su proyecto de GitLab bajo Settings > CI/CD > Runners.

4. Crear .gitlab-ci.yml para iOS

Cree un archivo .gitlab-ci.yml en la raíz de su repositorio. Este pipeline completo compila, prueba y despliega su app iOS:

# .gitlab-ci.yml

stages:
  - setup
  - build
  - test
  - deploy

variables:
  SCHEME: "MyApp"
  WORKSPACE: "MyApp.xcworkspace"
  DESTINATION: "platform=iOS Simulator,name=iPhone 16 Pro,OS=18.2"
  DERIVED_DATA: "${CI_PROJECT_DIR}/DerivedData"

# Only run on our Mac runner
default:
  tags:
    - macos
    - m4

# ---- SETUP ----

setup:
  stage: setup
  script:
    - sudo xcode-select -s /Applications/Xcode-16.2.app/Contents/Developer
    - xcodebuild -version
    - swift --version
    # Install CocoaPods if using Podfile
    - |
      if [ -f "Podfile" ]; then
        pod install --repo-update
      fi
  cache:
    key: pods-${CI_COMMIT_REF_SLUG}
    paths:
      - Pods/
      - .spm-cache/

# ---- BUILD ----

build:
  stage: build
  needs: ["setup"]
  script:
    - |
      xcodebuild build \
        -workspace "${WORKSPACE}" \
        -scheme "${SCHEME}" \
        -destination "${DESTINATION}" \
        -derivedDataPath "${DERIVED_DATA}" \
        -clonedSourcePackagesDirPath ".spm-cache" \
        CODE_SIGNING_ALLOWED=NO \
        | xcbeautify
  cache:
    key: derived-data-${CI_COMMIT_REF_SLUG}
    paths:
      - DerivedData/
      - .spm-cache/
  artifacts:
    paths:
      - DerivedData/
    expire_in: 1 hour

# ---- TEST ----

unit_tests:
  stage: test
  needs: ["build"]
  script:
    - |
      xcodebuild test \
        -workspace "${WORKSPACE}" \
        -scheme "${SCHEME}" \
        -destination "${DESTINATION}" \
        -derivedDataPath "${DERIVED_DATA}" \
        -resultBundlePath "TestResults.xcresult" \
        -parallel-testing-enabled YES \
        | xcbeautify
  artifacts:
    when: always
    paths:
      - TestResults.xcresult/
    reports:
      junit: TestResults.xcresult/report.junit
    expire_in: 7 days
  after_script:
    - xcrun simctl shutdown all 2>/dev/null || true

# ---- DEPLOY ----

deploy_testflight:
  stage: deploy
  needs: ["unit_tests"]
  only:
    - main
  script:
    - |
      # Install or update Fastlane
      which fastlane || brew install fastlane

      # Run Fastlane beta lane
      fastlane beta
  environment:
    name: testflight
  variables:
    MATCH_PASSWORD: ${MATCH_PASSWORD}
    APP_STORE_CONNECT_API_KEY_ID: ${APP_STORE_KEY_ID}
    APP_STORE_CONNECT_API_ISSUER_ID: ${APP_STORE_ISSUER_ID}
    APP_STORE_CONNECT_API_KEY_CONTENT: ${APP_STORE_KEY_CONTENT}

Añadir variables CI/CD en GitLab

Navegue a Settings > CI/CD > Variables en su proyecto de GitLab y añada estas variables como "Masked" y "Protected":

• MATCH_PASSWORD - Contraseña para el cifrado de Fastlane Match
• APP_STORE_KEY_ID - ID de clave API de App Store Connect
• APP_STORE_ISSUER_ID - ID de emisor de App Store Connect
• APP_STORE_KEY_CONTENT - Contenido del archivo de clave .p8

5. Optimizar el rendimiento

Configuración de caché de GitLab

GitLab Runner admite caché local para ejecutores shell. Como su runner es persistente, las cachés locales son extremadamente eficientes:

# In .gitlab-ci.yml, configure cache per branch:
cache:
  key: "${CI_COMMIT_REF_SLUG}"
  paths:
    - DerivedData/
    - .spm-cache/
    - Pods/
  policy: pull-push

# For test jobs that don't modify cache, use pull-only:
unit_tests:
  cache:
    key: "${CI_COMMIT_REF_SLUG}"
    paths:
      - DerivedData/
    policy: pull

Usar artefactos para datos entre etapas

# Pass build artifacts between stages efficiently
build:
  artifacts:
    paths:
      - DerivedData/Build/Products/
    expire_in: 2 hours

# The test stage receives the built products without rebuilding
test:
  needs: ["build"]  # only download artifacts from the build job
  script:
    - xcodebuild test-without-building \
        -scheme "${SCHEME}" \
        -destination "${DESTINATION}" \
        -derivedDataPath "${DERIVED_DATA}"

Ejecución paralela de pruebas

# Split tests across parallel jobs using GitLab's parallel keyword
unit_tests:
  stage: test
  parallel: 2
  script:
    - |
      # Use test plan partitioning or custom splitting
      xcodebuild test \
        -workspace "${WORKSPACE}" \
        -scheme "${SCHEME}" \
        -destination "${DESTINATION}" \
        -derivedDataPath "${DERIVED_DATA}" \
        -parallel-testing-enabled YES \
        -maximum-parallel-testing-workers 4

Limpieza programada de caché

# On the Mac Mini, set up a weekly cleanup cron job
crontab -e

# Add these lines:
# Clean DerivedData older than 7 days every Sunday at 3 AM
0 3 * * 0 find ~/builds/*/DerivedData -maxdepth 0 -mtime +7 -exec rm -rf {} + 2>/dev/null

# Clean old GitLab Runner builds older than 14 days
0 4 * * 0 find ~/builds -maxdepth 2 -mtime +14 -type d -exec rm -rf {} + 2>/dev/null

# Clean Homebrew cache monthly
0 5 1 * * /opt/homebrew/bin/brew cleanup --prune=30 2>/dev/null

6. Solución de problemas

# Check service status
brew services list | grep gitlab-runner

# View logs
cat /usr/local/var/log/gitlab-runner.log

# Restart the service
brew services restart gitlab-runner

# Verify connectivity to GitLab
gitlab-runner verify

# Ensure the runner user has Xcode access
sudo xcode-select -s /Applications/Xcode-16.2.app/Contents/Developer
sudo xcodebuild -license accept

# If using simulators, ensure the user can access them
xcrun simctl list devices

# Check cache directory permissions
ls -la ~/builds/

# The shell executor stores caches locally by default
# Verify the cache directory in config.toml:
cat ~/.gitlab-runner/config.toml

# Ensure [runners.cache] section has the right settings
# For local caching (most efficient for persistent runners):
# [runners.cache]
#   Type = ""  # empty = local cache

# Unlock the keychain before builds
security unlock-keychain -p "YOUR_PASSWORD" ~/Library/Keychains/login.keychain-db

# Kill stuck simulators
xcrun simctl shutdown all
pkill -f "Simulator.app" 2>/dev/null || true

# Set a build timeout in .gitlab-ci.yml
build:
  timeout: 30 minutes

7. Preguntas frecuentes

# Update via Homebrew
brew upgrade gitlab-runner

# Restart the service
brew services restart gitlab-runner

# Verify the new version
gitlab-runner --version

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