GitLab 14.6 shines on distributed deployments

Latest release of the devops platform simplifies Geo configuration, allows GitLab mirrors to serve as write proxies, and adds vulnerability scanning support for .NET 6.

Editor at Large, InfoWorld |

GitLab 14.6 shines on distributed deployments — Maximusnd / Getty Images

GitLab 14.6, an update of the GitLab software delivery platform, focuses on improvements for geographically distributed application deployments. Support for Microsoft’s .NET 6 software development platform is highlighted, as well.

Unveiled December 22, GitLab 14.6 simplifies configuration of GitLab Geo, which now allows for both read-only mirrors and writeable mirrors of GitLab instances. Geo helps globally distributed teams accelerate Git pull commands by automatically using the Geo site closest to them.

Prior to GitLab 14.6, users could set up GitLab Geo with a single URL for all Git operations, but Geo replicas had to have their own URL for Web UI and API access, and the Web UI of the Geo replicas was read-only, limiting users to viewing pages and mandating that they perform changes on the entire site. With GitLab 14.6, Geo secondary sites proxy write requests to the primary site while accelerating most read requests.

Further, administrators now can provide GitLab users across the organization with a single URL to automatically use the Geo site closest to them. Distributed teams benefit from accelerated git clone or git pull commands and a seamless worldwide experience, the company said.

GitLab offers a free, 30-day trial of its system with access to most Ultimate-level features. The Ultimate tier adds security, compliance, and portfolio management capabilities. Elsewhere in GitLab 14.6:

.NET 6, introduced as a production release by Microsoft in November, is supported in GitLab SAST (Static Application Security Testing), which checks source code for known vulnerabilities.
SAST scans now can be required to run on a regular schedule or as part of project CI pipelines, independent of the .gitlab-ci.yml file contents.
An activity list is now included for the GitLab Agent that logs real-time events. A similar solution is planned for tracking CI/CD tunnel events.
Administrators now can set a maximum number of days that an SSH key remains valid.
Private user contributions now appear in the contribution calendar graph.
WebAuthn is now enabled by default.
Concurrent with GitLab 14.6, the GitLab 14.6 Runner was released. This is a lightweight agent that runs build jobs and send results back to a GitLab instance.

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Paul Krill is an editor at large at InfoWorld, whose coverage focuses on application development.